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Post by Julijana Zappia on May 17, 2006 20:18:17 GMT 1
We have an apartment (one of six) in a Villa outside Porec. Currently the agent/developer have one for their own use, 1 which is for sale, and 3 other parties (a Croatian, Brit and German) own the remaining 3 apartments.
To date, the managment of the grounds and pool has been handled by the agent, who has then charged us ad-hoc for costs in relation to the upkeep. There is no proper system of reporting these costs or showing that all parties are paying equal share, as there would be in the UK, where one owns, let's say, a buy-to-let property in a block of apartments. I understand that the agent finds it difficult to manage the property, (I suspect that it is a problem getting monies from all parties yet having to undertake the work).
I wondered if anyone has knowledge of a managing agent near Porec, who would be impartial and act as a property manager would do in the UK. To my mind there needs to be a management company involved, as we currently feel that we are bearing more than our fair share of costs, as there is no financial transparency.
How are other owners of apartments handling the management of their property, especially where there are joint shared facilities, i.e. lighting, gardens, pool, parking, etc?
Any help and advice would be very helpful.
Thank you Julijana
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Post by Peter Ellis on May 18, 2006 8:24:17 GMT 1
Hi Julijana
In a place where there are many nationalities, often with no common language, it can be a problem. Our town house development at Tar, which has a common tennis court and swimming pool is run on the basis of a fixed charge of Eur 70 per month, which covers communal lighting, pool maintenance, tennis court maintenance and gardening. At the moment the developer is managing it, but when the last 3 are sold he is going to pass it on to Caroline Hopkins, who already does individual management of the majority of the houses on behalf of the owners. As they all already know her, this should be quite straightforward. The system of a fixed amount each month makes collection easier, as it can be by standing order. It is often difficult in the beginning, though, to assess what the likely costs will be. Ideally, you want to cover all the predicted ongoing costs as well as develop a sinking fund so that there is a pot of money to hand in the event of something out of the ordinary, like a pool pump failure outside the guarantee period, needing fixing sooner rather than later, particularly if you have imminent guests. Another apartment building we sold is doing it by themselves, as they have a couple of permanent residents, including a retired judge and a multilingual retired travel agent, who made an obvious chairman and secretary. This is comparatively unusual though. In other buildings many owners have never met each other, having been out at different times and without someone living there permanently, who is active and interested enough to take on the role, it is difficult to maintain regular communication between the owners. Having chaired the residents' committee of a Kensington mansion block for several years, I know only too well how difficult it can be, even when everyone lives there all the time! Forming a management company is one option, subject to all the residents agreeing. However, the costs of establishing a Croatian company are nowhere near as cheap as in the UK and the first year cost could well exceed double the normal running costs of the building, which could make it difficult to sell the idea to the others. On the other hand, all the throughput would be transparent. Caroline might be interested. I'll mention it to her.
Best regards
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Post by Guest on May 18, 2006 15:40:43 GMT 1
What about insurance for the building? In western countries it's usually mandatory to have insurance and a lot of things can be claimed back. For example, broken windows, leaks and other damage.
I don't think with modern technology the issue of contact is a major issue but rather whether there are any legal obligations. I suppose once they're in the EU this will happen automatically.
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Post by Peter Ellis on May 18, 2006 16:37:56 GMT 1
Buildings insurance is widely available here, including liability for 3rd party claims, from people like Allianz, at reasonable premiums.
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Post by Julijana Zappia on May 18, 2006 22:42:02 GMT 1
Hi Peter
Caroline is already involved with our apartment (key holding package) and I have mentioned it to her in case she feels she can handle the management. Thank you for your advice.
We do have insurance via Allianz although I will have to check if it covers items like the pool that are shared.
Regards Julijana
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