Yes the property manager suggested getting to $10k in reserves which seemed reasonable. He wanted us all to pay additional 2 months of fees to pad the reserves (after we already did that at closing). I am soo glad we declined that suggestion because it would have been more money for him to take!!!

Yes, I have a copy of that and see it being deducted from the HOA account. It’s around $3,300 annually and he financed it at 12% because there wasn’t enough in reserves to pay for it up front and cover his property management fee.

Good thing I don't have a child to give!!

Yep, completely agree. Our HOA fee would have to be about $700/month to cover this expense. This guy is out of control....

If only it was written in plain English, so the average person could understand it. This is an excerpt from the conflict of interest section that seems to me like he can do whatever he wants..

It is understood and permissible for the Initial Board hereunder and any other trustees designated by the Initial Board or who are employed by or affiliated or associated with the Declarant, to contract with the Declarant and any corporation, firm, trust or other organization controlled by or affiliated or associated with the Declarant without fear of being charged with self-dealing.

Maybe this is all part of his scam....quick $6k before he vanishes on us.

Yes, but in the condo docs he is sole trustee until 4 months after last unit sells. It sold last week, so unless he is willing to step down early, we have him for 4 more months!

I pulled up chapter 183a since it was listed in the legal docs--there are lots of sections and lots of details to read through.

One question--Property manager is currently sole trustee and there was never a contract for him being the property manager. He is the only one who has access to the bank account so how would we even fire him? I don't think we have that power?!

The remaining unsold unit was the biggest, so had the highest HOA fee of $425, so he would deposit $425 and withdraw $500 each month.

I am willing to put in my fair share, but 1 unit owner is out of state (doesn't seem like he is going to help). The other unit owner has been quiet as well. Maybe the new owner will be willing to chip in. I can set up autopay for water/electricity and so on, but I don't want everything to fall solely on me.

>P.S I would advise you to read through your HOA bylaws. I am not a lawyer, but my understanding is that it is not ethical for a trustee to essentially award money like that to themselves. If they had a legitimate cost, such as they bought lightbulbs for common areas, that’s one thing, but the developer should not be reimbursing themselves for lost time. Do your bylaws also not state anything about automatically becoming a trustee? Ours makes each unit owner a trustee within 30 days of purchase automatically.

I am going to read over them tonight, but I think he still has control for 4 months. I don't know if he will stick to those 4 months though. There are still some maintenance issues from the last storm a couple weeks ago that he was "fixing". The unit that was being sold flooded and we probably need a bigger sump pump. I hope he will close out these projects before quitting.

that was in writing -- my real estate attorney forwarded my list of questions to their attorney and that was their written response. (I added in my input in the 2nd paragraph).

Yes, I completely agree with a larger building you need a property manager. Considering we have no amenities, it seems like it's easiest to come together and assign the few tasks to each unit (water/sewer, Insurance).

To our HOA $500 is a lot and $1,500 is outrageous, but to the property manager $500 is nothing for the headaches that could come from it.

Yes, he told us he has no interest managing this property, so it might just be a cash grab. I don't think there was a contract as he hired himself and chose his own rate. He had to keep it low enough to sell the units, but now that they are sold he could care less.

He is the sole trustee and the earliest that his term can end is 4 months after the last unit is sold (just the other day). In the condo docs it says that (A) the unit owners shall have no power or right to remove the Initial Board nor to appoint an additional or successor Trustees until the expiration of the Initial Board has expired and (B) during the term of the Initial Board, any vacancy in the office of a Trustee, however caused, shall be filled only by the designation of the Declarant of the Master Deed. Maybe (B) gives us an out if he wants to quit being trustee than newly elected board can fire him.

So I asked before buying what the $500/month included and was given this response:
Complete coordination for all services related to ( securing insurance on the building, hiring contractors for any maintenance issues, hiring contractors for cleaning sidewalk snow plowing, manage billing for water and sewer and bill each unit owners depending on their use, maintaining the book keeping of all cost

We each pay our own water and sewer which is an additional expense. I was the only one to shovel this winter (we barely got any snow and only have to worry about the sidewalk). There have been a few maintenance issues--mostly due to the crappy work done by the builders, plumbers etc..

Do you mind being a passenger in the car when it goes through a tunnel or is it just a problem as the driver?

Depending on your starting point, you should rent a car at a non-airport location. It will be much easier to avoid tunnels if you stay away from downtown and the airport.