After a review of Westwind HOA's financial disclosure for
2007 - 2012, a peculiar event occurred in
October of 2009. The fee our association paid to the management company jumped from $2800 to $6000 -
in a single month!
There is no explanation as to why the board agreed to this extraordinary jump in management fees to a company who had simply changed it's name - from Leisure Life (who maintained a D minus rating from the Better Business Bureau at the time) to our Management Company. To this day, our Management Company, still offers no added benefits or services that weren't previously offered by our previous Management Company (same owner). It was simply a name change that cost our association an additional $3200 monthly. In May of 2011, the board agreed to an additional 5% increase to the Management company. Only a few months later, the board agreed to another 5% increase for a monthly management fee of $6600 today.
Now, are these fees extraordinary? Well, take it from the top 10 management firms for 2012 according to the Phoenix Business Journal. Below are some of their comments. After reading this you might ask, "How the heck does this happen?". Step 1: Eliminate elections. Step2: Pad the Pockets of the Board.
#1 Rossmar & Graham Community Association:
Dear Mr. Jones,Thank you for contacting our office regarding your inquiry on management fees. As discussed, you had noted that as a homeowner you had concerns regarding the management fees paid by your association. In our conversation, you relayed that your association is made up of 534 single family homes, with two large open parks and one tot lot. As discussed, there are a variety of variables that go into the pricing of a management contract, including complexity of the community, any on-site staffing or extensive amenities.
Per our discussion, the base management fee that we have for similar sized communities is at about $2300-$2700 per month (please note that this is not intended to be a proposal of management services, but simply a comparison for information purposes).
We welcome the opportunity to be considered for management services for your association. We would be happy to meet with the board or it’s representative committee, in order to provide a proposal for consideration. Feel free to have a representative contact me or our business development manager, Arianne Alhvin (Office (480) 551-4301, or via e-mail at aahlvin@rossmar.com) in order to schedule a property visit or meeting.
Thank you once again for contacting our firm. Let me know if there are any further questions (my direct line is (480) 551-4521).
Sincerely,
Any Ferrell CAAM, CMCA, AMS, PCAM
Senior Vice President – Portfolio Division
Rossmar & Graham | 9362 E. Raintree Drive Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
Office (480) 551-4521 | Fax (480) 551-6037 | www.rossmar.com
#3 City Property Management Co.:
Good Morning Michael,Your question is a good one, but unfortunately cannot be answered clearly, which is not what you are looking for. Monthly management fees depend on many factors. For instance, # of doors, type of community (single family, condo, townhome), amenities, and services required. Typically you can gauge your management fee on $5 a door for "traditional" management. Without knowing specifics on your community and just based on 534 homes, I would say you are paying far too much. You should be at about $2670 per month. But again without know the needs of your community and what is included in the fee, it's hard to say. We would love to offer your Board a bid for management services. If that is something your Board is interested in, please let me know.
Thanks so much and have a great day!
Sara Saiz, CAAM®
City Property Management Company
4645 E. Cotton Gin Loop
Phoenix, Arizona 85040
(602) 437-4777 Extension 103
sara@cityproperty.com
#5 Vision Community Management:
Mike,It was a pleasure speaking with you today.
We have managed Garden Lakes since 2007. We do not charge fees for rental registration programs or rental tracking in our communities. These are standard administrative functions at Vision. Please let me know if any other questions come to mind. I'll be happy to answer them.
As per your request, here is the management fee breakdown we discussed:
Garden Lakes consists of 2,216 homes and has a management fee of $6,900 per month.
Rancho Santa Fe consists of 1,999 homes and has a management fee of $6,750 per month.
Sage Creek consists of 500 homes and has a management fee of $2,000 per month.
The Vision team would appreciate the opportunity to create a custom proposal for professional management and financial services for your community. We are familiar with your community as we have managed many nearby communities, such as Garden Lakes for several years. During our time there we have been able to successfully complete their painting project, re-do landscaping and irrigation, along with addressing lake and associated wildlife issues.
Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I can be reached at my office number listed below or on my cell phone at 480-440-7208. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great weekend.
Sincerely,
Pamela Rottner, PCAM, AMS, CMCA, CAAM
Senior Vice-President
Vision Community Management
9633 S. 48th Street, Suite 150
Phoenix, AZ 85044
Phone: (480) 759-4945
Fax: (480) 759-8683
www.wearevision.com
#7 Premier Community Management Inc.:
Mr. Jones,Thank you for contacting Premier Community Management in regards to Westwind HOA. For a community the size of Westwind HOA, Premier would charge approximately $2200 for a monthly management fee. Please let me know if you would like me to submit a proposal to you for management services or if there is anything else I could help you with.
Warm Regards,
Lynne Kerley, CMCA, CAAM
Director of Client Services
#10 Associated Property Management Inc.:
Michael,I hope they are washing your car every week for those fees! Those are by far the highest rates I have ever heard of for an association and I manage some of the higher end communities in Scottsdale. If you get tired of paying those fees and still want good service give us a call. 480-941-1077 my extension is 36, Tom and Trent are the owners of the company and can be reached at ext: 14 & 16. I have included them in this response so you will have their email address as well. I realize there are always politics involved with a change in the management company, but at least they could do interviews to become educated on current market rates.
Good Luck, let me know if we can assist in anyway!
James Stiely
james.stiely@apm-management.com
Dear Michael,
I am one of the owners here at Associated Property Management and I was forwarded your email from James about your management fees. I am happy to provide you or your Board a proposal for property management and I can assure you that our management fee for a deed restricted community of your size would be considerably less than what you are paying now. If your Association with 537 homes has no on site employees or out of the ordinary services than our average management fee for an Association such as your association would be $2,685.
We presently manage 75 communities throughout the valley and have been in business for over 28 years. The reason I stress that is because I want you to know that we are not a fly by night company that would make a statement that we could not back up. We presently manage a couple of communities that were once under management of our Management Company and would be happy to provide references upon request.
Sincerely,
Tom Emele - CAAM, AMS, CMCA
President of Associated Property Management
PO Box 188, Scottsdale, AZ 85252
480-941-1077 ext 14
602-553-4628 fax
