Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Bob Leigh (bobleightwomeeps.com) | |
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2018 11:17:02 -0700 (PDT) |
How have other communities coped with the argument that current residents should not have to contribute to a new roof that they might not be around to use? Bob Leigh Cornerstone Village Cohousing Cambridge, Massachusetts US On Sun, Jul 8, 2018 at 2:06 PM Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L < cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote: > To respond to Philip’s question based on Joe’s excellent figures — the > costs of maintaining, repairing, and replacing the commonly owned elements > are not particularly related to how many people live in a unit. The cost of > the unit should include an evaluation of the reserve funds. Healthy > reserves, higher prices. Low reserves, lower prices and greater risk. > > The reasoning behind the condo fee 50/50 split was that some elements are > equal between units — we all have one parking space, for example. Parking > is expensive. It is unlikely that a large unit would use the CH more than a > small unit — the guest rooms are more likely to be used by small units. > > But in fact, our large units do not necessarily have more people in them. > We have a 4br with a full basement with 1 person, and a 3br with a full > basement with one person. For years we had a 1 bedroom with a single parent > and child. And a one bedroom with a single parent and 2 children. Size of > unit is not necessarily related to the number of people living in the unit. > Most of our 2 bedrooms have 1 person. > > Another way to look at the reserves is to divide by the number of units — > $93,000/43= ~$180 a month per unit. It seems like a lot but it also covers > a lot. It has been a great comfort not to have to worry about replacing the > HVAC system or replacing the roof when we were able to add solar panels. > > Having a reserve study with a graph of expenses at least 50 years out—ours > goes 100 yrs—makes it much easier to convince residents that we need to > have that much in reserves. > > Sharon > > > On Jul 8, 2018, at 11:44 AM, Joseph Wheeler <wheeler76 [at] gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > > We contribute almost half of the annual income from condo fees to our > > replacement reserve ($93,000) or maintenance reserve ($22,000). In our 18 > > years of operation, we have never had to ask members to pay a special > > assessment. > > > > With 43 units of varying sizes, our monthly condo fees range from > $357-638 > > with the average being about $455. Of that average fee, about $223 would > go > > to reserve accounts. > > > > We have commissioned a reserve study every 3-4 years and those studies > > inform our budget process. Our most recent study recommended continuing > to > > increase reserve contributions about 5-6% per year to avoid risk of > special > > assessments. > > > > The basic formula for calculating our condo fees is that 1/2 is split > > evenly among all the units and 1/2 is variable based on square footage of > > the unit. > > > > -Joe Wheeler > > Takoma Village Cohousing > > Washington, DC > _________________________________________________________________ > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: > http://l.cohousing.org/info > > > >
- Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts, (continued)
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Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Joseph Wheeler, July 8 2018
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Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Philip Dowds, July 8 2018
- Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Joseph Wheeler, July 8 2018
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Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Sharon Villines, July 8 2018
- Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Bob Leigh, July 8 2018
- Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Sharon Villines, July 8 2018
- Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Muriel Kranowski, July 8 2018
- Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Dick Margulis, July 8 2018
- Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Ann Zabaldo, July 8 2018
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Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Philip Dowds, July 8 2018
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Re: Questions about Reserve Amounts Joseph Wheeler, July 8 2018
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