Basil B Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 8 minutes ago, newnative said: Too right. I know of one condo project that just raised condo fees from 35 baht a sqm to 50 baht--a huge increase. Especially when it is a large project and should have economies of scale. 12 of that 15 baht increase went directly to management. When we lived at Lumpini Park Beach, also a large project, the condo fee was 20 baht a sqm and the project was maintained quite well. Having lived in at least 8 different projects, I have not noticed much of a difference in management whether I am paying 20 baht a sqm or double that. In the case of some of these big, new projects, the high fees seem to be going to run the condos like hotels--with lots of extra staff to take care of all the illegal 'hotel' guests checking in and out every day and needing all the extra help and 'hotel' services. To raise the Common Area Maintenance fees, the 75% rule applies needing to get 75% of the co owners at the same place at the same time virtually impossible, we were finding our sink funds were depleting every year, until a way was sought to bypass this by applying a supplementary charge. (I think we were paying 3,200THB P.A.) and the new fund was to pay for a new paint job and upgrades, the lifts, though I do not recall any being out of service, they were well maintained but did need a lot of work doing, upgrade of the fire alarm system, install of CCTV, and one of the pools changed from chlorine to saltwater. A good read: "Your Thai Condo Rights" by Tony Crossley, got my copy from Asia Books 450THB, still listed but out of stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkk6060 Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 Sorry to identify certain people, but my experience is a share of Thais and Chinese let their maintenance fees lapse for several months, sometimes years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenKong Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 8 hours ago, Basil B said: Why pay for a management company who are really after seeing how much they can screw for themselves, by employing the JP and staff directly and keeping a close eye on the accounts you basically have a "Not For Profit" management company saving co-owners the proffit an outside company would have made if not more. One reason is that if you don't employ a management company you run the risk of the JPM and/or staff stealing more from you than the management company ever would. Make no mistake: just about everyone here is out to line his own pocket first. Staff employed by a proper management company come with an indemnity whereas if the building employs staff directly the building assumes any losses that may come from them. So that's another reason. Then you have the cost of the JPM. You are unlikely to get a decent one to do the job for free but a management company will normally include that task in their monthly fee. So that makes them look much better value. And a proper management company will have a legal department on call if needed. Another advantage of using a management company is that they select the office staff. If the committee decides that it doesnt like a particular staff member, that staff member can be moved to another building and replaced overnight at no cost to the building. Try doing that with directly employed staff. Another reason is that most committee members are idiots with no financial knowledge at all. Many also have zero knowledge of how condos work, or of the legal aspects to running one. And every couple of years, just as they are starting to understand, they get replaced by another load of wet-behind-the-ears clowns. Not to mention the ones that see being on the committee as an opportunity to help their friends or alter things to suit themselves. Would you really want people like to be spending your money and looking after your investment, without a management company keeping them in check? I wouldn't. Most of the condo disasters I have heard of here have involved buildings that have bad management companies or no management company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenKong Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 45 minutes ago, bkk6060 said: Sorry to identify certain people, but my experience is a share of Thais and Chinese let their maintenance fees lapse for several months, sometimes years. I know plenty of deadbeat farang owners too. It's really down to management to chase them all, regardless of skin colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newnative Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 6 hours ago, Basil B said: To raise the Common Area Maintenance fees, the 75% rule applies needing to get 75% of the co owners at the same place at the same time virtually impossible, we were finding our sink funds were depleting every year, until a way was sought to bypass this by applying a supplementary charge. (I think we were paying 3,200THB P.A.) and the new fund was to pay for a new paint job and upgrades, the lifts, though I do not recall any being out of service, they were well maintained but did need a lot of work doing, upgrade of the fire alarm system, install of CCTV, and one of the pools changed from chlorine to saltwater. A good read: "Your Thai Condo Rights" by Tony Crossley, got my copy from Asia Books 450THB, still listed but out of stock. Yes, I think there are a number of condo projects that use special assessments rather than raising the condo fee. I actually prefer this method if a condo project has an adequate basic condo fee to begin with--say 30 to 40 baht a sqm. for projects of 250 units or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattaya46 Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 On 3/4/2019 at 9:43 AM, KittenKong said: On 3/3/2019 at 4:00 PM, PascalB said: The last owner general assembly kicked out Plus! as juristic from The Base Condominium // I wonder what the reason was? Could be that they were not doing their job correctly. See thread Foreigner quota exceeded at The Base Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbob Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 I was there when security was changed after the elevator video of that poor girl went viral then it started looking more like an embassy than a nice place to live. It takes about 5 mins looking at agoda, etc to see (mostly) chinese fraudsters are luring unsuspecting hotel guests into an illegal situation and the base is easily the number 1 culprit setting the example for everyone else with its fancy rooftop pool where you too can wait forever while (mostly) chinese tourists go up and down all day to take a selfie with it 555 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmen Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 On 4/14/2019 at 6:14 AM, bkk6060 said: Sorry to identify certain people, but my experience is a share of Thais and Chinese let their maintenance fees lapse for several months, sometimes years. how did you get them to confess ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkk6060 Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 6 hours ago, madmen said: how did you get them to confess ? Use your big imagination... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkk6060 Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 On 4/13/2019 at 5:01 PM, KittenKong said: I know plenty of deadbeat farang owners too. It's really down to management to chase them all, regardless of skin colour. Oh really? Deadbeat friends of yours? My comments were specifically about The Base. A place I lived for over two years. Got to know the management very well in fact they said NO Falang were several months behind on their fees. Not saying it does not happen, but my post regarding who mostly is in the rears will stand based upon specific management comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenKong Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 On 4/18/2019 at 8:30 AM, bkk6060 said: Deadbeat friends of yours? My comments were specifically about The Base. No, I dont have any deadbeat friends. But I have come across many deadbeat farang co-owners of condos here who are behind with their common fees. If you were talking exclusively about the Base you didnt make it very clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spidey Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 25 minutes ago, KittenKong said: No, I dont have any deadbeat friends. But I have come across many deadbeat farang co-owners of condos here who are behind with their common fees. If you were talking exclusively about the Base you didnt make it very clear. My gated estate suffers from the same problem. Owners who don't pay are publicly shamed monthly. Every single one of the non payers is a Thai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyboy2018 Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 I think emergency meetings can be called. I think police and Immigration officials can be involved or invoked. I think public notices and letters of warning can be used. I think door key card privileges can be revoked and water and electricity cut off. That's what we do in our condo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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