Reasonable Reserve Funds for a Condo?

I think that I would start by looking at the insurance policy. If something catastrophic were to happen, how much would the building need to cough up?

darcy I have been through it a couple of times both with lots of angst. 12 units all owner occupied a couple of tenants that made 10 times my salary decided that the lobby was unsightly. New front doors, mailboxes,floor coverings,light repairs.44,000. That was a special assessmant..a lump of cash I didn't have.

I was also the last to talk at the homeowners meeting and everybody else either wanted it or was neutral about the cost. Inside I was sick,but I looked through the couch cushions and laundry,ashtrays and found the money.

If your repair has to do w safety or waterproofing do it. If it's a polarizer be very careful. You can divide your building into friends and enemies in 5 minutes. Also if people don't have lots of cash they will come up w some pretty strange reasons that the repairs/improvements should not be done or delayed. An engineers assessment will cost 5 grand to tell you things that are coming to the end of their lifespan and it's just an educated guess.

The roof,boiler and some big ones are already complete, so your building is doing well with those new major subsystems. If your building has lots of kids and is not 100% owner occupied you have to lean toward doing the improvement. I don't know how fast your reserve study builds up..but a 3 month delay will allow cash to build up..get 8 estimates and still give you the weather window to do the work. If it's interior, wait as long as possible..winter brings better prices and better availability of quality contractors. No matter who they are make sure the contractors have insurance and your building gets an additional insured certificate..it's 100-200 dollars for the contractor and will be a warm security blanket for the building if a dog or passer-by gets a drop of paint or tiny nail falls on their shoe. Even if the bid is 1000's cheaper an uninsured contractor is a NFW exercise. Also make sure the contractor has post work clean up..everyday. Make sure there is a performance clause..start date and finish date..do it as fast as you can will make your building boil over with complaints.