CONDO OWNERSHIP
From Listings to Living
A 90-unit condo board is comparing two proposals. One firm asks $3,100 a month, the other $2,600. The cheaper one looks like the obvious pick until the treasurer reads the fee schedule: two board meetings a year included instead of twelve, after-hours emergency calls billed separately, and a percentage charged on any project over a set dollar amount. The roof replacement is two years out.
Condominium management services are the financial, administrative, physical and compliance tasks a management company performs for a condominium association under a written management agreement. The agreement is what turns a sales presentation into an obligation. In Florida, Florida Statutes 718.3025 makes the point bluntly: any services or obligations not stated on the face of the contract are unenforceable.
So the useful question is less "what does a condo manager do?" and more "what does this contract say this company will do, how often, and for what price?" This guide covers the condominium management services catalog first, then the clauses that decide what you actually get. Which management model fits a building, from self-managed to on-site, is covered in condo association management models.
Leevli Editorial
Most proposals group condominium management services into four families. Wording varies; the substance repeats.
Condominium property management companies that also manage single-family HOAs sell a lighter version of the same catalog to those clients. The general version is covered in HOA management companies.
There is no national standard split between base-fee and extra-cost condominium management services. Every contract draws its own line, and the line is where proposals that look cheap become expensive. The pattern below is common in practice, but treat it as a checklist to confirm against the actual fee schedule.
| Service | Often in the base fee | Often billed separately |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment billing and owner ledgers | Yes | Late notices, collection letters and attorney referral charges, often passed through to the delinquent owner |
| Monthly financial statements and budget draft | Yes | Special financial reports, extra budget revisions |
| Board meetings | A set number per year | Additional meetings, evening or weekend meetings, the annual meeting in some contracts |
| Vendor bidding and supervision | Routine contracts | Capital project oversight, often as a percentage of project cost or an hourly rate |
| Records and owner communication | Routine requests | Copies, postage, printing, large records productions |
| Emergency response | Business hours | After-hours calls and site visits |
| Unit sales | Rarely | Resale packages, estoppel letters and transfer fees, usually charged to the seller or buyer |
| Insurance claims | Notice to the carrier | Claim administration on large losses |
Nevada makes this table mandatory in substance. Its management agreement statute, NRS 116A.620, requires a complete schedule of all fees, costs, expenses and charges the community manager will impose, whether direct or indirect, including new client costs, special service fees, reimbursable expenses and fees tied to unit sales. A board buying condominium management services anywhere can ask for the same schedule.
Renting out your unit. The association's manager works for the association. If you want someone to find tenants, collect rent and handle repairs inside your unit, that is a separate rental management service with a separate contract, paid by you. The association's manager may still send you notices about your tenant's rule violations.
Professional judgments the manager is not licensed to give. Legal opinions come from the association's attorney, structural conclusions from a licensed engineer or architect, audits and reviews from a CPA, and coverage recommendations from an insurance professional. A good manager coordinates those people and does not replace them.
The board's decisions. The manager recommends; the board decides budgets, contracts, rules and reserve funding. Condo management responsibilities sit underneath the board's fiduciary duties, which are covered in HOA board responsibilities.
Read these clauses before the price. They decide which condominium management services the price buys.
Florida's condo statute lists what a management contract must specify: the services, obligations and responsibilities of the manager; which costs the association reimburses; how often each service is performed; the minimum number of personnel; and any financial or ownership interest that the developer, a board member or another service provider holds in the contracting party. If the manager fails to perform as agreed, the statute allows the association to procure the service elsewhere and recover the cost from the manager. Even outside Florida, that list is a strong template for any condominium management services agreement, because vague scope invites disputes.
Look for the start date, the length, whether it renews automatically, and the notice window for non-renewal. Then read termination. Nevada requires the agreement to include the grounds and procedures for terminating the manager. Ask whether the board can terminate without cause, how much notice it must give, and whether any fee is owed on early exit.
Nevada also requires the agreement to state the manager's spending limits. Wherever you buy condominium management services, the contract should say how much the manager may spend without board approval, with a separate rule for emergencies.
Many condominium management services touch the association's money, so the contract should say who insures against theft by whom.
How crime coverage fits alongside the property and liability parts of the building's insurance is covered in our guide to the condo association master insurance policy.
Association money should sit in accounts in the association's name. Nevada's NRS 116A.630 requires a community manager to keep a client's funds in separate financial accounts in the name of the client. Fannie Mae's list of acceptable controls includes separate operating and reserve accounts, a management company with no authority to draw checks on or transfer funds from the reserve account, and two board signatures on reserve checks. If the contract lets the manager move reserve money alone, change it.
The records belong to the association. The contract should say so and set a return deadline. In Florida, Florida Statutes 468.4334 requires a manager or firm to return all official records in its possession within 20 business days after termination, and requires management contracts to include a statement that the manager will follow the professional standards and record-keeping rules of Part VIII of Chapter 468. Nevada requires the agreement to state the street address where the records are kept, within 60 miles of the community. Include electronic records, owner ledgers, vendor files and portal data in the definition.
Put competing proposals for condominium management services in one spreadsheet with a row for each service above and three columns per firm: included, billed extra at what rate, or not offered. Add rows for meetings per year, manager's portfolio size, after-hours coverage and response time commitments. The firm with the lowest base fee frequently does not have the lowest annual cost once the board's real calendar is priced in.
Then test the contract against the building's next three years. If a reserve study, an inspection or a large project is coming, price the oversight now, while the board still has leverage. Which model to put in that comparison in the first place, from a part-time independent manager to full on-site staff, is the subject of our condo association management guide.
The management fee is a line in the operating budget, and the budget is divided among owners by the allocation formula in the declaration. Say a 120-unit building pays $3,000 a month. That is $36,000 a year, or $300 per unit annually if shares are equal, before any extras the board approves during the year. Charges billed directly to owners, such as resale packages and late fees, do not appear in that line. How the budget becomes your monthly number is explained in homeowners association dues.
The contract tells you which condominium management services the association bought. Owners who already live in the building can tell you what it actually gets; ask them on Ask a Resident before you rely on either.
A management contract describes promised condominium management services; residents know which ones arrive on time.
Listings show the property, but they rarely explain the lived reality around it. On Leevli, a mover can explore the city, review neighborhood and building information, and ask a verified resident the specific questions that remain unanswered. That human layer helps readers know what to investigate before signing a lease, making an offer, or choosing between two addresses.
Typical condo management covers assessment billing and collections, bill paying, monthly financial statements, budget drafts, official records, meeting notices and support, owner communications, vendor bidding and supervision, preventive maintenance scheduling, emergency coordination and help with inspections and reserve studies. The exact list depends on the management agreement, so read the scope section and the fee schedule together before assuming a service is included.
Common extras include meetings beyond a set number per year, after-hours calls, oversight of large capital projects, copies and postage, and claim administration on major insurance losses. Resale packages, estoppel letters and transfer fees are usually charged to the seller or buyer. Collection charges are often passed to the delinquent owner. Ask for the complete fee schedule in writing before comparing proposals.
The company carries out operations the contract assigns: money handling, records, vendors and communication. The board keeps the decisions: approving budgets and contracts, adopting rules, setting reserve funding and supervising the manager. Hiring a company does not transfer the directors' fiduciary duties. A frequent mistake is a board approving whatever the manager recommends without reading the underlying bids or reports.
At minimum: the scope of services and how often each is performed, reimbursable costs, staffing, the full fee schedule, the term and renewal terms, termination grounds and notice, the manager's spending limit, insurance and fidelity coverage on both sides, bank account controls, and a clause stating that records belong to the association with a return deadline. Florida's condo statute lists several of these items as required.
Prices depend on building size, staffing, the number of meetings, amenities and region, and contracts often combine a monthly base fee with extras. To see the effect on owners, divide the annual management fee by the number of units using the declaration's allocation formula. A $3,000 monthly fee in an equal-share, 120-unit building works out to $300 per unit a year before extras.
Start with the termination clause: whether the board can end the contract without cause, the required notice period, and any early termination fee. Give notice in writing as the contract requires, by board vote at a properly noticed meeting. Then manage the handover of bank access, owner ledgers, vendor contracts and records. Florida requires a manager or firm to return official records within 20 business days after termination.
A self-managed association avoids the management fee but still pays for accounting help, vendors and its own mistakes, such as missed statutory deadlines or weak controls on reserve funds. Professional management costs more on paper and buys time, systems and continuity. For small, simple buildings self-management can be cheaper; larger or older buildings usually find the savings disappear as the workload grows.
It depends on the state and the lender. Virginia requires licensed managers to carry a fidelity bond or employee dishonesty policy with a $10,000 minimum. Fannie Mae requires the association's own policy on most condo projects over 20 units to cover the management agent's acts, and says an agent handling funds should carry its own policy. California requires the association's coverage to extend to the managing agent.
Not as part of the association's contract. The association's manager works for the association and covers common elements, finances and governance. Finding tenants, collecting rent and handling repairs inside your unit is a separate rental management service you hire and pay for yourself. Some firms offer both, but they are separate contracts with separate clients, and the association's leasing rules still apply.
List what the building really needs, such as financial-only help with bookkeeping and collections or full-service management. Ask at least two or three firms for proposals against the same scope and fee schedule, check references at buildings of similar size, and confirm the manager's licensing where your state requires it. Small buildings often get better value buying a narrow scope done well than a broad scope done thinly.
Editorial review: verify current federal and state law, insurance regulations, HOA and condominium statutes, and lender guidelines before relying on any single claim. This article is informational and does not constitute legal, financial, tax or insurance advice.
