Problems surrounding the maintenance of apartment buildings are on the rise. According to the Condominium Management Center, a public interest incorporated foundation, the number of inquiries received from condominium residents, management associations, management companies, etc. in fiscal 2023 reached 14,253, the highest number ever. The number of consultations regarding management fee hikes and dissatisfaction with management association chairpersons and management companies has been increasing over the past five years, and according to a staff member at the center, some of the consultation cases include the following: “An extraordinary general meeting will be held to discuss raising the management fee, but the notice does not explain the specific amount of the increase.” “The board of directors is considering raising the management fee, but they are just following the management company’s orders without considering ways to save money.” “The management fee account is in the red, so we are considering raising the fee, but do you have any materials that investigate the average management fee for condominiums?” “The board of directors has already decided to raise the management fee.” The background to the trouble is the increase in condominium management fees. Sakura Office, a real estate consulting firm, looked into apartments built by major developers such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Nomura, Sumitomo and Tokyu in nine central Tokyo wards, including Chuo, Minato, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Meguro, Setagaya and Koto, and found that the average management fees for new apartments had increased by 30% over the seven years from 2017 to 2023. This is because rising prices are driving up labor costs for security, cleaning, and other maintenance work. Teruyuki Tsuchiya, a condominium management consultant, says, “When management companies outsource services such as cleaning and security to contractors, they add on fees, which makes the costs higher. This means that residents are resistant to this and have recently led to many problems.” What can I do to prevent problems? Tsuchiya says, “If you can’t accept the price hike, you could consider changing management companies, but with prices rising, I think the situation is the same everywhere,” and advises that management companies also need to make an effort to provide clear accounting for the breakdown of management fees, etc. “If you want to reduce management fees as much as possible, one option is for the management association to manage the property independently. However, maintaining the quality of an apartment building requires significant management costs. The residents and the management company have no choice but to have a thorough discussion and reach a compromise.” (Editorial Committee Member, Morishita Kae) [Asahi Shimbun] 2024/10/13 (Sun) 18:00 ★12024/10/14 (Mon) 09:15:45.24 * Previous thread. https https
It seems more people are going to be in trouble because of rising maintenance fees and repair reserve funds than self-proclaimed power couples going bankrupt because of rising mortgage interest rates.
Last year, I was on the management association’s board of directors. We raised prices, but we also cut costs wherever possible. The other residents complained, but… Thanks to them, we were able to turn our accounts, which had been bleeding red ink, into a profit.
>>7 Thank you for your hard work. When reforms are made, there are always people who continue to complain in secret. It’s better if people openly voice their opposition, as it will solve the problem faster, but if you don’t think carefully about how to respond, some people will resent you for “embarrassing yourself by speaking out publicly,” and it’s difficult.
Even if you say that condos are assets because they sell for a high price, if you pay a high monthly fee separately, how is that different from a rental apartment? Well, it’s just food for general contractors lol.
>>19 The condominiums that are saying it’s three times higher are just suffering a backlash from having been unfairly undercharged up until now. There are many condominiums where the management fees, which should have increased gradually, are kept unfairly low due to a structure that bullies subcontractors.
>>22 > I want salaries to go up even more than that. The reality is that in order to raise salaries for people in their 20s and secure wages for those over 60 who are reemployed, they are cutting salaries for people in their 40s, who are the most expensive for child-rearing! That’s why lol.
Even if you’re living on 200,000 yen a month with a take-home pay of 200,000 yen, just because your take-home pay goes up to 500,000 yen doesn’t mean you can’t save money. If you’re living on 500,000 yen a month with a take-home pay of 500,000 yen, you’ll be able to cope with the price hike. If you’re living on 200,000 yen a month with a take-home pay of 500,000 yen, you’ll be comfortable.
The person in the previous thread who said renting is more profitable, why did they calculate it assuming they would only live in the house for 10 years and then sell it? Buying a house is linked to your children, so you probably wouldn’t sell it until they’re independent, I think.
Rental property that was bought, sold, and contracted at the right time >> detached house >> rental property that didn’t come along at a time when a suitable property was suitable for a life-changing moment
Some people say that it’s hard to get along with neighbors in a detached house, but I think the relationships are much closer in an apartment. That can’t be helped, since you’re all roommates in the same boat, sharing assets with people whose backgrounds you don’t know.
Well, they can be sold for a decent price now, so those with money will sell it and run away. Apartments aren’t meant to be lived in permanently, so the best thing to do is move around every 10 years. The ones left unable to move will have to draw the jackpot at the end, in a grand Old Maid game.
Management fees for new apartments are set low intentionally by developers to make them look cheap to buyers, and in the future they will need to raise them substantially to make the property viable. I think it’s better to just rent a place and relax than to pay tens of thousands of yen a month in management fees and repair reserves.
Mortgage interest rates keep rising, monthly maintenance fees keep rising, and the apartment we bought by stretching our budget with a loan that was too high is causing discord in our household!
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