Aging Infrastructure in Condominium Complexes The Surfside Condominium collapse continues to resonate through the industry sounding the alarm about the health of building's infrastructure. Many boards are still operating in the dark underfunding reserves in the hopes that we won't have a failure. Other boards feel comfortable in having $100,000 plus in reserves that they [...]
We frequently get questions from board members on why certain assets not included. What assets are most likely to be excluded? The general rule is if a component (assets) has a life greater than 30 years its outside the scope of the study. For example, natural gas piping has a life of 50 years [...]
What is the Fannie Mae 'unavailable condo and co-op list'? Did you know condo associations can land on the list if it has violations related to structural or mechanical repairs that need to be completed? Imagine a Pacific Northwest condo association that certain lenders won’t touch: It could be a nightmare situation for a buyer, [...]
Key takeaway: A structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) is a non-invasive, visual inspection of critical infrastructure that relates to the safety of a building. Washington's Condominium Act does not require structural or engineering inspections currently but its very possible that with Florida changing its requirements after the Surfside Condominium collapse that could change. However Fannie May [...]
Simply put, a Capital Needs Assessment (CNA) is a road map to understanding the life expectancy and cost of major items needed to maintain a property. Many public funding sources require non-profit organizations to have CNA's to prove they have the funds to maintain the properties they have. Our inspectors focus on providing a detailed [...]
What is the Lifespan of a Condominium Reserve Study? Today we have client associations who only sign up for us to do a single reserve study and then we don't hear from them for years. The board make think it is being conservative but in reality they are operating using old data as a guideline. [...]
Can HOA capital improvements be paid for from reserves? For purposes of this question we are defining HOA capital improvements as the expenditure of funds for new, not previously existing, components. We frequently get this question from newer clients who usually will have what they consider a surplus in their reserve account. Member look at [...]
Updated in August 2023 - Hawaii just had a devastating wildfire that killed over 100 people and burned more than 1,100 structures. It was reported at least 6 condominium associations were destroyed and many others had damage. Its unknown if the damaged associations were habitable. Our hearts go out the Maui community and we hope [...]
