maintanance fees in the Costa del Sol

Hi there,

I've just bought a property  6 month ago in a 24 apartment complex and my maintanace fee is €720/year.The complex only has a very small swimming pool,underground parking space but no garden,no plants.As I found out the guy who does (suppose to do)the maintanance gets €10.000/year wages for the maintanace.I found it very harsh.Am I right?

Eve

Hi Katona ,

Welcome to EOS.

Is the maintenance man full-time?

€10.000 per year for a full-time job does not sound over-paid (harsh) to me.

The question is, do  the tasks need some-one full-time?

If not, can some-one be employed part-time to do the work for less money?

Would it be possible to engage a maintenance company to do the work for less money?

All these things must be taken into consideration.

Why not have a word with other residents and the president of your community and voice your concerns at the cost? You may have your own proposals of how the jobs can be done cheaper.

There are a number of people on EOS who are far better qualified and experienced than me with the running costs of a community.

If you go to the 'Owning a property' section of the 'General Forum' then click on 'Running a community' you will find lots of helpful information and answers to your query.

Your fees are not particularly high. To maintain a pool (even a small one) is not cheap, if there is a lift, that is not cheap either. Split between just 24 properties, each owner is going to have to pay more than if it was a larger complex. Even if the maintenance man is not full time (which I doubt he is on that wage), if he is available at short notice for emergencies, and keeps everything else in good order and running properly, I'd say you have the ideal set up. You'd be surprised just how much maintenance even a small building needs. Of course, if the jobs isn't being done properly, that's another matter.

If you want to know where your money goes, ask the president of your community, or the administrator, for a copy of the annual budget that was agreed at the AGM.

Beat that!!The president does the maintanace with his wife decided by themself.Plaster coming off the building,his wife cleanings 1x a week( if we lucky),life bulbs missing from lamps and I've just found out about their wage and it is €10.000/year.The next community meeting will be in June but I feel I paying for nothing.Last year they left the building without maintanace for 3 month while they went on holiday.