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Replace on Schedule, or Wait?

When the condition of one of your Reserve components has gone all the way from Good/New to Poor/Old and now has a Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of zero, the component should be repaired or replaced immediately, right?

Story of the Month The Budget Jam that became a Lawsuit

It all started out so innocently, with a phone call asking if we knew about reserves at condominium Associations. It was the attorney of a Developer. They were being sued by the Association for an outrageous sum, for failure to set aside appropriate Reserves.

Why Contribute to Reserves?

Boardmembers and Managers often get themselves into a situation where they need to “sell” the value of regular Reserve contributions to their homeowners. It’s often a simple matter of fighting for budget dollars… Reserve contributions don’t keep the lights on, they don’t keep the Association properly insured, and they don’t pay the Management company’s bill.

Story of the Month:When to Repair or Replace a Component?

I recently conducted a site inspection at a property with a large air conditioning chiller unit on the roof. The property was about 15 years old, and the chiller was original. A replacement chiller of this type should cost about $50,000 (installed) and last about 20 years.

Deciding between “Cash Flow” and “Percent Funding” your Reserves

Hawaii state law (Section 514A-83.6) requires associations to update their Reserve computations each year as part of their annual budget, and include a specific statement about whether the budgeted Reserve contributions were developed using a “Percent Funded” or “Cash Flow” funding plan.