Contact Ralph
What is included in the house fee?
The items in the housing allowance include the operating costs that can be passed on to the tenant(s) in the event of a rental. These include expenses for water, sewage, heating, janitor or garden maintenance. In addition, there are expenses that cannot be passed on to the tenant, such as certain insurances, account fees or the costs of property management. These are therefore of particular interest to owners when it comes to saving money on the property charges.
Tips for reducing the cost of housing allowance
Here are our best tips for saving money on your house payments:
1. Switch your property manager
Since the expenses for the property management cannot be passed on to the tenants, you have to bear the full costs. This is where you can save the largest part of the housekeeping fee, if you are smart about it.
However, the cheapest property management company is not always one that you can rely on 100%. As a COA, consider to what extent you can limit the services of the management to save money and still not have a loss in the quality of service.
Ralph Management GmbH mainly operates digitally, but is of course also there for you on site. This has the advantage that a great many services can be performed conveniently, quickly and cost-effectively online. Among other things, Ralph offers a detailed overview of all operating costs of the owners' association online, which you can view at any time. For as little as 19.99 euros net per month, you have an inexpensive but professional property management company at your side that you can rely on.
2. Systematic solicitation of offers when commissioning craftsmen
It happens that WEGs hire tradesmen because they either know them personally, have used them for many years, or lack the time to compare bids for all jobs. But this can mean higher costs.
WEGs should urgently compare several offers, if possible even more than three for larger renovations. Under certain circumstances, your building and yard craftsman will reduce his demand accordingly. If you blindly follow the offers of certain companies, you run the risk of paying too much.
3. Comparison of suppliers for the purchase of domestic electricity and heating costs.
Switching electricity providers or shopping around for oil or gas can pay huge dividends. Sometimes it is enough to express the wish to terminate the contract in order to obtain better conditions. We are happy to automatically check our properties to see if we can identify any potential for optimization.
The change to Ralph is uncomplicated.
4. Review of insurance policies by an external broker.
It may be worthwhile to review the insurance policies taken out by the condominium association from time to time. Similarly, combining the insurance policies of the individual owners and the community could result in lower premiums, even if they are independent of each other. Contact two or three insurance providers and get a quote, or get free advice from an outside specialist.
5. Janitors instead of external craft companies
It may be worthwhile to hire a janitor through the condominium association to take care of minor repairs, work such as garden maintenance, winter maintenance and/or cleaning. If your janitor has a certain level of craftsmanship and there are a few small things that need to be done in your property, you will quickly save larger amounts by not having to pay dearly for certain repairs.
6. Review of the maintenance reserve
The maintenance reserve is usually a significant cost item in the house fees. It is used to pay for larger expenses for the common property, such as a facade renovation, a new elevator, etc.
However, even though it is a large expense, care should be taken here if you are thinking of cutting back on these payments. How should be saved depends on the age of the property. As a general rule, the older the house, the more should be set aside. A competent management will analyze the amount of maintenance reserve based on the long-term maintenance plan.
