I haven’t really made up my mind about this one yet.  On the one hand, it seems that logic dictates that there be a reserve fund for these maintenance items.  On the other hand, I am not comfortable giving the POA Board of Directors another slush fund, especially in the light of their clearly demonstrated lack of ability to manage our financial affairs in a business-like manner. 

While there are any number of reasons not to trust the board, the Sconti debacle is reason enough on its own.  If you take a look at the financial reports, you will also see that some of the amenities are generating a profit, yet the assessment continues to rise, further fueling the slush fund.  More recently, the decision to hire an amenities manager and restaurant manager also give pause.  Each of our big amenities already has a paid manager, and we, as far as I can tell, still have a management contract with a restaurant management group.  Our general manager simply should not be overwhelmed by having to deal with these few direct reports and the cost of these should be applied to the reserve fund.

 Realtors will always find fault with anything that could possibly be viewed as a negative except the 7% sales commission vs. 5-6% in the Atlanta metro area.  When I sold my house in Atlanta, I only paid 4% to a full-service realtor.  You will recall that they are also against requiring water conserving fixtures in older homes as well, using the same logic.  What they say should be taken with a grain of salt.

The question we have to answer before coming to a final conclusion is if we really need this fund and, if so, how do we fund it.  Assuming we really do need it, it is really a question of pay me now or pay me later. 

Would we rather increase our monthly assessments for as long as we live here or would it be better to perhaps take a 1% hit on the sales price when we finally move?  Most of us only move once.  I don’t think I have ever paid what the seller of a home was originally asking, nor have I ever gotten as much I asked for.  So maybe the 1% isn’t that bad of an idea either.

 Just remember, though, it doesn’t really matter what we think because the developer still holds all the cards and certain of our directors are still very comfortably in his pocket.