Managing your own PPE (building of 3 apartments)

Real Estate
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Hello fellow mustachios!

We bought one of a 3-apartment complex in 2022 and are excited that the construction is finally coming to an end after many delays…

Our apartment will be the first one to be finished, and I am researching more info about the Propriétaire par Etages (PPE) that will need to be established before discussing this topic with the remaining 2 owners of our building.

A bit of research leads me to believe that it is common for smaller buildings to manage the PPE themselves, but am hoping to find someone who any experience to share with me before I present this to the future neighbors.

So far, the biggest argument not to use an agency is a relative high cost for a small service in return. I stumbled upon a 2500 - 3000 annual fee + 500 CHF per apartment. If I am correct, that would not include any concierge, just administrative support.

If we as owners were to be able to do manage the PPE ourselves, every owner would save ± 90 to 150 CHF per month (relative to the size of each apt).

A hurdle I am encountering at this stage, is that I have no experience in managing the admin / finance aspect of this (although I’m sure I could manage tracking expenses etc), but the biggest one would be legal issues.

So far our relations have been cordial (we are all a bit disgruntled due to the delays obviously, but that is VS the construction company).

I’m looking for any feedback or opinions on this matter. At the end of the day, I feel that this decision will need to be taken unanimously, but any arguments I can add will sketch a better picture.

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The agency basically acts as a mediator in regards to the owners of the building (you may not have the same views of what must/should be done than your neighbors do) and with other buildings around (say you own part of a private road that leads to your building, it’s not necessarily easy to come to an agreement as to what share of the costs the other owners should bear and to get them to actually pay them out).

Self managing is fine if you have good relationships with your fellow owners, an agency may add significant value if you don’t. I’m not sure how I would react but I would at least ponder hiring an agency at first, so that it becomes harder for the co-owners to back out of it if things turn sour, and not renew their contract if all goes well. I’d see that as an insurance policy of sort which, when it comes to co-ownership, may be worth its cost.

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Thanks for your feedback @Wolverine. I like your argument of the insurance policy. Best to search and compare a couple offers before presenting this option to the co-owners.

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Tip 1: try to manage it yourselves
Tip 2: an Administrator is not mandatory
Tip 3: register with the estate board “Chambre Immobilière”, for example CVI in Vaud
Tip 4: the Administrator should be elected each year

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Thanks for the tips! I discussed it with the co-owners, and one actually suggested @wolverine’s “insurance policy”, which had worked out well for them in a slightly larger community.

It’s convenient to have the agency do the initial start-up rather than starting from scratch ourselves.