What HOA management costs in southeastern Wisconsin
Most management companies will not give you a number until you have sat through a presentation. We publish ours.
Enter your lot count and your monthly assessment below. You will have a real estimate in about fifteen seconds, calculated from the same rate card we quote from, before you talk to anyone here.
What will management cost your association?
Move the sliders and the estimate updates as you go. These are the rates we actually quote from, not a range designed to get you on the phone.
$1,489
estimated monthly management
fee
Per lot, per month$13.54
Per year$17,871
How this is calculated
Associations with funded reserves,
current records and an engaged board typically price
15–25 percent below this estimate.
Request an exact proposal
Or call (262) 249-1922. We reply within one business day.
Included in the fee
One number covers all of it. We do not bill separately for the portal, the technology, postage, copies or violation letters, because a management fee you cannot predict is not a management fee.
- Assessment billing, collection and owner statements
- Monthly financial reporting and bank reconciliation
- Bill payment and vendor coordination
- Annual budget preparation
- Owner portal and mobile app
- 24/7 emergency answering and on-call vendors
- 24/7 AI response by text, chat and email
- Virtual meeting platform and drafted minutes
- Violation notices and rule enforcement support
- Postage, mailings, certified mail and copies
- Annual meeting notices and proxy administration
- Board meetings and site visits included each year
Billed separately, at published rates
Work that is real but occasional. You see the rate before it is incurred, and we quote a not-to-exceed on anything substantial.
| Staff time | Hourly |
|---|---|
| Administrative and clerical | $65.00 |
| Community manager | $85.00 |
| Staff accountant | $95.00 |
| Principal or executive | $175.00 |
| After-hours emergency (3 hr min) | $100.00 |
| Occasional services | Rate |
|---|---|
| Additional board meeting | $65.00/hr |
| Architectural review, desk | $40.00 |
| Architectural review, on site | $75.00 |
| Capital project management | By quote |
| Setup and transition fee | None |
Terms for a new association
You should not have to sign a long agreement to find out whether a manager is any good.
One yearInitial agreement, renewing
annually unless either of us declines.
60 daysNotice to end it, from either
side, for any reason.
No exit penaltyLeave and you owe nothing
beyond the notice period. No balance-of-term charge, no transition
fee.
This estimator assumes an association of average standing. Final pricing depends on reserve funding, records condition, prior management, governance and any pending litigation, and is set only after we review your documents. Lakes Property Management, LLC, 700 Veterans Parkway, Unit 204, Lake Geneva, WI 53147. This tool is for homeowners associations and planned communities. Condominium associations are priced differently — please call.
One year, and you can leave
A new association signs with us for one year. It renews each year unless either of us decides otherwise. Either side can end the agreement with sixty days’ notice, for any reason, and you owe nothing past the notice period.
No balance-of-term charge. No setup fee to come aboard. No transition fee to leave.
We would rather earn the renewal every year than hold a board to a contract it regrets. If a board is counting the months until it can get out, something has already gone wrong, and a longer agreement does not fix it.
Ask any company you are considering what it costs to leave in month fourteen. The answer tells you what kind of relationship you are entering.
The number on the estimate is the number on the invoice
Association management has a reputation for fees that arrive after the fact. A per-letter charge for violation notices. A portal fee. A technology fee. Postage, copies, envelopes, statements. Individually small, and together they turn a fee you budgeted into a fee you argue about.
We bundle all of it. The portal, the mobile app, the AI response line, the virtual meeting platform, violation notices, mailings, certified mail, copies, owner statements, budget preparation, annual meeting notices and proxies. One figure, quoted per month, escalating once a year at a rate stated in the agreement.
Work that is genuinely occasional stays separate, and every rate is published above: capital project management, architectural reviews, legal and collections matters, additional meetings beyond the ones included. You see the rate before the work happens, and anything substantial comes with a written not-to-exceed.
Our office is in Lake Geneva
We have managed associations across Walworth, Kenosha, Racine, Waukesha and Lake counties since 1994. Ryan Southwick is a licensed Wisconsin real estate broker and a member of Community Associations Institute.
That proximity is not a marketing line. When a lift station alarms at 2am in February, the difference between a manager forty minutes away with an existing vendor relationship and a call center in another state is the difference between a repair and a claim.
We run on FrontSteps and Caliber, which is what gives your board real-time financials, digital invoice approval, and owners a portal that actually works on a phone.
Common questions
We have fewer than sixteen lots. Can you still help?
Yes, though usually with books-only service rather than full management. At that size a good volunteer board can handle operations, and what it actually needs is clean accounting, reliable billing and a budget that holds up. Call us and we will tell you honestly whether you need us at all.
We are a condominium, not an HOA. Does this apply?
No. Condominiums are priced differently because the association owns and maintains the buildings, and the workload is not comparable. The estimator above will give you a misleading number. Call and we will quote it properly.
What is not included in the fee?
Capital project management, insurance claim coordination, special assessment administration, architectural reviews, legal and collections work, payroll if you have employees, and board meetings beyond the number included at your size. Rates for all of it are published above.
Can we keep our bank and our vendors?
Vendors, yes, and we would generally encourage it if they are doing good work. Banking is more involved, because our accounting platform is integrated with specific institutions and that integration is part of what the fee pays for. If your association has a reason to stay where it is, tell us early and we will work through it.
How long does a transition take?
Sixty to ninety days from signature to a clean first month. The pace is usually set by how quickly we receive complete records from your prior manager, which is the single most common source of delay.
Does the fee go up every year?
Once a year, at a rate stated in the agreement. The portion of the fee tied to your assessments recalculates when your board adopts its budget. Both mechanisms are written into the agreement, and neither is discretionary.
Get the real number
An estimate is a starting point. A proposal accounts for your reserves, your records, your governing documents and whatever your last manager left behind.
Send us your current budget and your declaration. You will have a written proposal and a full management agreement to review within two business days, at no cost and with no obligation.
(262) 249-1922
700 Veterans Parkway, Suite 204, Lake Geneva, WI 53147