When should a developer hire a condo management company?

Before sales start, ideally. The first-year budget and reserve plan get baked into the offering documents and set buyer expectations, so it is better to get them right up front than to fix them after the first board is elected. Bringing in a manager early also means condo questionnaires and closing paperwork are handled from the first unit sale.

Will Green Ocean keep managing the association after the owners take over?

That is up to the owner-elected board. Green Ocean's job is to run the building well enough through the first year that the new trustees want to keep the firm. If they do, the transition is seamless; if they evaluate other firms, they inherit clean records either way.

Does Green Ocean work directly with the developer's attorney?

Routinely. The master deed, declaration of trust, bylaws, and offering materials are the attorney's domain; the budget, reserves, operations, and questionnaire turnaround are Green Ocean's. The two are coordinated so the legal documents and the operating reality match.

New Development Condo Association Management in Boston

Green Ocean sets up and manages new condo associations in Boston, from the developer's first unit through the handoff to the owner-elected board. We build the operating and reserve budget, stand up the association under Massachusetts condo law (M.G.L. c. 183A), turn around the lender and buyer condo questionnaires that hold up your closings, and run the building through its first year so units sell and the project runs without you babysitting it. Third generation, 60+ associations under management, 4.9 stars across 982 Google reviews.

If you are a developer, sponsor, or condo converter (or the attorney handling the project), this is the management partner that protects the thing you are actually selling: a building that looks well run from the first showing.

Get our brochure

Call 617-982-0116

What does a developer need from condo association management?

A new development moves through four stages, and each one has a way to go wrong. Green Ocean covers all four.

STAGE 1

Setup

Before and during sales: a real first-year operating budget, a funded reserve plan, the association stood up correctly under M.G.L. c. 183A, insurance placed, and books and bank accounts opened. Get the budget wrong here and the first board inherits a shortfall and a special assessment.

STAGE 2

Sales & closing support

Lenders and buyers' attorneys send condo questionnaires and document requests on every unit. Slow or sloppy answers delay financing and push closings. This is where most developers lose time they did not budget for.

STAGE 3

First-year operations

While you still control the board, someone has to run the building: collect fees, pay vendors, handle maintenance and warranty items, keep clean books, and stay compliant. Done right, this is the track record the owner board will judge you on.

STAGE 4

Transition (turnover)

When control passes to the owner-elected trustees, they get clean books, a funded reserve, complete records, and a working operation. A messy turnover is how a developer ends up in a dispute with the very people who bought the units.

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Why developers and sponsors use Green Ocean

We are a third-generation Boston firm (family in real estate since 1952, firm since 1977) managing 1,000+ condo units across 60+ associations, with a 50+ person team and an in-house licensed general contractor. For a developer, that means three things:

We set the association up to pass scrutiny. Realistic budget, funded reserves, CMCA and AMS credentialed managers, and statutory compliance under M.G.L. c. 183A. The first board inherits a clean operation, not a problem.
We protect your closings. Condo questionnaires and lender document requests get fast, accurate turnaround so financing and closings do not stall on paperwork.
We fix things in-house. Our in-house GC (Pro Services Boston) handles punch-list, warranty coordination, and transition repairs directly, instead of subbing it out and hoping. Faster, controlled, and the repair-coordination fee is waived when we do the work.

How do you handle condo questionnaires for closings?

Usually the developer or their attorney is expected to provide these, and a delayed condo questionnaire is one of the fastest ways to hold up a buyer's financing and closing. We turn them around for you. Once we manage the association, lender and buyer requests come to our team, get answered accurately against the association's actual budget, insurance, and reserves, and go back quickly so your units close on schedule. For a developer trying to sell out a building, fewer financing delays is money.

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What does the transition to the owner board look like?

The handoff (turnover) is where developer reputations are made or broken. Because we have run the association from day one, the owner-elected trustees inherit clean financials, a funded reserve, complete vendor and warranty records, and a management team already in place. Nothing has to be reconstructed. If the new board keeps us on, the building never skips a beat. If they want to evaluate other firms, the records are clean enough that the transition reflects well on you, not against you. Our standard done-for-you transition runs 45 to 60 days.

How is new-development condo management priced?

Our condo management is à la carte (financial-only, maintenance-only, or full management) and billed as a fixed per-unit fee that gets cheaper per unit as the association grows. New developments are scoped to the project: the setup work, the sales-period support, the questionnaire turnaround, and the first-year operation. Tell us the project (unit count, target sales timeline, new construction or conversion) and we will put a proposal in front of you. For how condo management is priced generally, see how much condo association management costs in Boston.

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Frequently asked questions

When should a developer hire a management company?

Do you manage condo conversions, not just new construction?

Will you keep managing the association after the owners take over?

Do you work directly with the developer's attorney?

Do you only work in Boston?

What Boston owners and boards say about Green Ocean

Developers bet their project's reputation on the team running the building. Here is what the people we manage for actually say (4.9 stars across 982 Google reviews).

Get our new-development brochure

Tell us about your project and we will email you our developer brochure: how we set up and run new condo associations from the first unit through the owner-board transition, including the closing-questionnaire turnaround that keeps your sales on schedule. Scoped to projects we have handled 60-plus times.

Prefer to talk it through?

Call 617-982-0116.