Do we pay extra for mailings and postage?

Almost always, and it is one of the fee lines Boards most consistently underestimate because the unit price looks trivial. Standard first-class mailing is often billed at cost plus a handling charge; certified mail with return receipt runs several dollars a piece before handling.

The volume is what bites. Annual meeting notices, budget mailings, assessment increase notices, election materials, rule change notices, and every step of the collections ladder are all mailed, and several states require certified delivery for some of them. A 250-unit association can mail several thousand pieces a year without anything unusual happening.

Ask for the per-piece rate for standard and certified, whether handling is charged on top, and what a comparable community spent last year. Then ask which notices the company sends electronically where your state permits it and your owners have consented — email delivery is legal for many notices in most states now, and firms vary widely in whether they have bothered to set up consent capture.

That last question is worth more than the rate. A company that has moved eligible notices to email has cut this line for you permanently.