Whale – Whilst $10k is a lot of money for an individual, in a 27 lot plan, that translates to roughly $1 a day per lot for all the services a good SM provides. I’m not saying you had a good SM given the problems you list, but $1 a day won’t get you a cup of coffee or newspaper these days, so it is not a lot to ask for all the messy little things an SM can be saddled with, such as being available to take calls from all 27 lot owners and/or their partners over the most trivial matters. The time wasting of some owners is the real killer – I’m aware of SM who got a half hour or more lecture about the bad mobile reception within the strata with demands for the SM to get it fixed now.
Someone with common sense and a co-operative OC should be able to self manage without too much difficulty and save a good amount that can be put towards repairs. The real issue with self management is keeping up with things such as fire safety and asbestos handling requirements and handling complaints once you have one or more obnoxious owners. It is when these things go wrong that OCs come looking for an SM to clean up the mess.