Condo fees (HOA fees, how much, to buy)

[ToriaT]

I've been doing some research on condo fees. Do you consider 350-400 a month HOA fees which include water, heat, and doorman to be average, cheap or expensive. This is on a smallish one bedroom condo that is not new. This is what is included

• Heat
• Water
• Gas
• Security
• Doorman
• Exercise Facilities
• Exterior Maintenance
• Lawn Care
• Scavenger
• Snow Removal

Pls advise.

[Drover]

"Scavenger?" Is that trash removal?

Considering everything that's covered, $350-$400 sounds about right. I've seen some places where the monthly fee approaches $2,000. Those tend to be very maintenance-intensive older buildings though.

[hxcobd]

That fee doesn't include electricity?

Seems pretty high to me. If it included electric, I probably wouldn't be too angry about it, but without electric, it seems about $100 too high.

*disclaimer - I know nothing about condo fees, so I'm just going off realistic estimates of what each of those things should cost individually.

[Jandur]

Anything in the $300 range is pretty reasonable considering what is included. HOA aren't always directly proportional to the actual cost for those services. You'll pay higher HOA at Trump Tower than some place in the south loop for instance.

[soulful]

Keep in mind HOA fees also help build up the condo associations reserve fund. A large reserve fund is an excellent indicator of a well run condo complex.

[Senacxtor]

If you are looking in the northern part of the city, please avoid my building. HOA sucks. They actually voted last year to charge lesbians more for the HOA per month than straights. They said basically its legal because there are more showers and water use when considering a lesbian. I went along with it, and didn't complain until I realized just how much more they were charging. Basically straight couples were paying $350 per month, and lesbian couples were paying $550 per month. That's just outrageous!

[koctail]

With condo fees, it's pay now or pay later. I hate when people reduce an entire building's health to it's monthly fee. This fee means little as it can change any time and does not include special assessments. Better to talk to some residents and the board members to get a feel for how it is run. If standards are being kept up, then proceed with your intent to buy.

[lycos679]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

I've been doing some research on condo fees. Do you consider 350-400 a month HOA fees which include water, heat, and doorman to be average, cheap or expensive. This is on a smallish one bedroom condo that is not new. This is what is included

• Heat
• Water
• Gas
• Security
• Doorman
• Exercise Facilities
• Exterior Maintenance
• Lawn Care
• Scavenger
• Snow Removal

Pls advise.

Sounds cheap compared to the place I looked at a few weeks ago. The condo I looked at was 1200 sqft and a 2 bedroom though.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/chica...h-hoa-fee.html

[Drover]

Four-year-old thread resurrected by a troll, people...