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Old 10-23-2015, 10:16 AM
 
31 posts, read 37,620 times
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Hello folks, I been contemplating selling my small home which is located in a nice wooded, quiet area on the north shore to purchasing condo in a new development in an upscale community nearby. I had a recent tour of the condo unit, loved it as well as the entire complex and surrounding outside area. This development has only 20 units with no amenities which is exactly what I want in a condominium, if I was to buy. I was ok with the price of the unit. But, I wasn't happy with the fact that you had to purchase together both the underground parking space and a separate storage space. The parking price is $10,000 and the storage space is $9,000. But what seems unethical to me is that the management wants a monthly fee of $10.00 for parking and another $10.00 for storage AFTER you purchase them. This was a deal breaker for me, I walked away. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
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Old 10-23-2015, 11:06 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,543 posts, read 14,018,658 times
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I'm not sure if I've ever seen this before as there aren't too many new construction condo buildings in my neck of the woods. However, I think it makes sense.

Condo fees are generally based on your percentage of ownership in the association (i.e if the total square footage of the building is 10,000 and your unit is 1,000 sf then you own 10% of the association and your monthly fee amounts to 10% of the monthly association budget). If you buy a parking space and/or a storage space this increases how much of the association you own and it certainly makes sense that you should bear additional costs for maintaining these areas which you own/have exclusive use of.
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Old 10-23-2015, 11:12 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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$20.00 a month is the dealbreaker? Ok.
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Old 10-23-2015, 11:16 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timberline742 View Post
$20.00 a month is the dealbreaker? Ok.
The deal breaker is paying over $10k to begin with and then charging monthly for what you already bought outright....

I wouldn't do it either, if you bought the parking spot it should simply be yours...
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Old 10-23-2015, 11:24 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NycLaidBack View Post
The deal breaker is paying over $10k to begin with and then charging monthly for what you already bought outright....

I wouldn't do it either, if you bought the parking spot it should simply be yours...
In a condo association you don't ever really buy anything "outright" ever. If this was single family home and you wanted to let your driveway fall into disrepair that's one thing. However, in a condo you're going to be asked to maintain the building and it's amenities.
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Old 10-23-2015, 11:31 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePRU View Post
In a condo association you don't ever really buy anything "outright" ever. If this was single family home and you wanted to let your driveway fall into disrepair that's one thing. However, in a condo you're going to be asked to maintain the building and it's amenities.

Yup, seems totally reasonable. I'd want that stuff to be maintained.
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Old 10-23-2015, 11:44 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,809,039 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NycLaidBack View Post
The deal breaker is paying over $10k to begin with and then charging monthly for what you already bought outright....

I wouldn't do it either, if you bought the parking spot it should simply be yours...
Disagree. As Mike already explained, each owner doesn't pay out of pocket to repair a crack on their parking spot. The association will arrange to get the whole garage repaired as necessary and the extra $10/month goes towards this large capital expense. This is the whole point of living in a condo.

Also, $10k per spot is a bargain compared to the $40k or more that a garage spot in Brookline would cost (OP did not mention what city they were looking in). Instead of building the price of a parking spot into the cost of the condo unit, owners only pay for the number of spots they need whether it be 0, 1 or 2 spots.
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Old 10-23-2015, 12:14 PM
 
Location: Ohio
2,310 posts, read 6,824,030 times
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Is the condo forcing all buyers to purchase the parking and storage? If so, what if the buyer doesn't have car and need no storage?

I agree that it seems reasonable to allow buyers to buy as many parking and storage spaces as they need, but I would not want to be forced into buying either 1. As for the maintenance fee, that seems reasonable since someone pays for security, upkeep, etc. and if the HOA fees don't include them, they have to come from somewhere.
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Old 10-23-2015, 12:26 PM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,543 posts, read 14,018,658 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Parsec View Post
Also, $10k per spot is a bargain compared to the $40k or more that a garage spot in Brookline would cost (OP did not mention what city they were looking in). Instead of building the price of a parking spot into the cost of the condo unit, owners only pay for the number of spots they need whether it be 0, 1 or 2 spots.
I think the record for a parking spot was $560K a couple of years ago for a tandem spot on Beacon Hill. I have a friend who bought a tandem spot in a South End garage maybe 5 years ago and I think he paid $75K. I believe the OP is looking on the North Shore though. So, I would expect parking to be a lot cheaper.

I would also add that for only $10K/space anyone who doesn't buy two spaces (for resale purposes) needs to have their head examined (provided budget allows). Sometimes in these buildings you can rent your extra space if you don't need it which will help to defer the cost. As people buy up the spaces the last units to sell might only get one or even no parking spaces which opens up rental opportunities. Then when you go to sell you'll have a much more saleable unit.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mmyk72 View Post
Is the condo forcing all buyers to purchase the parking and storage? If so, what if the buyer doesn't have car and need no storage?
The wording in the original post is a little confusing, but I think what they're saying is that the storage lockers and parking spaces are being sold together as a set not that people are being forced to buy a parking space.
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Old 10-23-2015, 12:39 PM
 
4,538 posts, read 6,447,299 times
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My coop in 1991 charge 10K for a parking spot and $40 bucks a month maint.

Ten bucks a mont is dirt cheap.

Also is the $19K extra subsidizing the sale price of units. My condo a dedicated spot comes with each unit and one guest spot. But we all have to maintain those spots whether or not you use them.

What price and how big our condos? Perhaps they are cheaper than similar size condos with no parking or storage.
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