Three bedroom apartment in the Bronx for 150K (Alabama: cheap apartment, condos)
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Why? You do understand what is included in your maintenance right? I pay roughly $11,000 per year.
My friend told me her water bill for her home was $200 a month. The rest of the numbers are from when I was renting.
Annual expenses
Water bill = $2400
Electric bill = $2100
Gas = $360
Taxes = My building, through my maintenance paid close to $4,000 for my apartment which is smaller.
So in total, around $8,500 of my expenses that I would otherwise have to pay, was paid via my maintenance. So above and beyond those things above I pay around an extra $200 a month or roughly $2,500 a year. That $2,500 per year pays for capital improvement, every day repairs, day to day operations, salary of the staff that maintains the building, the garages, the mortgage on the building itself. (We are a rare coop that owns the land it sits on.)
This year there was a major leak above me. The pipe in the bathroom corroded. It ruined the ceiling and my wall. It had to be repaired. That meant removing a piece of the wall and ceiling to find the leak. The building hired master plumber to come to fix it. The building hired a plasterer fix the wall and ceiling. How much do you think that would have set me back if I had to pay for all of that on my own? I paid nothing for it, other than the used vacation time to sit and wait for the repairs.
I forgot to mention that 40% of what I pay toward maintenance is tax deductible. None of this includes the taxes I get back for my standard mortgage deduction.
The problem is that people don't understand what they are getting in return.
My current association fees are $750 a month (I live in Hawaii currently).
It covers water and sewage (water in Honolulu is more expensive than it is in NYC). For some people this is a huge deal (and I've heard of some families out here having average water bills north of $200 a month), but I am overpaying for water as I don't use a whole lot of it to begin with (when I actually paid specifically for water when I was a renter out here, my bill was well under $100 a month).
Cable (a "benefit," but one that I'd gladly do without as I rarely, rarely watch cable television).
24/7 building security (this is a major benefit that I am grateful for. My building's annual security expenses for personnel is around $130,000, which when divided the 170 or so units at my place, comes to an average of about $64 a month per unit . . things aren't more expensive as one of the "security" team members is the resident manager, who mans the front desk for 8 hrs during the day and who is given a free unit to live him, which cuts down on the cash salary paid to him)
Rooftop pool and recreation area (I don't personally use this area much, but it is a big selling point for my building).
Building/grounds maintenance, etc.
Reserve fund, insurance, etc.
My fees don't cover electricity, but my electricity bill is, on average, less than $50 a month, so that's not a big deal to me really.
All of this is to say that, if I was a big user of water/cable/the pool/recreation areas, my monthly fees would be more reasonable to me, but otherwise they are a bit high. It definitely isn't that high for those who benefit more from water being included in the fee. And that's at $750 a month. I couldn't justify paying higher fees than that in NYC as--like the case with my living situation in Honolulu--I'd be personally benefiting at a much lower rate than some others. But, then again, I'm more of a minimalist (nothing that I go out of my way be). Indeed, for me, let's just say that I'd pay $100 a month in water (it would never be that high for me, but let's just round up), $64 for security, and let's say $50 for grounds upkeep (I'd pay for that), I'm talking looking at paying more than more than $540 extra a month for all the rest . . . of course, others in my building get much, more benefit out of the fee.
My current association fees are $750 a month (I live in Hawaii currently).
It covers water and sewage (water in Honolulu is more expensive than it is in NYC). For some people this is a huge deal (and I've heard of some families out here having average water bills north of $200 a month), but I am overpaying for water as I don't use a whole lot of it to begin with (when I actually paid specifically for water when I was a renter out here, my bill was well under $100 a month).
Cable (a "benefit," but one that I'd gladly do without as I rarely, rarely watch cable television).
24/7 building security (this is a major benefit that I am grateful for. My building's annual security expenses for personnel is around $130,000, which when divided the 170 or so units at my place, comes to an average of about $64 a month per unit . . things aren't more expensive as one of the "security" team members is the resident manager, who mans the front desk for 8 hrs during the day and who is given a free unit to live him, which cuts down on the cash salary paid to him)
Rooftop pool and recreation area (I don't personally use this area much, but it is a big selling point for my building).
Building/grounds maintenance, etc.
Reserve fund, insurance, etc.
My fees don't cover electricity, but my electricity bill is, on average, less than $50 a month, so that's not a big deal to me really.
All of this is to say that, if I was a big user of water/cable/the pool/recreation areas, my monthly fees would be more reasonable to me, but otherwise they are a bit high. It definitely isn't that high for those who benefit more from water being included in the fee. And that's at $750 a month. I couldn't justify paying higher fees than that in NYC as--like the case with my living situation in Honolulu--I'd be personally benefiting at a much lower rate than some others. But, then again, I'm more of a minimalist (nothing that I go out of my way be). Indeed, for me, let's just say that I'd pay $100 a month in water (it would never be that high for me, but let's just round up), $64 for security, and let's say $50 for grounds upkeep (I'd pay for that), I'm talking looking at paying more than more than $540 extra a month for all the rest . . . of course, others in my building get much, more benefit out of the fee.
Less than you'd think. Utilities generally cost more in Hawaii than they do in NYC, though there are some differences. No, you don't have to run the heat, though you are running the AC more (that's the main difference in terms of things you "need" between the two states/cities), but that doesn't drastically change fees. And I am very familiar with the cost of living in NYC, including average cost of utilities vs. what I'd actually be paying for personal use.
Last edited by prospectheightsresident; 03-03-2019 at 09:30 AM..
I wonder if the catch is: it’s an ”as is” sale. The curiosities of the apartment come with the sale LOL.
LoL, you think there's a catch? I think it's as straight up as it can get. I automatically assumed that all the stuff in the apt would be mine if I came with an all-cash offer.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
I don't think there's a catch. This is what market values are like in that building. In fact, this is probably even more than it should be listed for since a 2 bedroom just went for $95K
Why? You do understand what is included in your maintenance right? I pay roughly $11,000 per year.
My friend told me her water bill for her home was $200 a month. The rest of the numbers are from when I was renting.
Annual expenses
Water bill = $2400
Electric bill = $2100
Gas = $360
Taxes = My building, through my maintenance paid close to $4,000 for my apartment which is smaller.
So in total, around $8,500 of my expenses that I would otherwise have to pay, was paid via my maintenance. So above and beyond those things above I pay around an extra $200 a month or roughly $2,500 a year. That $2,500 per year pays for capital improvement, every day repairs, day to day operations, salary of the staff that maintains the building, the garages, the mortgage on the building itself. (We are a rare coop that owns the land it sits on.)
This year there was a major leak above me. The pipe in the bathroom corroded. It ruined the ceiling and my wall. It had to be repaired. That meant removing a piece of the wall and ceiling to find the leak. The building hired master plumber to come to fix it. The building hired a plasterer fix the wall and ceiling. How much do you think that would have set me back if I had to pay for all of that on my own? I paid nothing for it, other than the used vacation time to sit and wait for the repairs.
I forgot to mention that 40% of what I pay toward maintenance is tax deductible. None of this includes the taxes I get back for my standard mortgage deduction.
The problem is that people don't understand what they are getting in return.
I have given up on many posters. They have one million and one reasons why everything is not good enough for them. In the same breath they complain about not being able to find an affordable place to call their own.
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