What's with places like Reston and Ashburn being so expensive? (Alexandria: rental, condo)

[JfromReston]

I don't know anything about $650 monthly fees in Reston. There may be some clusters that have outrageous fees.

The Reston Association Board just approved a $692 ANNUAL fee for 2017.
https://www.restonnow.com/2016/11/18...t-fees-of-692/

[LynchburgLover]

Supply and demand. Do they still teach anything about that in schools?

[JD984]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

Supply and demand. Do they still teach anything about that in schools?

I sure hope so, although perhaps they'll be teaching bankruptcy law to students under the new administration.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by JfromReston

I don't know anything about $650 monthly fees in Reston. There may be some clusters that have outrageous fees.

The Reston Association Board just approved a $692 ANNUAL fee for 2017.
[url]https://www.restonnow.com/2016/11/18/reston-association-board-approves-2017-assessment-fees-of-692/[/url]

Sorry

I meant many Reston condo fees are in the 600 a month category in addition to the annual RAF

In any case all fees wayyyy too much for a firsttime homeowner of a condo/townhome

But its ok I can visit a lot as it just over yonder for me

[RecessionCasualty]

Whoah- does Reston really have $600+ monthly fees? Now that I think of it a neighbor lived there at one point and when it was time to sell they said their HOA demanded $25,000 worth of changes to their property... All related to the trees, shrubs, nothing to the actual house. They had to have it done and swore off Reston from there on.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by RecessionCasualty

Whoah- does Reston really have $600+ monthly fees? Now that I think of it a neighbor lived there at one point and when it was time to sell they said their HOA demanded $25,000 worth of changes to their property... All related to the trees, shrubs, nothing to the actual house. They had to have it done and swore off Reston from there on.

Some condo fees are $600 monthly.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by HokieFan

Some condo fees are $600 monthly.

I spent 6 mos looking at 15 condo/townhome HOA's in Reston.
Condo fees ranged from 450 to 680 per month.

[kevinm]

Originally Posted by leighland

I spent 6 mos looking at 15 condo/townhome HOA's in Reston.
Condo fees ranged from 450 to 680 per month.

As properties get older, the fees are increasing to cover the pending major repairs/replacement of roofs, siding, etc. Fees are cheap in the beginning because all that is provided is trash and snow removal and some landscaping.

[snowdenscold]

Originally Posted by kevinm

As properties get older, the fees are increasing to cover the pending major repairs/replacement of roofs, siding, etc. Fees are cheap in the beginning because all that is provided is trash and snow removal and some landscaping.

Yeah, it's a little deceptive, because when you compare it to home ownership (non-condo), you're on the hook for all those things as one-time capital expenditures, as opposed to it being rolled into a monthly general payment that gets saved up.

Not arguing what the condo fees should be, just that home ownership has significant money spikes over a long time period, and it's up to the owner to set aside and budget for those on their own.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by kevinm

As properties get older, the fees are increasing to cover the pending major repairs/replacement of roofs, siding, etc. Fees are cheap in the beginning because all that is provided is trash and snow removal and some landscaping.

I was told that many of Reston condo/th HOAs have very high foreclosure rates and that reflects the unusually high monthly fees.

Maybe one of our RE cd friends can explain how bank foreclosures relate to HOA fees because I don't