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I only looked at a few properties and none of them had the ON TOP fees that you claim owners are still paying. How about a little help?
Do you actually read my posts or just skim through them skipping every other word/line?
The assessment was made several years ago. Several current listings on Oahure note that the special assessment has been paid in full. I counted at least 3.
Do you actually read my posts or just skim through them skipping every other word/line?
The assessment was made several years ago. Several current listings on Oahure note that the special assessment has been paid in full. I counted at least 3.
AND it would KILL you to post the address/MLS #???? I honestly read your posts and looked up the YHT on my own but didn't see ONE that addressed the assessment or the additional maintenance fee. Originally you talked like it was a current situation. Little kokua...Bueller..
AND it would KILL you to post the address/MLS #???? I honestly read your posts and looked up the YHT on my own but didn't see ONE that addressed the assessment or the additional maintenance fee. Originally you talked like it was a current situation. Little kokua...Bueller..
You misinterpreted almost everything I posted.
The point I was making is the maintenance fees are high and yet a special assessment had to be made. It would make more sense if I owned a 700 SF place... only paid a $400/mo fee (which isn't entirely uncommon here) and got hit by a $40K special assessment because monthly collections to maintain the building were too low. But to pay a $700 fee for a 700 SF place and still get hit by a massive assessment just proves the gross mismanagement of the building. Further, and to refute what you said about poor people in low-priced condos not knowing how to manage AOAO's, Yacht Harbor Towers is entirely owned by very wealthy people. How could it be that a building managed by ALL wealthy people would have to pay such ridiculous fees and STILL be hit with a massive special assessment?
What about Kahala Towers? 1350 Ala Moana? All have high fees and still got hit with $50K+ to nearly 6-figure special assessments. Both are not owned by poor people.
Could it be that you are entirely wrong about everything? Buildings age and reserves don't cover the cost to replace dozens of very expensive structural and non-structural components in buildings. Give it enough time... all your condos will eventually get hit with massive special assessments. It's not a matter of if, it's when. Condo investing is one big game of hot potato.
Location: not sure, but there's a hell of a lot of water around here!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pj737
It's not a matter of if, it's when. Condo investing is one big game of hot potato.
A properly maintained building, be it wood or concrete, should last indefinitely given proper maintenance, and barring any natural disasters. (except for idiotic lack of maintenance). Royal Hawaiian has been around for almost 90 years, it's still standing, as is the Moana. One of the oldest reinforced concrete structures in America is still doing quite well on Merchant Street;
1871—The Kamehameha V Post Office Building, designed by architect J. G. Osborne, is constructed on Merchant and Bethel Streets in downtown Honolulu. Built in the Renaissance Revival style, the structure becomes the main Honolulu Post Office until 1922. Now occupied by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the structure remains today as America’s oldest reinforced concrete building.
It all comes down to upkeep, and a HOA that is willing to pay for it, as opposed to the 'gotcha' when things start falling apart.
The point I was making is the maintenance fees are high and yet a special assessment had to be made. It would make more sense if I owned a 700 SF place... only paid a $400/mo fee (which isn't entirely uncommon here) and got hit by a $40K special assessment because monthly collections to maintain the building were too low. But to pay a $700 fee for a 700 SF place and still get hit by a massive assessment just proves the gross mismanagement of the building.
You are as clear as MUD. If a special assessment was required but the Maintenance fees were too high then where did the money go? Oh, mismanagement! These were the units where YOU were on the Board?
Again, please post an address for a unit at YHT that is paying double maintenance fees.
A properly maintained building, be it wood or concrete, should last indefinitely given proper maintenance, and barring any natural disasters. (except for idiotic lack of maintenance). Royal Hawaiian has been around for almost 90 years, it's still standing, as is the Moana. One of the oldest reinforced concrete structures in America is still doing quite well on Merchant Street;
1871—The Kamehameha V Post Office Building, designed by architect J. G. Osborne, is constructed on Merchant and Bethel Streets in downtown Honolulu. Built in the Renaissance Revival style, the structure becomes the main Honolulu Post Office until 1922. Now occupied by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the structure remains today as America’s oldest reinforced concrete building.
It all comes down to upkeep, and a HOA that is willing to pay for it, as opposed to the 'gotcha' when things start falling apart.
Aloha from the Nutjob Isle
A wood building could last much, much longer than a steel-reinforced concrete building in the tropics. But neither will last "indefinitely". Nothing lasts forever. Steel reinforced concrete lasts an average 80-90 years which is a VERY long time... and yes, it can last longer. But it can also meet its end of life much sooner as well. That's why we have "averages".
I find it comical that every time I bring up the subject of buildings having finite lifespans, someone references some HISTORIC building to prove buildings can indeed last longer. What they fail to recognize is that when that building was constructed, there were 1,000 other buildings built around the same time. But 999 of them are GONE today. That should tell you something. Yes, you can probably keep a building "standing" for 200-300 years... but at what cost? The other 999 are gone because owners had enough common sense to demolish them and build a structure relevant (safety, technology, practicality) to society at that time.
If you lived in a historic building, the maintenance fee will run about $2-$5/SF. Or about 3 to 8 times more than what you are paying to maintain an average-aged condo. It is entirely impractical for hundreds of people to live in a historic building. People do it in NYC and Manhattan, but they pay the price. Not to mention these historic buildings get massive tax breaks (just look at historic buildings here in Hawaii). They need the incentives just to keep them relevant. You think condos here will get tax breaks to keep them humming along?? Trust me, they'll need it... but won't get it.
We are talking about everyday run of the mill boring residential condos here where we literally have thousands of them... not special historic buildings. They will become functionally and technologically obsolete and nobody will care about saving them except for the owners of those buildings; the amount of $$ needed to keep them relevant in society will eventually exceed the actual value of the structure. Maintenance fees will increase to the point where the resale value is so low that the owners will vote to have the building demolished instead of continually throwing good money after bad. They will become too expensive to insure because of design that does not adhere to more recent fire code. Banks will dramatically increase the interest rate they loan to AOAO's because of increased risk across the board.
New x-ray technology will allow the government to inexpensively determine structural stability of condos (i.e. will it stand up fine to a powerful hurricane or earthquake). This will happen in the next 10 years. Within the next 10-15 years, Hawaii will see its first condo project condemned. This is when the public will see, for the first time, that a real estate investment can almost vaporize in an instant. And condo values will react accordingly. Florida is already requiring any condo older than 40 years to be inspected every 10 years for electrical and structural safety.
This is not gloom and doom. It's definitely hard to swallow and accept... but it will inevitably happen in due time.
Last edited by pj737; 03-28-2015 at 09:30 PM..
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