Carolina Arbors Mandatory Monthly Fees (Durham: for sale, HOA fees, insurance)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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I found several threads on CA, but none that covered the built in fees, and the CA website doesn't seem to publish the info either? I did find a $174/mo HOA fee in CA, but it appears to cover clubhouse, common areas, and some community activities/events only. Are there also mandatory monthly fees for grass-cutting, landscape maintenance, watering, etc. - or are homeowners free to DIY or contract out on their own? And are there other mandatory fees? I assume homeowners pay directly for property taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.
Coming up on three years of home-owning there, and this does NOT reflect anything other than my personal experience. Sales will be happy to fill you in on details.
Carolina Arbors HOA fees cover access to the Piedmont Hall clubhouse and common areas, and some community activities/events. Some clubs have membership dues and event fees. Grass-cutting, landscape maintenance, etc. are included - but homeowners are free to DIY or contract out on their own... some folks like to mow their own lawns. YOU pay the water bill to water your own lawn, and we brought in our own pruner. Relandscaping and exterior changes require review and approval. You seem to be STUCK with a hybrid Bermuda Grass lawn, though.
NO other mandatory fees I am aware of. Homeowners do pay directly for property taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.
Coming up on three years of home-owning there, and this does NOT reflect anything other than my personal experience. Sales will be happy to fill you in on details.
Carolina Arbors HOA fees cover access to the Piedmont Hall clubhouse and common areas, and some community activities/events. Some clubs have membership dues and event fees. Grass-cutting, landscape maintenance, etc. are included - but homeowners are free to DIY or contract out on their own... some folks like to mow their own lawns. YOU pay the water bill to water your own lawn, and we brought in our own pruner. Relandscaping and exterior changes require review and approval. You seem to be STUCK with a hybrid Bermuda Grass lawn, though.
So $174/mo HOA fee includes grass-cutting, landscape maintenance on individual homes too? Frankly that seems like a bargain - thanks.
And for sales dept, their live chat isn't up today (I tried that first), and as we're just starting to look I'd like to hold off on a barrage of mail/email etc. at this point.
Concur. I paid more in coastal Connecticut just to have my lawn mowed. They do NOT shovel snow or treat ice, though, except at the Club House. Durham is... Southern, I guess on plowing. Astonishingly competent and friendly people at the City and County level, though.
I think the landscaping will look better in a few years, but right now we are still in the Green Lollipop stage, and stuck with the stuff Pulte planted. Individuality is creeping in, but mostly in back yards so far. After a while you get used to the houses being similar.
I think CA is the most bang-for-the-buck, BUT, if you toss a rock you will hit a lot of other developments in the area as well, some nicer, some cheaper. More 55+s are opening too.
One caveat, though: IF you buy, selecting options requires a lot of attention, as there are quite a few of them and specifications vary. We didn't realize we could get a Heat-a-lator style fireplace, for example. Others missed the part about in-house vacuum systems being available. Too many details for many folks.
There are a LOT of people from the Chicago area down here.
Coming up on three years of home-owning there, and this does NOT reflect anything other than my personal experience. Sales will be happy to fill you in on details.
Carolina Arbors HOA fees cover access to the Piedmont Hall clubhouse and common areas, and some community activities/events. Some clubs have membership dues and event fees. Grass-cutting, landscape maintenance, etc. are included - but homeowners are free to DIY or contract out on their own... some folks like to mow their own lawns. YOU pay the water bill to water your own lawn, and we brought in our own pruner. Relandscaping and exterior changes require review and approval. You seem to be STUCK with a hybrid Bermuda Grass lawn, though.
NO other mandatory fees I am aware of. Homeowners do pay directly for property taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.
Note that if you elect to do your own grass cutting or landscaping, you will NOT get a discount in the monthly fees.
We have visited and investigated Del Webb active 55 communities and the monthly fee is a good deal. My thinking has always been that much of the cost is built into the sale of the house.
Food for thought. After a full development doesn't Del Webb pull out and turn it all over the residents? In which case they are getting their money up front and then out and it is up to the residents to make it all work for $174 per month. Is that correct?
TuborgP... almost sorta, in some ways. We have been told that Pulte is gone when the last house is sold, except for warranty work. They have at least two other developments going on in the area, so they won't be far. Several homeowner-staffed HOA operating committees have been spun up already (architecture and landscape, maybe parts of finance), and we are less than half built out.
TuborgP... almost sorta, in some ways. We have been told that Pulte is gone when the last house is sold, except for warranty work. They have at least two other developments going on in the area, so they won't be far. Several homeowner-staffed HOA operating committees have been spun up already (architecture and landscape, maybe parts of finance), and we are less than half built out.
Yeah thats my understanding and I wonder about the out years when folks have aged and not using all the amenities and don't want to pay or as funds decline can't afford to.
Yeah thats my understanding and I wonder about the out years when folks have aged and not using all the amenities and don't want to pay or as funds decline can't afford to.
Seems like a good question. As I understand it they've been around since the 60's, so there should be examples to refer to. I just don't know where they are other than Sun City AZ.
MidPack, just my perspective, and we are just about half built-out, but The Arbors demographics are a bit strange for a 55+, being skewed towards the 55 end of things, and having a LOT of locals. This may be due to it being just about the only place in the Triangle where one could find reasonably-priced, well-built single-floor housing when we were looking. Turnover also seems a lot higher than I expected, with the very old being replaced by "closer to 55s." The Crowd is more affluent than I anticipated as well...
We come from an affluent, over-educated part of New England, and are used to being surrounded by lawyers, MBAs, CPAs, etc... even with that in mind, damn there are a lot of lawyers, MBAs and CPAs around here. Most of them are watching the HOA's plans and budgets quite intensely. The long-term cash flow potentials are... energetically debated, shall we say, at the most unlikely places.
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