HOA fees : $200-300 for a 1BR?!

[max.b]

Originally Posted by tonyinsd

I have here the audited statement for the HOA here. There are 263 units in the complex. Here are the numbers

Utilities: $380,400
Landscape maintenance : $24,300
Pool/spa maintenance : $7,500
Common area maintenance: $545,280
Administration: $211,260
Reserve funding: $210,000

Total: $1,378,740

That works out to $430 per unit per month. They have a sliding scale depending on how large of a unit you own, and the fees vary from $401 to $483.

I don't find these unreasonable at all.

Thanks for the details, TonyInSD!

The administration price tag seems like it should pay for about 4 administrative assistants with benefits (Apparently they make just $33,000 in San Diego, according to one web site I checked).

This works out to 30 man-hours of administration per unit per year, or almost a work week. Does your unit require this much administration per year?

The reserve funding presumably goes primarily into the common area maintenance, so I'll lump them together. It works out to $2,900 per unit per year. Essentially, every unit hires a handyman for almost a month every year to work on the common areas. Is this reasonable?

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by max.b

...The reserve funding presumably goes primarily into the common area maintenance, so I'll lump them together. It works out to $2,900 per unit per year. Essentially, every unit hires a handyman for almost a month every year to work on the common areas. Is this reasonable?

Reserve funding is to be put in the bank, not spent.

It's for long-term maintenance projects, such as re-roofing. It's meant to avoid putting a $10,000 assessment on each of the homeowners when something like the roof needs re-doing. It's not for everyday maintenance.

[tonyinsd]

The administrative fees cover the costs of collecting all the payments -- that's not free -- pursuing people who don't pay, and so on. There is one full time administrator on site, and a full time maintenance person. And yes, there is some profit for the company that does the administration. They ain't doing it for free.

I think what you're trying to do is relate a 263 unit place to a single family home. You can't do that.

That's like trying to relate a bed and breakfast to a mid sized hotel.

And you cannot lump the reserve into the common area maintenance. The reserve funding is so that when the roof needs to be replaced, or the garage needs to be renovated, there's money on hand to do it. Common area maintenance involves things like keeping the common areas clean, general repairs and so on.