What is a fair price for an HOA fee? (Oro Valley: foreclosure, renting)

[swbell6]

I'm thinking of buying a nice, small home in an upscale community. It's almost perfect - great location, low price and good condition. The catch? The HOA fee is $170 a month. That seems pretty high to me. It covers the community pool, spa and weight room, plus landscaping in the common areas. All pretty normal, right?

When I lived in a townhouse, I paid $70 a month and it included insurance covering the outside of everyone's home, plus all of the above.

What do you think of the $170 price? And if you have an HOA, what do you pay and what do you get?

[Bummer]

I agree, SWBell . . .

Sounds a little on the high side if that is all it covers.

[RickTucsonHomes]

Kind of hard to say without knowing the location. But for comparison you can look at Heritage Highlands in Dove Mountain, 160 month with the same amenitites, plus a guard gated entrance. They also have a golf course but it is not tied to HOA fees, golf is extra. In Oro Valley there is a condo complex Pusch Ridge Wilderness, all the same amenities you are talking about and they are 160.00 month total, and those are condos. Then if you go down to Rancho Sahuarita, single family homes, you can get for as little as 70.00 month,(depending on which subdivision you live in) and they have fabulous facilities. All the same amenities you spoke of plus a waterslide, parks and multiple pools.

[Marcy1210]

I live in a condo complex in Oro Valley and our dues are $140.00 a month. That covers the pool, athletic center, clubhouse, business center, barbeque area, landscaping company's weekly maintenance and new landscaping, daily trash and recycling pickup, exterior maintenance on the buildings, insurance, management fees (we have a large management company that is our HOA), and our water bill. We have two maintenance workers who are on call 24/7 that we pay for as well. I feel that our dues are fair for all that we receive.

[azdr0710]

I live in a very small townhouse complex (<12 units) and so we each have to pay more to cover the same costs....

dues may depend on how many homeowners are available to split the costs among....fewer would pay more....a very large complex can split the costs down to a lower amount per owner

[swbell6]

Thanks for the replies. It's a small complex of maybe 40-50 homes and townhomes built in the '80s in the Starr Pass area. It's not gated. But the fee doesn't cover maintenance or trash pickup.

[iflyjetzzz]

I've got a several issues with HOAs.
First, if several homes go into foreclosure, HOA fees end up never being collected on those properties prior to foreclosure. That means everyone else's HOA fees rise to make up the losses.
Second, there is a fairly high administrative fee associated with a lot of HOAs. The HOAs are set up by builders who often get a kickback from the HOA management company.
Third, are you really getting $170/month in value from the HOA? That seems awful steep. It'd be cheaper to join a gym for the same benefits.

On the home I'm renting, the HOA fee is something like $20/month. I still consider that to be too high, as they provide nothing to speak of for the subdivision except that the management company polices constantly for HOA violations such as not returning your trash can to your back yard within 24 hours of trash pickup. ... Friday's pickup day for me.

I'm not a HOA fan and I have seen very little value from them over the last 20+ years.

[cheesecurd]

We just moved into our Oro Valley home and we pay $56.00 a month HOA fees. We closed yesterday!!!!!!

[dog noise]

In a community with a pool and those other types of amenities you can expect to pay over $120/month. You can pay $50/month or more just for a community with no pool.

Actually, that's single family homes. Townhouses may be less.....

[Fruitless]

Old thread, but the subject interests me.
Maybe folks would care to update the HOA fees going rates
that they know of? One HOA fee I was looking at in Sierra
Vista is $400 monthly.

And maybe somebody could clue me into HOAs for house
(non-condo) communities? Who runs the HOA? Is it an investor
corporation of some kind or is it the folks that live there?

Naturally, I am a bit concerned with cost creep over time.

Thanks.