Condo Owners- How much is your HOA fee? (rental, homeowners insurance)

[Hopeful for Life]

Is it worth it?

[astrohip]

I hope the answer is yes. We've sold our home of thirty years, and are moving into a condo in 2-3 months.

Please be yes.

Looking forward to hearing some replies...


PS: I'm being somewhat facetious in my reply above. We can't wait to make the move. I'm sure it will have some pros and cons, and there will be a learning curve. We also have two dogs, and that will be a challenge--taking them down every time for a walk instead of letting them in the backyard.

But we are also ready to give up the "joys" of home ownership. Being of a certain age, I don't want to have to mow the yard, fix the roof, call the a/c guy, or whatever. I'm also looking forward to being able to simply lock the door and head out when we want, without worrying about mail, papers and UPS.

[fnh]

We own a condo on the west coast and the monthly fee is $375. It pays for the yard/exterior maintenance, garbage and recycling, and homeowners insurance. (We carry a separate contents policy for <$400 per year.) For us it's worth every penny. Honestly it is no more expensive than what we pay for SFHs and, since our vacation condo sits vacant much of the time, we are able to lock it and leave it without worry.

[gwarnecke]

We have a condo as a rental property with a $350/month fee. It is a rip-off. This fee is supposed to cover all exterior maintenance, but the HOA doesn’t address maintenance issues in a timely manner, and refused to take any responsibility for severe interior damage that resulted from a faulty roof installation from a roofer that the condo board hired.

My wife bought the unit about 6 years ago. It has appreciated much less than a well-bought single-family Home in the neighborhood would have.

We can’t wait to sell this unit. It was going to be a retirement home for my in-laws, but they’ll be living in a single-family home instead. Yes, maintenance will be a bit more work, but we’ll have more control over the standard to which it is maintained, and how much is spent on maintenance, and won’t have to count on an incompetent HOA for crucial repairs.

Also - the 350 doesn’t cover HVAC, Plumbing, or anything inside the unit. Not complaining about this, since we knew it when we bought the unit - but just pointing out that for most condos, there are plenty of maintenance items that the owner is still responsible for.

[fnh]

Our condos are very well maintained. Before purchasing you should ask to review the Association's meeting minutes and financials, paying special attention to the Reserves studies and how well funded the Association's Capital Reserves account is as well the maintenance record.

I serve on our Condo Association board via Skype and phone. If you don't like the way your board is handling maintenance issues, stop just complaining and step up.

[Rogarven]

We have a condo for our daughter on the Mainline in Philadelphia and it is about $300. It covers yard , exterior of the building, snow removal , pool, and waste and recycling. It seems to be pretty well managed. The minutes are posted and anyone is welcome to come to meetings.

[gwarnecke]

Originally Posted by fnh

If you don't like the way your board is handling maintenance issues, stop just complaining and step up.

My wife and I have complained endlessly to the board and management company and have gotten nowhere. They are collectively the most useless stacks of steaming fecal matter that we've ever had the displeasure of associating with. Even if, as you suggest, we WANTED to spend more time in their presence, it is unlikely that we would be elected to the board as non-owner-occupants. Incidentally, I do serve on the HOA board for the neighborhood of another property we own.

Obviously, plenty of condos are well-run by competent condo boards and management companies, but this whole experience has left such a sour taste in our mouth that we will almost certainly never own a condo again. Reviewing association documents and asking current residents about their experience with the board can be helpful (my wife did this before buying the place originally), but is far from a guarantee that problems won't occur later. We only ran into issues with our board within the last year.

[fnh]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

My wife and I have complained endlessly to the board and management company and have gotten nowhere. They are collectively the most useless stacks of steaming fecal matter that we've ever had the displeasure of associating with. Even if, as you suggest, we WANTED to spend more time in their presence, it is unlikely that we would be elected to the board as non-owner-occupants. Incidentally, I do serve on the HOA board for the neighborhood of another property we own.

Obviously, plenty of condos are well-run by competent condo boards and management companies, but this whole experience has left such a sour taste in our mouth that we will almost certainly never own a condo again. Reviewing association documents and asking current residents about their experience with the board can be helpful (my wife did this before buying the place originally), but is far from a guarantee that problems won't occur later. We only ran into issues with our board within the last year.

Sorry to hear, and good for you for at least trying to make a change. That would be super frustrating.

[MichelleL66]

A person I know knows two condos near the Galleria, and he's paying around HOA fee $400 a month. What he didn't expect was the special assessment fee for a bad flood in the basement during a hurricane a few years back that flooded the elevators and electrical room. Each unit was asked to pay between $10k~$15K for that one time special assessment.