Help!!! I bought a Town Home with high management fee (Dallas: insurance, condos)

[sppboy]

I recently bought a Town Home around ZIP:77036. The Town Home cost around 45k 1400 sqft with 2 bed, 2 1/2 bathroom, free Gas and Water. But the monthly management fee is around $350. Is this sounds right to you? Is there anything I can do to lower my monthly management fee? Please advise.

Thanks

[City Love]

That fee includes your water and gas. So it's not really free. More than likely there is nothing you can do about the charges.

[AlexTx]

Sounds high for just water and gas. Is it gated? Pool? Landscaped? Do they maintain your exterior (roof, exterior paint, etc?)

Doubt you can lower it. It probably includes a lot of costs you aren't considering.

[sevfiv]

^Exactly - what else is included in the fees? Insurance? Other maintenance-related things?

[konfused]

Didn't you know about this before purchasing this townhome?

[sppboy]

thx for the reply guys, most of my friend's management fee are around 200-280 (280 with free cable by the way), it just $350 w/o cable is way too high... I guess i need to contact with my management to provide detail about the management fee

[Poltracker]

Originally Posted by sppboy

thx for the reply guys, most of my friend's management fee are around 200-280 (280 with free cable by the way), it just $350 w/o cable is way too high... I guess i need to contact with my management to provide detail about the management fee

You should have figured all this out before you closed. There is nothing you can do about it now except participate in board meetings. BTW, there is no such thing as "free", the costs for those items are coming out of your fee.

[westres1]

It is most likely water,gas and exterior maint including landscaping, gates, parking lots etc...
That is why I always warn TH and Condo buyers to take these fees into account and look at them as part of the money you are budgeting for your mortgage.

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by sppboy

thx for the reply guys, most of my friend's management fee are around 200-280 (280 with free cable by the way), it just $350 w/o cable is way too high... I guess i need to contact with my management to provide detail about the management fee

My bills (I have a freestanding house):

Insurance $100/month
Water $80/month (during the summer, because I'm maintaining the yard)
Landscaping/lawn maintenance: $100/month (I don't pay this, I do it myself now; used to pay this).
If your complex features a pool, that is maintenance too.

I can't see where you have a problem. In any event, my neighborhood has a Homeowners' Association, and my dues are $600/year. For that, they maintain the medians, a neighborhood pool, constable service and trash pickup---and that's ALL. We pay the rest ourselves. The fees were fully disclosed when I bought the property, at the closing (well, actually before the closing, because I asked).

Heck, my condo assn fee in Arlington in 1990 was $300; I'm sure it's much higher now (everything else is).

Oh, one more thing nobody else seems to have mentioned:

Artificially low fees almost always = deferred maintenance. Deferred maintenance ALWAYS = huge assessments when the problems become insurmountable. I know of one condo complex here where the homeowners kept the dues low---and let the beautiful cedar exteriors of the property go. They now are facing $10,000 assessments (each) to pay to replace the entire exterior of the condo. I used to live at 21 Turtle Creek in Dallas; they did the same thing and now have the prospect of $10,000 - $30,000 assessments to replace worn-out elevators, air conditioners, etc. When a condo (even a tower) "goes bad", it's not pretty.

[predatorprey]

Condos tend to be in the lower to mid 300s sometimes in the 500 to 600 if they include all utilities.
I think 350 is about average for your condo. Usually the fee is assessed by the total square footage of your condo. The bigger it is the higher the maintenance fee. That is why sometimes different units pay different amounts.

Next time do your homework PRIOR to closing.