HOA Survey (Reston, Manassas: foreclosures, HOA fees, insurance)

[Moman1]

I know the subject of HOAs has been beaten up thousands of times on here. I have been a part of those discussions many times and I have yet to find any conclusive reason to exonerate my HOA from charging these outrageous fees every month. And then, they have the gaul to raise the rates. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't mind paying the fees if I got more from it. But I don't get much for my money. We get trash removal and snow removal for $63 a month. No clubhouse, no pool, no playground. Our neighborhood is 70 homes. That's $4400+ for picking up the trash every week and removing snow (road only, not sidewalks) 3 (average) times a year. So I'm trying to do some research before next month's meeting to argue some points with them.

I'm not here to argue the reasons why HOAs exist or the pros and cons of them. What I would like to know is how much do you pay in HOA fees per month and what do you get for your money? If I find out I'm paying a fraction of what others are paying, I'll shut up and deal with it. If we're paying too much, I'm going to push the matter at the next meeting.

Thanks in advance for your information.

Kevin

[oneasterisk]

I just bought a house in an older neighborhood (homes built in the late 70's) and the HOA fee is about $12 a month. Other than maintenance on a small park, they don't offer anything else with it. The road is maintained by VDOT and trash service is on you. 6 months of ownership and I just got a monthly newsletter informing me they're going to start beautifying the sign at the entrance.

[Margery]

The Cascades Association which is in Potomac Falls in Sterling has 6500 homes and the monthly HOA fee is about $60.00 per month for a single family detached home. This fee includes 5 pools, some fitness centers (not sure of the number) at least one community center that can be rented for parties, 25 tot lots, 13 tennis courts (I think there is an extra fee for use of the courts) walk/jog paths througout the community, snow and trash removal. There may be extra fees for small neighborhood communties which are not plowed by VDOT and any of the condo communities will have an additional neighborhood fee and the condo fees. I think for the owners of the single family detached homes the $60/mo is a real bargain. The common areas are beautifully landscaped and maintained.

[tgbwc]

The Manassas neighborhood from which we moved in March was about $72 a month. That included the clubhouse, fitness center, pool, tennis courts, playgrounds, snow removal, trash, common ground maintenance and activities. There were about 800 homes.

[seiketsu]

Not exactly an HOA, but I get hit twice -- by condo fees as well as annual Reston fees. Condo fee is $250 a month for trash, water, and partial snow removal. And the master insurance plan, I guess, although we have to have our own private insurance as well. No clubhouse or other common areas (all units open to the outside, so we don't even have hallways or elevators), no gym, no pool. Reston Association is $400+ per year for use of community facilities and pools, none of which I have ever used.

[normie]

Originally Posted by Margery

13 tennis courts (I think there is an extra fee for use of the courts)

It's just a one-time key fee. We paid $2 for it when we moved in, and the key is transferable when you sell the house. Cascades has an interesting additional service for homes on pipestems. They charge an extra $4 a month, and for that you get the entire pipestem including your driveway resurfaced every two years. We have an unusually long driveway so it's a good deal for us.

The other thing I like about Cascades HOA is the arborist. They're extremely good about removing dead trees and limbs on community property. If they're working in your neighborhood you can often swing a good deal to get some work done on your own property. We've always been very happy with the grounds maintenance, and now that Trump has moved in it seems to be getting even more attention. (Wasn't sure I was going to be happy with Trump as a neighbor, but so far he's been a good neighbor and contributed some nice things.)

Another thing you get with Cascades HOA is community service programs. The blood mobile comes by, you can get flu shots here, etc. The Green Team is a popular recycling/ecology group sponsored by the HOA. The HOA also hold events such as an annual 10K to raise money for the fire department, if you're new to the area this is a great way to meet your neighbors.

If you want more details about Cascades HOA I think I wrote some more about it in this photo tour thread.
Lowes Island (part of Cascades, which is the northern section of Sterling)

[cdmurphy]

In Brambleton:

Single-family detached - $162.63 (slightly more for homes on common driveways because the HOA does their snow removal)
Townhouse - $161.03

(I'm omitting condos because there are two separate condo associations with their own fees plus some of the Brambleton fees too - plus they have their own pool, gym, dog park, etc.)

What we get for this:

Verizon FiOs TV Premier Package (does not include DVR/STB rental)
Verizon FiOs Internet - 20/5 (plus 14 e-mail accounts and 10MB web space)
AAA trash (2x week) and recycling (1x week - plus RecycleBank rewards program)
Two pools
Parks, playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball court, ponds (fishing allowed, but no boating or swimming), picnic tables, benches, doggie poop stations, bluebird trail, walking/biking trails
Community intranet, monthly e-newsletter, weekly e-bulletins
Activities - Freedom Festival, Fall Festival, community yard sales, summer concert series, neighborhood campout, holiday parties, etc.
Community center
Full-time staff - community manager, events and communications coordinator, covenants administrator, community services coordinator, maintenance technician

[car54]

Originally Posted by Moman1

...We get trash removal and snow removal for $63 a month. No clubhouse, no pool, no playground...

No HOA in my 'hood...but I'll tell you that my trash service costs about $30 a month.

I guess, with our usually mild winters, that the value of snow removal is negligible.

That leaves $33 a month you're paying. Are there no common areas/gateways/street lights, etc that need mowing/maintenance? If so, I'd say your HOA fees are reasonable...

[Workin_Hard]

Being in a community of only 70 homes is tough in that there is no economy of scale. ~$4400/mo comes up near $50K/year, a lot of which I'd guess is eaten up by fees from the management company who oversees the community. Trash pickup and (I'd also guess) some minimal landscaping of common areas takes a bite also. Then add necessary insurance (community common area liability, Board member liability - both required), attorney's fees (a necessary evil), tax preparation, periodic reserve study fees, annual audits - it all adds up, and quickly too! Our HOA just raised the fees after five years due to declining collections due to foreclosures (and deadbeat homeowners) in our small community. There was a Post article not long ago about some HOAs being in trouble financially due to problems like this.

Bigger communities deal with bigger budgets - 800 x $50 is a lot more than 70 x $50 - and the costs in a bigger community do not always increase proportionally.

[Moman1]

Thanks for the responses so far. It's amazing to see the diversity of fees.

To answer one question in particular, we do not have any common areas that need maintaining with the exception of 3 light poles and the neighborhood sign. ALL other maintenance is on the owners.

All I'm really looking for is some sort of validation for the fees and I can't get it. They keep saying "management fees". Really? Does it take that much work for a neighborhood of 70 homes that doesn't have any common areas?

Anyway, thanks for hearing me vent. Please keep the examples coming.

Kevin