Punta Gorda and HOA fees (Port Charlotte: appointed, real estate, condominiums)

[mrsfly]

Hi,Have been lurking around this site for a couple of months reading many of your posts (funny how I feel like I know some of you know), especially anything Punta Gorda related. We are considering second home there and have been down a couple of times and would love to ask a few questions. Actually have a ton because you all seem so knowledgeable but I promise I will only ask 1 or 2 at a time.

We have mostly looked at condos because of our maintenance concerns not being there full time. We don’t have any kids and our jobs allow us to travel quite a bit so we hope to come often. I really would love a pool but am not sure that a house is right for us since it won’t be used all year round.

But being from up north (sorry, yes another person wanting to be warm ), I’m feeling very confused about the difference between what we call “condo fees” here and the HOA fees I keep hearing about. One condo complex apparently told our agent that the fees are different for every building?? I’m having a hard time getting answers on this stuff. Our agent claims that sometimes we won’t know the fees or pet allowances until we make an offer and get the building documents.

I admit I don’t have any condo buying experience but this doesn’t make any sense to me. Does anyone have any comments on this?

[Big House]

Originally Posted by mrsfly

Hi,Have been lurking around this site for a couple of months reading many of your posts (funny how I feel like I know some of you know), especially anything Punta Gorda related. We are considering second home there and have been down a couple of times and would love to ask a few questions. Actually have a ton because you all seem so knowledgeable but I promise I will only ask 1 or 2 at a time.

We have mostly looked at condos because of our maintenance concerns not being there full time. We don’t have any kids and our jobs allow us to travel quite a bit so we hope to come often. I really would love a pool but am not sure that a house is right for us since it won’t be used all year round.

But being from up north (sorry, yes another person wanting to be warm ), I’m feeling very confused about the difference between what we call “condo fees” here and the HOA fees I keep hearing about. One condo complex apparently told our agent that the fees are different for every building?? I’m having a hard time getting answers on this stuff. Our agent claims that sometimes we won’t know the fees or pet allowances until we make an offer and get the building documents.

I admit I don’t have any condo buying experience but this doesn’t make any sense to me. Does anyone have any comments on this?

Mrsfly,
Welcome to the board, I noticed this is your first post.
HOA and Condo fees are different, and the experts will be along to correct anything I get wrong.
Condo fees are fees that are used to pay for building maintenance costs related to common spaces that are shared by all tenants of the Condominium association, and usually cover pool maintenance, lawn mowing, landscaping maintenance, roof maintenance, and other fees like common electric usage things like that.
HOA fees are pretty similar, and sometimes go beyond that to pay for costs / loans sometimes that the developers incurred or were imposed on them by jurisdictions.

HOA fees are for single family homes and townhouses, Condo fees are for condominums where common spaces are mutally owned. UP norht, both could be used to pay for snow removal. But not here ;-).

I know others will expound on that for our benefit.

If you're looking to buy, then you ought to look at a couple of posts that I replied on where I've asked tons of questions that people can help you with.

You ought to look up a thread on the main Florida board called PUNTA GORDA ANYONE. It has tons of questions and answers that a lot of people helped me with. Also you might want to DM SoFLGal, who is the real estate agnet / expert in this area. ;-) But, since you've been following this board for a while, you probably already know that.

Good Luck with your search.

[RhysNJ]

Originally Posted by mrsfly

I’m having a hard time getting answers on this stuff. Our agent claims that sometimes we won’t know the fees or pet allowances until we make an offer and get the building documents.

I admit I don’t have any condo buying experience but this doesn’t make any sense to me. Does anyone have any comments on this?

No, it doesn't. I don't know how you could possible structure an offer if you don't have that information. I'm from out of state but believe that the Florida Condominium Act requires sellers to provide certain written details to prospective buyers that disclose all of that.

I'd love to know more about this myself.

Rhys

[mrsfly]

Thanks for the welcome Big House. I have actually read many of your posts and feel like I have learned a ton from you and some of the others.

But YIKES on the fees. So now I'm wondering if I'm getting the appropriate info from our agent. I don't really know if there even more condo costs on top of the HOA fees she told us about.

[d4g4m]

When you buy into a condo complex, there may be one building or multiple amounts of buildings [including villas] If one building, there is one board that sets the monthly maint fee. If there is multiple buildings, the maint fee can be the same for all buildings if all the buildings were built at the same time with one board.. If the buildings were built in phases and hence have different unit numbers, they will probably have different maint fees and each phase has their own board. Some condos are self managed. But most hire a management company to collect the monthly check and take care of daily maint things. The monthly maint fee includes a lot of different things but the two items that makes it so high these days is 'wind damage' coverage and how much is going towards 'reserve' funds.
There is also a new law which the board may or may not enforce and may be repealed or amended by the state legislature. The new law requires condo owners to have an interior contents and liability policy.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by mrsfly

Thanks for the welcome Big House. I have actually read many of your posts and feel like I have learned a ton from you and some of the others.

But YIKES on the fees. So now I'm wondering if I'm getting the appropriate info from our agent. I don't really know if there even more condo costs on top of the HOA fees she told us about.

I don't know who your using, but I can tell you that SoFLGal has always given me accurate information, even if it wasn't going to help her make a sale. She has been really honest.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by mrsfly

Hi,Have been lurking around this site for a couple of months reading many of your posts (funny how I feel like I know some of you know), especially anything Punta Gorda related. We are considering second home there and have been down a couple of times and would love to ask a few questions. Actually have a ton because you all seem so knowledgeable but I promise I will only ask 1 or 2 at a time.

We have mostly looked at condos because of our maintenance concerns not being there full time. We don’t have any kids and our jobs allow us to travel quite a bit so we hope to come often. I really would love a pool but am not sure that a house is right for us since it won’t be used all year round.

But being from up north (sorry, yes another person wanting to be warm ), I’m feeling very confused about the difference between what we call “condo fees” here and the HOA fees I keep hearing about. One condo complex apparently told our agent that the fees are different for every building?? I’m having a hard time getting answers on this stuff. Our agent claims that sometimes we won’t know the fees or pet allowances until we make an offer and get the building documents.

I admit I don’t have any condo buying experience but this doesn't make any sense to me. Does anyone have any comments on this?

That could be true about the fees being different for each building. I know, for instance, Riverwood in Port Charlotte has different fees for each little neighborhood within Riverwood. This is also true of the Palmer Ranch area.

I always request the condo docs prior to making an offer. You want to make sure you have reviewed all the info so you can make an informed decision before you submit your offer. Sometimes these documents can be quite large and I've had the association charge $20 or so to get them but I'd rather have them and know what their policies are. They usually make you pick them up at the association office.

Oh, and thank you Big House for the recommendation

[FLBob]

Condo and HOA documents are recorded in public records. One of the nice things in Florida is that public records are available online. So if you were looking into a deed restricted community or condominium you can go to the counties clerk of court website and search for the restrictions.

For instance if you were looking at buying a home in Deep Creek, a deed restricted community with a mandatory HOA (home owners association) you could google "Charlotte county public records". And navigate to the site and the search page. enter "Deep Creek" into the name field. Then select the document type - "restrictions" and click search and the records for the two HOA's in Deep Creek will appear. You can then read about the communities restrictions.

You can do the same for condo's, only the document type is "Declaration of Condominium".

In some planned communities with multiple distinct neighborhoods and condominiums you will find that a property will have fees to support the master association and the condo or neighborhood within the community.

Most if not all HOA and Condos are non-profit corporations, all corporation are registered in Florida and the corporate documents that are filed each year are found online. Corporate documents will name the president of the HOA or Condo with contact info. The officers of the HOA are normally very helpful in providing information about the current state of the HOA or Condo, fees, reserves, and special assessments.

Buying into a community requires doing your due diligence, in Florida much of the work can be done online.

[mrsfly]

Thank you all for your responses. I do feel better that I can get this information with a little digging BEFORE we make an offer. Although little disappointed that I didn't learn any of this from our agent. But something for us to think about....

This may be more of a personal choice, but am wondering if anyone has any thoughts on a house vs condo for our part time use. We thought a house would have a little more to worry about than a condo. As much as I would love to leave CT permanently that can't happen just yet.

[FLBob]

One of the nice things about this area for the part-time resident is that you are not alone. As a result there is an industry that exists to maintain lawns, gardens, pools, boats, etc for the resident that is away some part of the year.
I think if you look at the association fees and compare it with the cost of the services to take care of a single family home in many cases the costs are similar.