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If the condo has a pool that's $$$ both in maintenance (a pool is required to be balanced and treated daily since its "commercial") and in insurance. Your reserve contribution, especially if its an older building and starting to need major repairs, but teh board in the past wasn't as diligent about setting money aside so the owners are playing catchup.
I once lived in a townhouse unit with a pool. Not only did the fencing have to be inspected annually, there had to be a lifeguard on duty when the pool was open. Those are some hefty expenses!
I once lived in a townhouse unit with a pool. Not only did the fencing have to be inspected annually, there had to be a lifeguard on duty when the pool was open. Those are some hefty expenses!
I've lived in 2 different complexes with pools but no lifeguards. I guess it can vary by state but I'd be surprised if that was a law as opposed to a choice the community and/or management company made.
I once lived in a townhouse unit with a pool. Not only did the fencing have to be inspected annually, there had to be a lifeguard on duty when the pool was open. Those are some hefty expenses!
Our pools are serviced daily while open by a licensed pool tech. You have to have an annual inspection (which included the fencing). Plus the water, chemicals and equipment replacement.
Tennis courts need regular resurfacing, plus the fencing needs repairs, the net and rollers need to be replaced regularly etc.
Wifi is CONSTANTLY going out, especially in a large building. We have one 48 unit condo. We pay about $350/month, plus an additional cost to Charter Communications. Everytime it goes out (probably once a month) its a $100 service fee to reset the routers.
Elevator - not only do you have your annual inspections, but also the contract itself with a service (usually 10k +/- depending on number of elevators. Then anytime it goes out, there's usually a $250/hour after hours fee.
Insurance (at least in our area) is typically 50% of our fees.
Then you have your reserve contribution. Banks require 10% (so if your fees are $100,000 that's a minimum of $10,000 going into your reserve account. What is your exterior? If its Cedar or wood it has to be painted regularly. Which...guess what, the IRS doesn't consider painting to be a replacement reserve item, so you have to set up a second "operating or painting" reserve fund for that. Now, we said $10,000 was the minimum if there's a bank. However, most associations should be putting away MUCH more then that. The last reserve study we had said the ideal contribution for the 30 unit condo was $43,000/year to bring it up to where you need it...they had been doing $36,000 for as long as we managed them and we figured that was very fair. Ummm oops?
Or you can just forget the reserves and special assess everyone anytime there's a large project. Which of course then puts the burden unfairly on the current owners who weren't living there the previous 15 years while the decks wore out and maybe you'll get lucky and some poor schmuk will buy your unit right before the assessment and get a nice "welcome to ABC Condo, here's your bill"
Also should add that in the State of NC you are not required to provide info on the HOA, and that's considered the buyers responsibility to investigate that. However the fact that your property is in a HOA should be on the deed.
I've lived in 2 different complexes with pools but no lifeguards. I guess it can vary by state but I'd be surprised if that was a law as opposed to a choice the community and/or management company made.
Laws vary DRAMATICALLY by state! It was not a decision made by the association nor the management company.
The OP posted 3 days ago and has not responded yet. I hate when someone asks for advice and then never comes back. Her friend is in for a big surprise and a lot of expense as everyone here has noted. It's amazing how many people do not understand what a condominium is.
The OP posted 3 days ago and has not responded yet. I hate when someone asks for advice and then never comes back. Her friend is in for a big surprise and a lot of expense as everyone here has noted. It's amazing how many people do not understand what a condominium is.
She probably didn't like the responses she was getting for her "friend."
I once lived in a townhouse unit with a pool. Not only did the fencing have to be inspected annually, there had to be a lifeguard on duty when the pool was open. Those are some hefty expenses!
Quote:
Originally Posted by emm74
I've lived in 2 different complexes with pools but no lifeguards. I guess it can vary by state but I'd be surprised if that was a law as opposed to a choice the community and/or management company made.
In our area, pools have to follow county guidelines. Whether you are required to have lifeguards on duty all the time depends on access arrangements.
Current rules state that in order to operate without lifeguards, pools need to have locked gates that can only be opened by key or key card placed at a certain height. My understanding is that this is to prevent young (i.e. short), children from being in the pool area unsupervised.
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