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Correct. Mine does not. I pay for water, and sewer comes out of our taxes. Never heard of any HOA covering cable. That is usually an individual contract.
I already listed upthread items covered in our condo fee.
In addition to the legal documents, ask for a copy of the annual budget for the HOA so you can see at a glance where the fee goes. My property manager even provides a breakdown showing what percentage of the fee goes for what.
My HOA fee for my SFH does not cover water or sewer either. Each person pays according to their usage. My HOA fee does cover cable TV and high speed internet for every house. By having the HOA provide it, the cost is much less since the HOA can negotiate a bulk rate. While a few people might complain about that, I think that very few people today would choose to do without cable TV or internet service, and the HOA can get a great deal when they are negotiating for 1000+ homes versus what the companies would charge an individual. Further, the cable company is very responsive if someone is having a problem because they don't want to lose the large (1000+) account.
Absolutely get a copy of the annual expenses of the HOA! We get a 5-page itemized list every years of exactly what our fees go toward, and if a person isn't happy, they can lobby their representatives to have it changed. BTW, our representatives are home owners in the community, so they have a vested interest in seeing that the community is run properly and at a reasonable cost. This is not some Board made up of outside owners.
My HOA fee for my SFH does not cover water or sewer either. Each person pays according to their usage. My HOA fee does cover cable TV and high speed internet for every house. By having the HOA provide it, the cost is much less since the HOA can negotiate a bulk rate. While a few people might complain about that, I think that very few people today would choose to do without cable TV or internet service, and the HOA can get a great deal when they are negotiating for 1000+ homes versus what the companies would charge an individual. Further, the cable company is very responsive if someone is having a problem because they don't want to lose the large (1000+) account.
Absolutely get a copy of the annual expenses of the HOA! We get a 5-page itemized list every years of exactly what our fees go toward, and if a person isn't happy, they can lobby their representatives to have it changed. BTW, our representatives are home owners in the community, so they have a vested interest in seeing that the community is run properly and at a reasonable cost. This is not some Board made up of outside owners.
Actually I would complain about paying for cable. I cut the cord 10 years ago. I have no interest in paying for cable. Our internet is paid for by my husband’s employer. So that’s something else we would be stuck paying for that we wouldn’t want or need. Everyone’s needs/wants in life aren’t the same.
Actually I would complain about paying for cable. I cut the cord 10 years ago. I have no interest in paying for cable. Our internet is paid for by my husband’s employer. So that’s something else we would be stuck paying for that we wouldn’t want or need. Everyone’s needs/wants in life aren’t the same.
If you have Internet, you pretty much don't need cable anymore. Not only is a lot of the content already on there (YouTube, etc.), you can also - through various devices I don't quite understand yet - stream a lot of it.
At any rate, I would never expect that to be included in an HOA/condo fee... If it is, cool!
Actually I would complain about paying for cable. I cut the cord 10 years ago. I have no interest in paying for cable. Our internet is paid for by my husband’s employer. So that’s something else we would be stuck paying for that we wouldn’t want or need. Everyone’s needs/wants in life aren’t the same.
True. Not everyone wants or needs the same things. However, I think that a person needs to look at the big picture and decide if he/she is getting his money's worth even if he doesn't use every single thing that may be available to him.
For example, our HOA fee of $170 per month not only includes 100+ channels of cable TV and high speed internet, but also the following things: Two swimming pools (one indoor and one outdoor), a LARGE recreation building with all kinds of stuff available (pool tables, card rooms, exercise gym, meeting rooms, pottery rooms, banquet room, etc), a Great Hall (for plays, dances, huge gatherings for all kinds of functions, dinners, parties, celebrations, etc), a softball field for year-round use, several pickleball courts, tennis courts, horseshoes, a dog park for our canine friends, lakes for boating and fishing, a 24/7/365 manned gated front entrance, dance clubs, hobby clubs of all kinds, a gated lot for free storage of boats and RV's.
And these are just some of the things that the $170 per month covers for no extra cost. Even if you only use a few of these things, most people here consider it a bargain. But if you're wanting to park your old jalopy on your front lawn or target practice with your .30-06 rifle in your back yard, that won't be allowed here.
For example, our HOA fee of $170 per month not only includes 100+ channels of cable TV and high speed internet, but also the following things: Two swimming pools (one indoor and one outdoor), a LARGE recreation building with all kinds of stuff available (pool tables, card rooms, exercise gym, meeting rooms, pottery rooms, banquet room, etc.), a Great Hall (for plays, dances, huge gatherings for all kinds of functions, dinners, parties, celebrations, etc.), a softball field for year-round use, several pickleball courts, tennis courts, horseshoes, a dog park for our canine friends, lakes for boating and fishing, a 24/7/365 manned gated front entrance, dance clubs, hobby clubs of all kinds, a gated lot for free storage of boats and RV's.
Where do you live? That paragraph ALONE talked me into being okay with a condo fee!
True. Not everyone wants or needs the same things. However, I think that a person needs to look at the big picture and decide if he/she is getting his money's worth even if he doesn't use every single thing that may be available to him.
For example, our HOA fee of $170 per month not only includes 100+ channels of cable TV and high speed internet, but also the following things: Two swimming pools (one indoor and one outdoor), a LARGE recreation building with all kinds of stuff available (pool tables, card rooms, exercise gym, meeting rooms, pottery rooms, banquet room, etc), a Great Hall (for plays, dances, huge gatherings for all kinds of functions, dinners, parties, celebrations, etc), a softball field for year-round use, several pickleball courts, tennis courts, horseshoes, a dog park for our canine friends, lakes for boating and fishing, a 24/7/365 manned gated front entrance, dance clubs, hobby clubs of all kinds, a gated lot for free storage of boats and RV's.
And these are just some of the things that the $170 per month covers for no extra cost. Even if you only use a few of these things, most people here consider it a bargain. But if you're wanting to park your old jalopy on your front lawn or target practice with your .30-06 rifle in your back yard, that won't be allowed here.
Here's a few more things I forgot to mention that are included in the $170 fee: Exercise classes several days per week (such as pilates, yoga, women's weight training, cardio exercises, etc), line dancing classes (country, hip hop, and swing), ballroom dancing classes, and others, various state and regional clubs such as Mid-west club, Michigan club, Ohio club, New York/NJ club, etc, a complete shower facility for after gym workouts, a library, an antique car collectors club, an ocean cruising club, hiking trails, a bicycle rider's club, and too many other things to mention.
Also, we have a full time activities director (and several assistants) whose full time job is to coordinate the use of the various buildings and facilities for the various activities. If a person can't find something to do here, it's their own fault. The $170 monthly HOA fee gets you access to all of this. A few of the things such as dance classes or exercise classes that require a leader/instructor may have a minimal fee such as $1 or $2 per class. Other than that, it's all free. Swim as much as you want. Go to the gym as much as you want. Play pickleball or tennis every day. It's all covered in your $170 HOA fee. And don't forget that the cable TV and high speed internet package is worth about $100 per month if you had to buy it individually, so that means that you're getting everything else for about $70 per month. And you don't have to drive across town or fight city traffic to get to these things. You can ride your golf cart or walk a couple of blocks to get there. No, I'm not in The Villages.
My HOA fee for my SFH does not cover water or sewer either. Each person pays according to their usage. My HOA fee does cover cable TV and high speed internet for every house. By having the HOA provide it, the cost is much less since the HOA can negotiate a bulk rate. While a few people might complain about that, I think that very few people today would choose to do without cable TV or internet service, and the HOA can get a great deal when they are negotiating for 1000+ homes versus what the companies would charge an individual. Further, the cable company is very responsive if someone is having a problem because they don't want to lose the large (1000+) account.
Absolutely get a copy of the annual expenses of the HOA! We get a 5-page itemized list every years of exactly what our fees go toward, and if a person isn't happy, they can lobby their representatives to have it changed. BTW, our representatives are home owners in the community, so they have a vested interest in seeing that the community is run properly and at a reasonable cost. This is not some Board made up of outside owners.
Exactly. Someone once pointed out in one of these threads that some people move into a condo with a landlord-tenant mentality. Not everyone, of course, but there should be no "us and them" mentality. The board is made up of your fellow homeowners. The HOA is YOU.
I've heard some weird stories about HOAs, and I believe them, but I've been on the board of my own condo/townhouse complex, and some of the things other homeowners believe (who never attend the meetings) are weird. I had a woman approach me while I was out walking one day upset because "we are supposed to have reserves and we don't have any reserves". Well, we do. We had a reserve study, we used some of the reserve money to replace the sidewalks the year before, and we still have half a million in the reserve fund.
Where did she get this information? Well, so-and-so who lives over there told her that. I told her to just look at the line item for Reserves on the budget/actual sheet she gets every year. Blank stare. SHE didn't get anything like that from the property manager...
Of course she did. She just didn't actually look at it.
Just had another. We had the parking lots repaved. There was an issue wherein the sequence of the paving that the contractor owner told us would take place was not what they actually did on the first day, so there was an issue with moving cars, etc. The property manager went after the contractor right away, and everything was straightened out, but then my neighbor was ranting about that's what happens when we cheap out and take the lowest bid.
Well, we didn't take the lowest bid because we didn't think the low bidder was as qualified as the second lowest, but this person just assumed something and started spreading misinformation based on her own imagination.
My problem with condo fees is that they can go up drastically, so just because you’re OK with the cost now doesn’t mean that you’ll still be OK with it in the future.
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