Live in a Florida Condo? New Law may impact Condo Reserves....Significantly (Miami: days on market, HOA)

[Trying941]

Originally Posted by FLCrescentBeach

Frankly, those days (probably 25 years ago?) are LONG GONE...that's our point. Condos are atrociously poorly run and maintained - so are a lot of HOA's here in Florida. That's another reason not to touch a condo purchase in 2022 and beyond, but fools are aplenty, so are the gullible and inexperienced.

You and City Guy997S are each right. There are good Condos and bad. Good HOA's and bad. P.T. Barnum said it first "There's a sucker born every minute." So yes, fools are aplenty.

But, if you cut through all the points and counterpoints, a condo works better for many of the non-resident owners than a home. And, an HOA provides a level of protection from the far left Democratic Party initiatives in NY and California to eliminate zoning for single family residences.

So, accepting buyer beware, there are reasons some will be better off with condos and HOA's.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

HOA fees are driven by insurance and common area/staff expenses. The nicer buildings/more amenities will have higher fees. Remember developers pay X for the lot and then need as many units as possible to lower the cost per unit for that land so nobody will be building 2 story condos to avoid the new legislation.

The biggest insult for buyers is when units have the lowest fees (attracting the most buyers) then they figure out it is underfunded resulting in huge assessments!

There are quite a few 2 story condo's on Venice Beach, but none new or even near new. The newest is ~20 years old. The newest one has 2 car garages too, so if I wanted to be on the water, that is where I'd buy.

I don't think a condo is in my near future though. I like my privacy and space too much...& my 3 car garage leading directly into my home.

[FLCrescentBeach]

Most true Floridians really do wish that "non-resident owners" cease buying here thereby jacking up already overpriced condos. Just ask them, they will tell anyone that. Has anyone read the voluminous news article in the Observer about the disastrous impact on the infrastructure and Budget of Manatee's CIP? The news article was well done, precise and alarming based on population growth from out of state. Revenues can't/won't keep up without tax increases which is something that has ruined other cities, counties and states.



As a sidenote only, the article was unusually candid not only about "buildings":


"Whitmore [Commisioner] said it is important that the plan (CIP) is addressing PUBLIC SAFETY (emphasis added). She said with the expansion of the population, PUBLIC SAFETY concerns have grown. She said public safety contains beach patrol, code enforcement, EMS, indigent care or JAIL MEDICAL, the Sheriff's Office, and the JAIL, WHICH AVERAGES about 1,000 inmate A DAY".


We guess there are too many criminals moving here as well? wow.


We do recommend thoroughly reading the good article dated July 7 2022 in the East County Observer. It was an eye-opener for us. Scary.

[FLCrescentBeach]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

There are quite a few 2 story condo's on Venice Beach, but none new or even near new. The newest is ~20 years old. The newest one has 2 car garages too, so if I wanted to be on the water, that is where I'd buy.

I don't think a condo is in my near future though. I like my privacy and space too much...& my 3 car garage leading directly into my home.

Well, we think that makes a lot of sense, because you're not a "non-resident owner" and a citizen of The state of Florida, and vote here, not a condo seeker but resident of Manhattan, Buffalo, Oak Brook, Red Bank, Fairfield County or San Francisco. Yours is not probably a second or third home, it's your primary residence?


These days, there isn't much privacy even buying a SF house, and practically none with most all condos, even at 1 million dollars around here. Many are glorified apartments, that's all. And the conversion properties are total junk it seems to us.

[graceC]

Originally Posted by FLCrescentBeach

Well, we think that makes a lot of sense, because you're not a "non-resident owner" and a citizen of The state of Florida, and vote here, not a condo seeker but resident of Manhattan, Buffalo, Oak Brook, Red Bank, Fairfield County or San Francisco. Yours is not probably a second or third home, it's your primary residence?

These days, there isn't much privacy even buying a SF house, and practically none with most all condos, even at 1 million dollars around here. Many are glorified apartments, that's all. And the conversion properties are total junk it seems to us.

Not to interrupt your rant here, but we probably have more people from the Midwest coming here than other locations due to I-75 running from here to those areas. The non-local plates I see on the road are all from there - particularly from IL, OH, and IN. I see a lot more East Coast people on the Atlantic side.

But, carry on!

[FLCrescentBeach]

Originally Posted by graceC

Not to interrupt your rant here, but we probably have more people from the Midwest coming here than other locations due to I-75 running from here to those areas. The non-local plates I see on the road are all from there - particularly from IL, OH, and IN. I see a lot more East Coast people on the Atlantic side.

But, carry on!

As native southerners we agree that it USED to be the case that most of the transplants (whether legal or not) came from the Midwest, and east coasters flocked to the Miami-Dade-Ftlld-Jupiter-Boca area.


That is NOT the case in the Tampa Bay, south to Palmetto/Bradenton/Sarasota/Venice/Northport / Ft Myers/Naples/Bonita//Estero areas over the past 20 years, and definitely NOT the case over the past 3 years.


Actual numbers of the massive invasion of NE/DC transplants even lately are readily available all over the net, and in local periodicals for your information. Anecdotally, in our small subdivision, we have 3 families from California, and 1 from Seattle-Tacoma and 1 from Portland area.


Your assertion about migration patterns is waaay outdated.

[Sunshine Rules]

Speaking of underfunding of reserves, it's not just limited to condo associations. Homeowner associations, especially those with expansive community assets such as clubhouses, community pools, fitness centers, etc are often not fully funding reserves to meet future repairs/ replacements.

There have also been several court cases in the past few years regarding builders who were not fully funding the reserves accounts for the communities in which they were building/selling homes. The state statutes leave some gray areas regarding HOA reserve accounts. My understanding is that builder obligation may depend on whether the community's declaration, articles of incorporation or by-laws require reserve accounts to be created and maintained from the start. So buyers in new communities should pay attention to portions of those original governing documents that pertain to budget reserves.

[Yukenbo]

Thank you @Sunshine Rules. Do you know how this would affect associations with mixed buildings? E.g. our community has mainly 2-floor buildings but we do have a couple of 3-floor buildings. If we are affected, I wonder if all owners would be affected evenly financially?

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by Yukenbo

Thank you @Sunshine Rules. Do you know how this would affect associations with mixed buildings? E.g. our community has mainly 2-floor buildings but we do have a couple of 3-floor buildings. If we are affected, I wonder if all owners would be affected evenly financially?

My suggestion is to look at both your condo documents and the budgets. Are your buildings broken down into specific units (such as unit 1 = buildings a, b, c)? Do your budgets show reserves broken down by units, individual buildings or as the whole group? If the reserves are being shown as covering the entire complex vs broken down into smaller groups, then it's likely the 2 story condo owners will be sharing the additional costs of the 3 story condo owners unless you as a condo association decide to make changes to your condo docs regarding this.

This may be a good time to bring up the pending changes required by the new state law with your condo board for discussion.

[Yukenbo]

Originally Posted by Sunshine Rules

My suggestion is to look at both your condo documents and the budgets. Are your buildings broken down into specific units (such as unit 1 = buildings a, b, c)? Do your budgets show reserves broken down by units, individual buildings or as the whole group? If the reserves are being shown as covering the entire complex vs broken down into smaller groups, then it's likely the 2 story condo owners will be sharing the additional costs of the 3 story condo owners unless you as a condo association decide to make changes to your condo docs regarding this.

This may be a good time to bring up the pending changes required by the new state law with your condo board for discussion.

Well, this has been very helpful, thank you! Our community is pretty well run now and we have considerable reserves, which I've now confirmed. I get the impression the association is still thinking through the impact of the law. Anyway, I think this issue at least bears some discussion given we've got the mixed building heights.