5 ms·

1k a month!? Why would anyone pay that? There must be some great facilities I guess (pool? gym?)

by cyberpunk 5y ago

jagger27 5y ago
Where on Earth do you have to pay $1000/mo for a gym membership? I find condo fees staggeringly hard to justify.
- sosborn 5y ago
  Those fees are for a lot more than gym membership. Take a large building - have you ever looked at the maintenance costs for something like that? If you haven't the good news is that annual budgets and statements for the past x number of years are publicly available for these associations (at least where I live that is true). Before you buy a place, a good realtor will walk you through the association's finances and give you an idea of how well the property is managed.
- pseudo0 5y ago
  One issue is that developers will often set an attractive low rate to sell the initial units, and it doesn't get appropriately adjusted as the building ages. Then down the road, when expensive stuff (roof, elevators, etc) need to get fixed or replaced, there isn't enough capital banked and the fees spike dramatically.
- Rebelgecko 5y ago
  At my complex, the majority of the HOA dues are going to elevator and roof repairs (or rather, going to replenish reserves that were depleted due to those repairs) Some of the money also goes to utilities (water, sewer, trash) which I suspect are cheaper to do communally than individually
showerst 5y ago
1k/mo sounds high, but if you’re paying for elevator upkeep and inspections, landscaping, shared space HVAC, and door and maintenance people it’s easy to rocket past that. Some fees also include water and trash. It just depends how nice the services are, and/or how old the building is.
- hardolaf 5y ago
  $1K/mo in Chicago is high but not abnormally high. It's basically a sign that they condo didn't have enough cash for repairs in the past.
rickspencer3 5y ago
It's important for the condo to build up a substantial amount of cash in case there is a necessary high capital outlay needed. Sit on a condo board for a while and look at all of the expenses, and then also imagine saving up enough because, at a minimum, you will need a new roof in 20 years, etc... Also, deferred maintenance will destroy a condo, and the ability for any owners to sell. If the board has to recover from previous years of deferred maintenance while also building a fund for the future, people will simply have to face the reality and pay until the problem is fixed.

1k a month!? Why would anyone pay that? There must be some great facilities I guess (pool? gym?)

jagger27 5y ago

Where on Earth do you have to pay $1000/mo for a gym membership? I find condo fees staggeringly hard to justify.

sosborn 5y ago
Those fees are for a lot more than gym membership. Take a large building - have you ever looked at the maintenance costs for something like that? If you haven't the good news is that annual budgets and statements for the past x number of years are publicly available for these associations (at least where I live that is true). Before you buy a place, a good realtor will walk you through the association's finances and give you an idea of how well the property is managed.
pseudo0 5y ago
One issue is that developers will often set an attractive low rate to sell the initial units, and it doesn't get appropriately adjusted as the building ages. Then down the road, when expensive stuff (roof, elevators, etc) need to get fixed or replaced, there isn't enough capital banked and the fees spike dramatically.
Rebelgecko 5y ago
At my complex, the majority of the HOA dues are going to elevator and roof repairs (or rather, going to replenish reserves that were depleted due to those repairs) Some of the money also goes to utilities (water, sewer, trash) which I suspect are cheaper to do communally than individually

showerst 5y ago

1k/mo sounds high, but if you’re paying for elevator upkeep and inspections, landscaping, shared space HVAC, and door and maintenance people it’s easy to rocket past that. Some fees also include water and trash. It just depends how nice the services are, and/or how old the building is.

hardolaf 5y ago
$1K/mo in Chicago is high but not abnormally high. It's basically a sign that they condo didn't have enough cash for repairs in the past.

rickspencer3 5y ago

It's important for the condo to build up a substantial amount of cash in case there is a necessary high capital outlay needed. Sit on a condo board for a while and look at all of the expenses, and then also imagine saving up enough because, at a minimum, you will need a new roof in 20 years, etc... Also, deferred maintenance will destroy a condo, and the ability for any owners to sell. If the board has to recover from previous years of deferred maintenance while also building a fund for the future, people will simply have to face the reality and pay until the problem is fixed.