HOA vs Condo Fees

[Anonymous]

We are comparing and deciding which we will go for it.

1. $300K to be built townhouse ready by summer time (condo townhouse)
$210/Month Condo fee, cover water bill, all exterior against damage(s), maintenance, trash pick up and I've heard that I will save about $30 a month on insurance.

2. $320K built in 1998 townhouse
$75/month HOA fee, covers trash pick up and common area only.

We're putting 30% down.

They are about the same size, and we're planning to live there for more than 20 years, financially, which one is better?

[Anonymous]

How much will ur mirtgage be with eacg option ? Cant say without that number. Is this in Ashburn ? Who is ur builder? How many bedrooms for each option ?

[Anonymous]

I am not concern how much the mortgage each month is, but I am more concern about which one is better decision in the long run as far as financially, in another word, which one I will ended up paying more in the future? It's montgomery county and both features are similar.

[Anonymous]

How can we tell you which one you will end up paying more without knowing what the effective mortgage is? You have to give all the facts for someone to be able to tell you which one makes more financial sense. Noone can tell what makes a better sense with you only providing those 2 numbers, sorry

[Anonymous]

Homeowners insurance will be much less with the condo, because you will only be insuring your belongings, like a renter's policy.

[Anonymous]

We live in a 1997 townhouse where the original systems and appliances are starting to fail and need replacement. That means $. If I were you, I'd go with the new construction in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

My impression is that

A) non-condos have better resale value

B) Condo fees rise at a higher rate than HOA fees.

C). The definition of what is really covered for "exterior" stuff can vary. In-laws experienced ice-damning and leaking as a result on new construction and the Condo board refused to pay to repair it or work on a long-term solution even though nearly 1/3 of the owners were affected. I think they had to threaten to sue to get it taken care of.

[Anonymous]

In my experience condo fees or HOA fees are always low during new construction, then the developer moves out, and people discover that $200 a month is really more like $350 a month and then you discover that you need reserves....

speaking of which, you need to ask about reserves...

[Anonymous]

I would want to know what are the typical water bills at the 1998 house. When I was in a townhouse, our biggest cost driver in our fees was water and unfortunately, because water was shared amongst everyone and there was no way to individually meter it, there wasn't much incentive to conserve.

I'd also double check on your homeowner's insurance on the new construction TH. Just because it is legally a condo doesn't mean you have cheaper homeowners' insurance. Totally depends on what the assn covers in terms of disaster. At my townhouse, it was legally a condo, but I was responsible for all exterior maintenance, roof, etc., so I had to insure it like it was a fee simple home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that

A) non-condos have better resale value

B) Condo fees rise at a higher rate than HOA fees.

C). The definition of what is really covered for "exterior" stuff can vary. In-laws experienced ice-damning and leaking as a result on new construction and the Condo board refused to pay to repair it or work on a long-term solution even though nearly 1/3 of the owners were affected. I think they had to threaten to sue to get it taken care of.

I am the OP, agree. I kind of have that feeling. New house will most likely not to repair for the first 15 years. And if, everybody needs repair, they will jack up the condo fees. Yes, the resale value would be less I assumed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would want to know what are the typical water bills at the 1998 house. When I was in a townhouse, our biggest cost driver in our fees was water and unfortunately, because water was shared amongst everyone and there was no way to individually meter it, there wasn't much incentive to conserve.

I'd also double check on your homeowner's insurance on the new construction TH. Just because it is legally a condo doesn't mean you have cheaper homeowners' insurance. Totally depends on what the assn covers in terms of disaster. At my townhouse, it was legally a condo, but I was responsible for all exterior maintenance, roof, etc., so I had to insure it like it was a fee simple home.

Well, I own a 1996 townhouse, we have 5 adults and 1 small kid, average about $30 bucks a month in VA. Can I ask how much condo fee you're paying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that

A) non-condos have better resale value

B) Condo fees rise at a higher rate than HOA fees.

C). The definition of what is really covered for "exterior" stuff can vary. In-laws experienced ice-damning and leaking as a result on new construction and the Condo board refused to pay to repair it or work on a long-term solution even though nearly 1/3 of the owners were affected. I think they had to threaten to sue to get it taken care of.

I am the OP, agree. I kind of have that feeling. New house will most likely not to repair for the first 15 years. And if, everybody needs repair, they will jack up the condo fees. Yes, the resale value would be less I assumed.

Oh, there's always going to be a low level of drama with the builder on new construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homeowners insurance will be much less with the condo, because you will only be insuring your belongings, like a renter's policy.

This is true, but there's always the potential for arguments between the condo's insurance co./board and your insurance co./you as to who is responsible for what (which was one reason we always kept our policy with the same company that had the condo ass'n policy).

Generally I don't think you can easily make comparisons because of issues like that, and future increases to the condo fee, etc.