buying a condo with $350HOA fees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I pay close to 150/month just for lawn and weeding care. Some condos even include water and trash pick up in the fee, and then they have a pool for warmer months, maybe some tennis courts.

350 doesn't sound bad. the really expensive ones are those with elevators, they sky rocket.

There are condo buildings without elevators???

Or are you talking about apartment buildings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I pay close to 150/month just for lawn and weeding care. Some condos even include water and trash pick up in the fee, and then they have a pool for warmer months, maybe some tennis courts.

350 doesn't sound bad. the really expensive ones are those with elevators, they sky rocket.

There are condo buildings without elevators???

Or are you talking about apartment buildings?

Sweet Jesus you are dumb.

[Anonymous]

A $350 fee will not get you a pool, folks.

That's a super low condo fee. Do your due diligence -- do they have a reserve fund? Do they charge special assessments for capital improvements, e.g. a new roof, electrical maintenance, a new boiler, elevator repair?

[Anonymous]

You do know a condo is a type of ownership. All different types. In upstate NY they have Condo SFHs. Sort of a gated community with separate detached homes where owner is responsible 100 percent of maint of their home.

My condo from 1979 owners responsible for heat, AC, Water, Electric, replacing windows, replacing exterior doors and maintaining their own decks and patio as a limited common element. So yes common charges super cheap in condo.

BTW there are a few condos in Manhattan that have negative monthly maintenance. Down in TriBeCa in a very high rent shopping district a few condos own the ground floor shops and collect rent. The surplus is paid back. I saw one with -$250 a month maint once. You get paid $250 a month. But those rare ones the cost is very sky high to buy.

[Anonymous]

My fees are 350 and only covers landscaping, and trash/snow removal. It was $250 when I moved in 😒

[Anonymous]

I love the elevator/no elevator discussion. Nothing could be more obvious than that a multi-floor building with an elevator is more desirable than one without one. DCUM loves to argue against the obvious.

We have good friends who have a third floor walk up penthouse unit in a Logan Circle building. They’re sick and tired of schlepping up the stairs with groceries, luggage and everything else. The suggestion that the only people with condos in DC are young professionals is bullshit. Nice condos in good downtown locations aren’t cheap. And every young professional eventually gets older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A $350 fee will not get you a pool, folks.

That's a super low condo fee. Do your due diligence -- do they have a reserve fund? Do they charge special assessments for capital improvements, e.g. a new roof, electrical maintenance, a new boiler, elevator repair?

the condos in belle view (alexandria section of ffx county) do. The fees are closer to 400 these days, depending on square footage.

All great points - the special assessment one, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A $350 fee will not get you a pool, folks.

That's a super low condo fee. Do your due diligence -- do they have a reserve fund? Do they charge special assessments for capital improvements, e.g. a new roof, electrical maintenance, a new boiler, elevator repair?

Mine does and hasn't increased much in the 8 years that I have been here. Our complex recently sold some (unused) land to a nearby developer, pumping up our reserves. So I don't forsee a huge increase in the near future either.

These are, however, the exact questions and issues that one should be aware of. I definitely agree with that.