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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a lot of complaints about condo living but the condo fee isn't one of them. Before buying a condo, you should get copies of the condos last financials for at least the last few years. This will pretty instantly give you an idea of whether the fees are reasonable or not, plus will give you a good idea of whether the building issues a lot of special assessments and what their approach to maintenance is. There is zero reason to be surprised or confused about condo fees.

Actually, one of my complaints about owning a condo is how often other owners are totally clueless about the purpose of fees and want to do dumb things with the condo's money because they see the amount of money in the condo general fund and think it's time for a spending spree. Our building always has exactly one owner who wants to spend money on random projects that are not necessary and will not enhance the value of anyone's unit, because they have no concept of how money works.

I remember one condo board meeting where the owners of one unit were suggesting doing a [b]14k landscaping project [/b]to "beautify" a small strip of  property that people used as a pass through to our parking area. When it was pointed out that not only would suck up our entire condo fund but would also create a maintenance need going forward that wasn't within the budget of our current fee structure, this person literally said "who cares, it's just money." They were young owners who likely had bought with a down payment provided by parents and I don't think understood the concept of ROI. Fortunately the majority of owners in the building have always gotten this and we've never had to acquiesce to the idiotic demands of the less practical owners, but fighting with them over stuff that honestly shouldn't even be a question is the worst part of owning a condo and the main reason I look forward to seeing ours in a couple years time.

But condo fees themselves are fine. Ours pay for things we'd otherwise have to pay for ourselves, and it's honestly much easier to just pay one set fee to the building once a month than to have to deal with things like water and bulk trash and landscapers individually.[/quote]

ok, this is nothing. it's like a round error for big buildings. your condo fees are likely less than $500. condo fees can be in the thousands.[/quote]

Right, but I live in a small building with low fees. That's the whole point -- small building, few amenities, reasonable fees that go to cover things you'd have to pay for yourself in a townhouse, like water, landscaping, trash. This is why OP's statement that condo fess are "ridiculous" is incorrect. It depends on the building and how it is managed.

Btw, 14k is nothing for a large building with hundreds of units, but for our small, 6-unit building, it's enough to undertake major projects. We were able to do a major repair to an exterior staircase for just 8k because the building was small and we had a good relationship with the company that did the repair (they are our usual contractor and numerous owners have used them for interior renovations, so they gave us a very fair rate in order to maintain that relationship, which has been lucrative for them).

Yes, a large building can have repairs in the millions. Though even with that, if you have 200 owners, that cost is spread across all units and may not be as onerous. [b]The main reason I prefer small buildings is that they tend to have owner-run boards rather than outsourcing to management companies,[/b] which you really have to watch to prevent them from nickel and diming you over everything. I also don't want to pay for front desk staff, elevators, pools, or gyms, all of which can push your fees up very high.

But it's a choice. No one is required to buy a condo in a large building with high fees.[/quote]

I live in a 150 unit complex of condos, we have a board consisting of elected owners with new elections every year and we also have a management company that implements many of the board's decisions.  It's not typically an either or scenario.[/quote]

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