I live in a two-level townhouse-style condo. My monthly fee is $305 and includes clubhouse access, water, and snow/trash removal. Since my unit is all-electric, internet and electricity are my only bills. I have a good deal.

Unless you are older or have knee problems (making climbing stairs not ideal) or just want a home you live in that is simple to maintain (cleaning, maintenance, etc), condos (especially in this area) make no sense to me compared to a townhouse given the massive condo fees. You get less house (much smaller, neighbors in all directions, in many cases) for a very similar overall monthly payment to just getting a townhome (given the pricing in this area). I would understand if they were significantly cheaper (monthly payment) but they are not so not really sure why go for that.

This is precisely what my single 24-year-old is realizing now. He loves the location and looks of a specific condo he wanted to buy. But the fees brought his monthly payment right to the top of his budget. Not to mention, he has a free gym at work and probably wouldn’t use or appreciate a lot of the other amenities (i.e., pool) that he would be paying for.

We are trying to stress to him that, even though he can (barely) make the fees work now, that they may increase. Also that money paid does not add to his equity.

I bought a new construction condo in Loudoun several years ago. The builder will intentionally set low condo fees that aren’t sustainable just to get people in. Once they’ve sold all the units and there is a board established with a mgmt co, they have to raise them every year to cover expenses.

Anonymous wrote:I know it sucks. Especially when the condos are the only thing in your actual price range but the. you can’t even afford that with the added condo fee. Some of the fees can be $1k a month

Some fees are $2000k a month like the condos in Alexandria off Stevenson and condo canyon off van dorm/duke st

Anonymous wrote:Elevators
Swimming pool
Staff
Lobbies
Common areas
Landscaping
Insurance
Building maintenance

Also in some condos:

Basic cable
Water
Trash

Elevators
Swimming pool
Staff
Lobbies
Common areas
Landscaping
Insurance
Building maintenance

I think one of the most important things to determine is if your condo fee is generally aligned with fees at other similar condo buildings or complexes. Sometimes condo fees go way up due to losing a lawsuit or some unexpected expense and although the cost of the condo may seem like a great deal the condo fee negates that. This also makes the condo very difficult to resell. As others said, the other thing to watch out for is special assessments, past, current and future. Sometimes they can be pretty high too and may indicate mismanagement on the part of the board or the management company.

Condo buildings have a lot more shared costs.

It really varies and their reasonability depends on what they cover.

I live in a small condo building and pay a little over $200/mo in fees. This covers trash/recycling, water, landscaping and maintenance of outdoor areas including parking area, roof maintenance, and maintenance of exterior doors, common stairs and lobby areas, and security equipment (locks, cameras, etc.). In 9 years, I have paid exactly one special assessment, for $200, to cover a capital improvement to a shared outdoor area for which we did not want to dip into the general fund because it was not a maintenance issue but an improvement.

People who live in large buildings with tons of amenities (gyms, pools, elevators, etc.) often have very high fees because those amenities are expensive to maintain. I assume people who pay those fees value those amenities enough to pay the extra $1k or more in fees to have them.

Some large older buildings can have extremely high fees because they were poorly maintained for many years and current residents are paying for rehabilitation of the building. For this reason, I would not buy a condo in a large, old building for this reason, and I would not buy a condo without looking into the history of special assessments and examining maintenance history to make sure I wasn't buying into a building like that. But usually you know up front because it will be like a 525k condo with $1800/mo condo fees, so not a surprise.

Depending on the county part of the fees have to go in a reserve fund that has to have thousands in it. They have to have enough to pay the management company, taxes to the county, roof repairs, insurance etc.

I sold my condo bc the fees were getting ridiculous. The monthly condo fees were more than the square footage of my condo.

Elevator maintenance. Common area upkeep. Building management fees. It's a totally different animal.

But yeah, lots of the condo fees are bizarrely high.

I know it sucks. Especially when the condos are the only thing in your actual price range but the. you can’t even afford that with the added condo fee. Some of the fees can be $1k a month

Looking at condos vs townhouses, I can't believe the monthly difference. The slightly higher townhouse prices are completely offset by monthly condo fees.

What on earth are people getting for thousands of dollars a month in condo fees?