Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Condo fees are an absolute scam. Most of it goes to unnecessary bloat and management company profits. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

Yeah, no. The balance sheet doesn't lie.

I mean this might be true in some condo buildings but if you are buying, you just request the budget records from the condo board and can see for yourself. In a well run building, the fees will cover necessary overhead plus a small overage to account for emergencies (sometimes in newer buildings there will have been a capital investment by the initial owners to build up a reserve), and that's it. If a condo fee is going to pay for massive management fees and unchecked expenses, don't buy in that building.

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

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

Capital reserves. You need them for things like roofs, balcony repairs, etc

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 14k landscaping project 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.

Buy in smaller, no frills buildings.

Anonymous wrote: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?

Personal preference depending on cost, security, convenience, perks, location or logistics.

Go too cheap and your condo can collapse into your parking deck, too.

Anonymous wrote:Condo fees are an absolute scam. Most of it goes to unnecessary bloat and management company profits. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

Yeah, no. The balance sheet doesn't lie.

we just sold our condo, partly for this reason (among others). our condo fees were 1k/month, and likely to increase.

we lived in this condo for 10 years. from my experience, who sits on the board makes a lot of difference. usually, only retirees have the time to serve on it (but they are not all the same, either).

the biggest problem with our building was a lot of unnecessary repairs. for example, at the time we left, they planned to replace all windows for 4 million dollars. why? because of some theoretical expiration date. nothing wrong with the windows, certainly not all of them. a lot of the projects our building pursued were liked that - extremely complex and expensive changes to the building that were either not necessary or, in fact, made things worse.

My building has very very low condo fees and never an assessment in the 45 years since built.

The catch garden apt style no amenities with outdoor parking. Owners responsible own hvac, water heaters, windows, exterior doors, their own decks etc. No indoor common areas.

So new owners often surprised the windows etc are on them

Most condo owners are lazy and won’t join board and causes managing agent and insurance brokers and vendors to overcharge with no one watching

Common area upkeep, renovation,and support— including pool maintenance and life guards; gym equipment; front desk people; maintenance engineers; cleaning contractors; lawn service; fees for legal, financial, and other consultants; management staff; taxes and building insurance. I live in a large building, so condo fees are basically paying for a small to medium sized business, plus a reserve fund — which is critical, given the age and size of the building.

In NYC a lot of the fees includes property tax though. The other stuff gets expensive especially with doormen, etc.

My condo fee is super expensive but In addition to the costs already mentioned, the fees pay for maintenance to the garage, a fire monitoring system, and replacing the building’s windows.

I moved from a condo to something I own outright. Houses are actually more expensive and many of the costs are unplanned. When I calculate what I paid in a year in condo fees, I actually pay more most years on something in my house. With condo fees, it’s budgeted, and as others have pointed out, in a well-run condo are going into a reserve fund for all required maintenance. In a condo, that could meet fortifying the balcony, new roof, elevator maintenance, foundation repairs, chillers, boilers, pumps, etc.

And if you don’t like the condo fee, get on the board. No one ever seems to want to step up.

Condo fees are an absolute scam. Most of it goes to unnecessary bloat and management company profits. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.