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Don't go with a HOA. I live in a condo in Chicago were we have an older lady who sits on the board and she has become a dictator. All of our gutters are falling down, we get flooding, and the roof was damaged by a storm last year; however, she only focuses on buying flowers for the courtyard and furniture, instead of fixing our building which is falling apart. She is constantly complaining about a urine smell in the vestibule which no one else smells, but she has had it cleaned professionally multiple times. Basically this older woman uses the Association as a dictatorship and her personal spending account. I would rather live in a cardboard box then this nightmare.
For illustration purposes there is a $289,000 condo with a $315 monthly HOA fee ($3,780/year or $113,400 for the life of a 30 year loan)
That last figure looks terrifying but when you total up the value of the money and time you'll be spending in maintaining your own SFH, it's worth it. And doesn't that include property taxes? Usually "maintenance" is common fees plus property taxes, but I'm not sure what "HOA fee" covers.
When you go to meet the condo board. before buying, feel them out as to whether they're the dictatorial type. Just as the employment-hunting cliche goes, you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you.
HOAs are generally populated with mentally ill people who usually paid one-tenth the current market value of the home and seem to want to burn money like crazy.
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I'm currently in the market to buy a house/condo in the Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Augora Hills area.
After looking at several condos and town homes I was surprised by the high HOA fees ($300-$400 a month)
So, now I'm looking at possibly getting a house that has no HOA Fee.
For illustration purposes there is a $289,000 condo with a $315 monthly HOA fee ($3,780/year or $113,400 for the life of a 30 year loan)
There are two other houses I'm looking at. One for $449,000 and one for $419,000. Both have no HOA fees.
How big of a factor should these HOA fees be in my search? Also, what do these HOA fees usually cover? And does anybody have experience with these fees going up?
I realize owning a home has expenses that might normally be covered in these HOA fees, but I hate to have a monthly fee that I have no control over.
Thanks!