It sounds like you bought a condo as a rental property, which is the worst type of property anyone can buy as a rental, and an even worse decision for a first time investor.
I can almost guarantee you that your monthly fee will never go down, and it will not stay the same, it will only go up.
Wait until you get a $500 or $1000 assessment for an HOA deficiency that you cannot dispute.
You cannot pass these on to your tenant.
HOA’s are ticking time bombs, often run by inexperienced people who think they know what they are doing, but really don’t.
If they had not done the submeters, they would have raised your monthly fee.
ALL HOA’s need money to maintain the complex and reserves and there are only a small group of people who MUST pay that money.[/quote]
I’m not sure if I should start a new topic on this, but I was kind of intrigued by this post and thought I’d open it up for a bit more discussion if others are open to it. I guess you could say I’m threadjacking, but I feel like the initial topic has already been put to rest that the tenant is right per the lease.
Yes…I just bought a condo as an investment in Encinitas and am confident in my decision, but I’m glad to open it up for others to prove me wrong as a learning lesson for myself and possibly others.
Worst investement? Even if it cash flows and is in a great area where the rents tend to stay high and most people do not ever want to leave?
Monthly fee will never go down…I know that, but would’nt rent go up…increasing my cash flow or increasing my own reserves toward future mainteinance of the property?
Special Assessment…would’nt that be a write off?
Ticking time bombs…Are they all inexperienced? I’ll agree that some boards are sub-par, but I believe 4 out of 5 board members in the community I’m thinking of live in the community and have for over 10 years. I would think that qualifies them.
Only a small group to pay the fees…would’nt spreading the cost of a new roof over a number or owners be better than having to pay the entire expense yourself?
I really just like the idea of critically thinking for yourself to make your own decisions as opposed to always following others or making sweeping generalizations that may or may not be true in all cases. Of course there is risk in all investment decisions and you do your best to minimize the risk, but you cannot eliminate it. You do the best with the knowledge you have within your means.
I do think that HLS had a great post and know he’s been a pigg much longer than me so I’m not calling anyone out here. I just thought it might be a good housing related discussion. I also like the OP that bought a condo could have made a good investment or could have made a bad one depending on their situation and how the cards fall in the future. Whether or not they did has nothing to do wtih this water bill issue. I think the HOA did what they had to do and it was a much better decision than raising the HOA fees because you can ration your water. I also think that not all HOA’s are bad. I think it is a very thankless job and the salary is $0 which does not necessarily attract the best applicants, but I think a lot of them do their best and a lot probably do a good job. I also feel like there is an aspect of a rental in an HOA where there are rules that need to be followed and the landlord has someone else to enforce them for them…which could be a good thing right?
Maybe I’ll regret chiming in, but maybe I’ll learn something that helps me or others down the road. I think we’re all on this blog right now to learn from everyone else right?
I appreciate anyone that might care to share their thoughts and experiences.[/quote]
I don’t know, my relatives owned a few condo’s for the past 30 years. I looked at the HOA/management group, and although they’ve said they were underfunded almost since the condo was new, they haven’t seen a single special assessment. They HOA’s fee went up from about $150 back in the beginning to about now being $225 or so..The rent price has almost doubled to about $2300 for a 2/2.
Condo’s according to their records are the last to appreciate and the first to fall in price. They generally recommended that I avoid fancy type of condos that would be a big maintenance draw. Like avoiding condos with lots of ammenities. (Complexes with elevators (huge maintanance costs), entertaining centers, lots of gyms,equipment etc)… They also recommended I stay away from condo-converts, since they think a lot of these were done in the hey-day, and almost certain underfunded and with a higher turnover in the community *may* trigger special assessments.
They did mention that given the choices, rental on the SFH would be much better, but that in these day and ages, it’s not easily cash-flowable.
