JaneG
(Georgia)
Posts:4
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| 04/11/2008 12:40 PM |
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I am the HOA president for a community of 64 units outside Atlanta --- four townhome buildings (20 total units) and 2 Loft Buildings (22 units each). We pay $164, recently increased from $157 (a 5% increase to help fund a currently inadequate reserve fund). We make our bills each month for hazard insurance to buildings, exterior maintenance, maintaining gated community access, interior hall cleanings on Loft buildings, landscaping, garbage collection, water to all units and exterior lighting for the garages, parking areas, and common area patio and grill area.
Our reserve fund is slowing improving, and we are carefully creating a timeline for exterior maintenance and have accomplished our paintng timeline thus far --- two townhome buildings last year, exterior to loft buildings (primarily iron work on all brick exterior) and two more townhome buildings to be painted this year.
We have a fully equipped gym in one of the loft buildings for community use, but no pool or tennis courts. Your fee is amazing from my perspective!
Jane |
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GlenL
(Ohio)
Posts:3621
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| 04/11/2008 1:29 PM |
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| Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a post go to five pages before. Not even one about pets. |
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Your board meeting is not held in the Situation Room of the White House. It's not life or death. Let people in, keep it positive, then go home and get a good night's sleep. If you hold off drinking until after the meeting, instead of before or during, you're probably doing OK. JosephW |
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WandaM
(California)
Posts:19
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| 04/11/2008 6:05 PM |
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Hi Roger B it's been a long time.
1.Can the HOA raise you 30% in one year to make up for the 10% shortage they did not charge the previous year?
2. Also dilema...dilema- we were hit with very high retroactive charges because money was mishandled or embezzeled- the thing is the HOA as well as the management company have nothing but vague answers for the home owners as to what happened to the money collected in the past years. We are very disappointed as the grounds remain in very poor shape. We were given excuses such we are in the process of buying and installing new gutters, well the old gutters were etched, cleaned, reglued primed and painted, not a single gutter was replaced.
3. The awnings are ripping apart, the stucco old primer is already broken through and several neighbors now have an interior GYB problem (a powdery residue on their walls because the moister has penetraded through the stucco). My neighbors door and doorjamb are loose due to the powdery residue around frame opening. I am a painting contractor I know. The HOA president told my neighbord the HOA was not responsible and I say how so when the problem began on the outside?.
4. I think we need a competent management company to handle our property, they've had a high turn around of managers in the past 6 years. What can we do about this?
5. As far as the money lost in item 2, we've asked for accounting audit and each time the Tresurer & management company deviates from the topic, which is very irritating. |
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GlenL
(Ohio)
Posts:3621
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| 04/11/2008 9:59 PM |
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Wanda welcome back. Instead of posting here and hijacking this topic, you should start a separate thread to get more responses. As far as the 30% increase goes Davis-Stirling limits the increase to 20% unless the H/O's approve a higher increase. You can check out the entire D-S at: http://www.davis-stirling.com/index.html
They take the law and translate it into understandable English and it is searchable by topic.
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Your board meeting is not held in the Situation Room of the White House. It's not life or death. Let people in, keep it positive, then go home and get a good night's sleep. If you hold off drinking until after the meeting, instead of before or during, you're probably doing OK. JosephW |
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CheyenneJ
(Texas)
Posts:11
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| 11/04/2009 11:37 AM |
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| Mill Valley, in Marin county California (Just north of San Francisco)We have about 40 condos and pay $400. each month. Have swimming pool and nasty car tow service that probably kicks back to HOA board. |
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TimB4
(Virginia)
Posts:3801
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| 11/04/2009 11:55 AM |
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We have 130 lots, self managed, own and maintain the streets and sidewalks. We have two playgrounds in the common area. We pay for care of the common area (lawn care/tree trimming), street/sidewalk repair/maintenance, insurance, electric bill for street lights, trash/recycling collection and one employee.
We are currently charging $58 per month. However, the Board is considering raising that by $20 to properly fund the reserve account (need membership approval to increase by that amount).
Tim
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DonnaS
(Tennessee)
Posts:5671
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| 11/04/2009 12:36 PM |
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Cheyenne,
You best start to wait for new posts. This one is also 2 years old and amount of dues for HOAs has either gone up alot or down alot. |
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JerryV
(Florida)
Posts:13
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| 11/04/2009 12:55 PM |
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| We are in central FL and consist of 181 SFH. We have 3 acres of community lakefront property, clubhouse,fishing pier, pool, marina and a reserve fund. We also pay for our street lights. Our dues are $50/ month which includes the first 15K of water. |
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SheliaH
(Indiana)
Posts:373
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| 11/05/2009 10:28 AM |
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We have 156 units (townhomes in groups of four or 33 buildings), a clubhouse and a pool (that we didn't open this year and probably won't next year, due to finances), two streets and a retention pond that we maintain (the latter is also in need of work). We're paying $135 a month, but would like to hold it at that level for next year because we raised it 5% last year.
We have many of the problems Joyce mentioned - low reserves and high deliquencies, but the delinquencies did seem to dip a little this year. |
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FrankN
(Texas)
Posts:15
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| 11/05/2009 11:23 AM |
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We are about 50 miles NW of Houston, 100 homes on two acre lots. No common areas or swimming pools etc. We have approximately 5 miles of roads that the county maintains but we mow from the road to the property lines and also maintain the drainage ditches.
Our fees are $100.00 per year per lot or $8.33 a month
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TessT
(Florida)
Posts:2
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| 11/10/2009 4:08 AM |
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| 80 units, most are 4-unit townhomes. We're currently at $253/month and this is supposed to cover ins, roof and siding maintenance, landscaping and reserves. We're considering an increase to $315/month as our reserves are low. If the $315 doesn't pass, they're expected to go to $283/mo and not fully fund the reserves this coming year. Jax, FL |
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RobertR1
(South Carolina)
Posts:5164
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| 11/10/2009 4:48 AM |
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Tess,
How ae you managed? What are your expenses. All things being equal, I would say your new rates seem justified, dependent on other espenses. Building up your reserves for this kind of HOA is the right thing to do. Are your fees apportioned |
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MaryA1
Posts:0
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| 11/10/2009 8:56 AM |
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| Frankly I'm surprised this thread has gone on so long. The answer is quite simple -- one size does not fit all. Simply stated, there is no comparison between what one assn pays and what another pays. It's all dependent upon the size and the amenities and whether the assn is self-managed or contracts with an independent contractor manager or a management co and whether or not the assn has employees on a payroll. There are just too many variables to be able to say what an equitable assessment is. |
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DonnaS
(Tennessee)
Posts:5671
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| 11/10/2009 9:44 AM |
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Mary,
Another variable that we often is location. Mississippi and upper Manhattan are probably worlds apart. North Florida to South Florida are really worlds apart. |
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AnneM2
(North Carolina)
Posts:30
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| 11/10/2009 10:20 AM |
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150 condos - stacked - three levels
NC ocean front with dunes and wide sandy beach
outside pool, tennis court, open parking
water, sewer, cable and trash collection included
Managed by local management company
Monthly maintenance fees from $300 to $600 per month depending on size of unit.
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RobertR1
(South Carolina)
Posts:5164
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| 11/10/2009 10:41 AM |
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Anne M,
To me, your fees seem in the ballpark. I am not comparing anyone to anyone. It is just information that hopefully we have the smarts to apply it in the right manner. |
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AnneM2
(North Carolina)
Posts:30
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| 11/11/2009 9:28 AM |
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| Thanks, Robert. I think so, too. |
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EllenS1
(Florida)
Posts:1148
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| 11/11/2009 3:57 PM |
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| Why are we still discussing a two year old post? Monthly dues are figured on not only locations, amenities, negotiating skills but on the year they are paid..and as we all know prices and fees go up. Time to put this post to bed. |
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RobertR1
(South Carolina)
Posts:5164
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| 11/11/2009 4:19 PM |
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Ellen,
Like all posts on this site or nearly all, they die by committing suicide. |
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EllenS1
(Florida)
Posts:1148
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| 11/11/2009 4:30 PM |
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Robert,
Maybe we can take this in a new direction. I might ask how much DID you pay for hair coloring, manicures, pedicures, clothes, etc. two years ago? Pretty silly |
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RobertR1
(South Carolina)
Posts:5164
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| 11/11/2009 5:17 PM |
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Ellen,
Yes, you might. |
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JudithC
(Virginia)
Posts:253
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| 11/11/2009 7:07 PM |
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Interesting, I was surprised to see this topic come alive again, but some people objected to the topic even then. I don't understand why it is so threatening to some. If one doesn't think it valid, why bother reading it? Personally I think that it gives data points that one can use and just as you have to be careful in applying current fees one to another, you have to adjust 2 year old ones also. It's done all the time in systems analysis. If you couldn't compare apples and oranges you would never have any studies at all.
Judy |
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MaryA1
Posts:0
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| 11/12/2009 9:58 AM |
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Judith,
The point is that I cannot compare my assn to yours because I'm sure they are not totally alike. Therefore what good does it do for me to tell you how much my assessment is? As an example my former assn of 49 homes with only 2 entrance common areas and a retention area to maintain has an assessment of $40/month. My current assn of 1,700 homes, lots and lots of common areas (probably 10x that of my former assn), lakes, road right-of-ways, & 10 parks to maintain has an assessment of $40/qtr. My former assn employs an accounting service whereas my current assn contracts with a mgmt co for full mgmt services. Both are located in the same city. How can you compare the two? You can't!!
Your budget tells you how much the assessment must be. If anyone thinks the budget figures are too high they are free to do research and come up with new figures to present to the board. |
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RobertR1
(South Carolina)
Posts:5164
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| 11/12/2009 10:39 AM |
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| Judith and I are not makings lists to compare, we are looking at the value of the information presented. We make certain extrapolations with this information. Right wrong, it doesn't matter, we are not trying to prove anything. It is no more than asking your neighbor about his grandkids and extrapolating this information to your grandkids. You don't expect to change your grandkids, but I bet you would be interested in what your neighbor says about his grandkids. Of course you are right in what you post, I don't believe anyone feels different, you are just answering a question that has not been asked. |
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