Resource for finding HOA fees

Started by MikeS1 • 4 replies • 1788 views

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MikeS1
Posts: 668

Posted:

Goal - To look up the HOA fees for comparable, nearby townhome communities in Northern Virginia. Other than the MLS (to which I don't have access), does anyone know of another resource where we can ascertain the current monthly HOA fees charged by nearby communities in this area? I've googled this on the web, but really can't find a good resource for this. We're done a reserve study and need to continue to raise our HOA fees in order to maintain an adequate reserve and we're just trying to see how we stack up or compare to our neighboring HOA's. Any ideas. ??

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

Mike - Your fees should bring in what your association requires to maintain that property. No more, no less. Trying to compare what HOA "A" is charging for fees without knowing what their expenses and reserves are is pretty futile and has no bearing on what you need to charge. You must determine how much you need to maintain your property and fund a reserve for capital expenditures. Why would you care what other HOAs are charging? You need to prepare a budget for your needs, and forget what other HOA's fees are. Harold

MichelleD (Washington)
Posts: 20

Posted:

Mike - To answer your question you can ask mgmt companies for referrences (other HOA they manage) or you can ask your lawyer for referrences (his/her clients). Then you can call these people and ask to get a copy of their cc&'rs for research purposes and find out if they would be willing to share with you their fees, etc.

I did this a year ago to get help on rewriting some of our rules, etc. Our lawyer gave us referrences. I called those HOA and then everyone was extermely helpful. They made copies of their cc&r's for me and told me what their dues were, how many units/homes, size of common areas, etc. This was helpful for me.

I hope this helps you!

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

Harold is right, worry about your association. You should have enough coming in to cover your yearly expenses and build your reserves. If you don’t have one, you should have a reserve study done and updated every four years or so to make sure there is enough money in reserves. Ohio
law mandates that: The amount set aside annually for reserves must not be less than ten percent (10%) of the budget for that year unless the reserve requirement is waived annually by the owners exercising at least a majority of the voting power of the Association. This effectively bans special assessments unless the majority of homeowners votes each year to allow them.

If you still want to find out other communities fees, I would visit a local Realtors web site. Most have a home finder service of some kind, put in a price range and type of dwelling and look at what’s listed. Typically the HOA fee will be listed along with the amenities that community has.

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

MikeS1
Posts: 668

Posted:

Harold, with all due respect, you're preaching to the choir. As I indicated before we have a reserve study, CPA, PM, attorney and at this point, we know that because several years ago, the old Board never took advantage of the 5% escalation clause (and never raised the HOA fees), the reserves are a little on the low side... not real bad, but we need to beef them up. If we take another increase this year, the homeowners are going to complain again. No bear in mind, that within a 4 mile radius, this part of the county must have at least 30-40 very similar townhome communities which were all built during the boom the the late 80's, so all I was trying to do was see how we compare to neighboring communities and while I realize that this is no way to establish the monthly assessment rate; we just wanted a gauge here. It would be nice to have this information when the residents start complaining. If other comparable communities are in the same ball park, it might quell the whiners.

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