This will be my 3rd year at my place. The monthly assesment has gone like this...
1st year = 224.90
2nd year = 249.07
3rd year = 276.05

$276 a month....I could/should sell and apply the $276 to a motgage on a house!

 

Is that your hoa/condo fees?

 

Yep.
I don't have a pool, but they pay the water bill and garbage pick-up. I think I'm getting ripped!

 

they pay sewage too?
i know for our house we pay $200 yr for garbage, $600 for sewage, $300 for water.

and this is for a house

 

I've never heard of paying for sewage?

 

That sux, but it could be worse. I have friends who pay between $600-$1000 in assessments in downtown. insane.

 

yeah, that's why i went with a house (no HOA) instead of the condo. the fees i would have paid monthly is my 2nd mortgage instead.

 

My brother does the same thing (he pays $650)...but his payment includes gas, electric, water, garbage pic-up and free cable internet....and a 24 hour door man.

 

The HOA fees are one disadvantage of living in a gated community or condo, but good boards will try to maintain a balance of fees v. services.

The fees are also supposed to cover grounds maintenance, insurance, common area plumbing, exterior lighting, exterior painting & maintenance, and a bunch of other stuff that non-HOA owners pay themselves, but don't calculate as a monthly average. Sometimes HOA members also face special assessments for roof replacement; sometimes not. Once the monthly costs for a SFR are calculated, HOA dues are probably in line as far as costs go.

 

Does your building have an elevator? That will add to the cost.

Also, if you want to know why the HOA raised the rates and where the money is going, try attending the HOA meetings. They should be held monthly and they should have minutes of all the meetings.

 

No elevator.

 

I got more out of putting money in the fireplace than giving it to the HOA.

 

Another reason why I don't believe in HOA's and Condo Associations...

When I'm retired and don't want to deal with snow removal and yardwork, a condo might be a good idea, but for now I just can see it...

 

That's common regardless... Someone has to pay for all the poop processing that comes out of people's bums.

 

FWIW, the management company for my mom's condo HOA prints out the minutes of the monthly board meetings on the back of the monthly dues bill.

 

It's part of the water bill, you pay for the clean and pay to get rid of the nasty. Of course you pay more for sewage. I just paid $138.00 for 3 months, that includes $6.00 for them to bill me.

 

The only thing that they are doing is re-sealing the driveways....but I don't think that warrants a $25 a month increase.

 

Ya, I pay it too. Our water bills are pretty cheap. But we have a "waste water" bill as well that comes separate. The "Waste water" bill is based on the amount of water you use

So you basically pay 2x, once for the water, then again to treat it and put it back into the system.

I'm checking my bank now to see what we have paid since March when we moved in...

Looks like $40 a month $20 for water, $20 wastewater But I had been watering the grass too.

So that and garbage for the year for me would be $600-700 easy.

 

Was that second increase permanent, or a special assessment which lasts only a few months? If it is permanent, there is the possibility that HOA was underfunded and needed to make up for dues which were too low in the past.

The Board or management company should have sent out a note explaining the need for any permanent increase, whether it was due to previous underassessment (based on your first post, that's what it looks like) or other reasons. The basis for such decisions would be in the HOA's meeting minutes, which are available upon request to you if they are not already delivered to you.


The Los Angeles DWP also calculates a separate sewage charge based on the water usage, but at least it's all on one bill for us LADWP customers.