Real Estate Musings

Browsing through the Daily Stats for the last 4 days, I got to thinking about HOA fees, since many of the properties that piqued your interest were condos/townhouses/lofts. I’ve never had to pay an HOA fee, but a good portion of the listings in San Francisco (578 to be exact) are condos/townhouses/lofts, which generally do have an HOA fee.

HOA fees are collected from homeowners in buildings or neighborhoods that have communal features. In a condo/townhouse/loft situation, that would be maintenance of the landscaping, exterior of the building, hallways, common elevators, roof, and other amenities (pool, gym, rec room, garage, doorman or security). Traditionally there is a board that governs the Homeowners Association and regular meetings are held for the benefit of input and governance. While there are great advantages to HOA, there can be downsides for urban dwellers, such as restrictions on what can go on a patio or deck, what modifications you can make to your unit, length of stay for guests, etc. So it is wise to read the by-laws before you place a bid on a home.

But I was seeing varying fees on the units, and wondered if size of building/complex affected the HOA rate. Looking at the 6 properties that were on the Daily Stats listings shows a range from $174 to $433.01 (and what is that 1 cent about, anyway?) Most of the listings are 2 bedrooms and 0-7 years old. The smallest building, with only 4 units, charges the lowest at $174, while the most expensive fee is paid on a mid-sized 18-unit building.

But these 6 didn’t really give me enough information, so I did an extended search, concentrating on 2BR/2BA condos/townhomes/lofts, built after 2000, priced at $600-800,000—which was the average range for the 6 Daily Stat listings. This gave me a larger picture with 25 properties. What I found is:

5-15 units 5 $350-418.63 average HOA $378.51
16-30 units 2 $322-433.01 average HOA $377.50
31-49 units 4 $308.48-385.74 average HOA $338.01
50+ units 12 $318.18-719 average HOA $497.86
Unknown 2 $379-421.37 n/a

The larger buildings charged the most to their owners, and almost 42% of 50+ unit complexes charged over $500/month. So bigger may not necessarily be better when it comes to HOA dues. How much do you pay? And do you think that your fee is reasonable?

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