real estate!!

[Mr. Bloom]

HOA fees are not tax deductable so consider if you can afford them how much more house could you buy?

But the flip side is your home needs a new roof, gutters cleaned, sidewalks repaired .... you're free to be off riding

Amen...but while HoA fees are not deductible, neither are home maintenance expenses. For my condo (home #2), my fees are only 2/3 of what I pay Larry The Lawn Guy to cut the grass at Home #1...but at Home #2, I worry about nothing outside. I consider it quite a good deal...

Condos, the good news - you're not an owner. The bad news - you're not an owner. This can mean rules, more rules, delays and missmanagement unless you luck out and have a real good HOA.

I encourage you to get on the board for the HoA and consider a couple things:

• Many new condos keep the HoA fees way too low and don't reserve for long term maintence; it's better to pay a little more monthly now, then to have to cough up a huge increase or assessment for a problem later.
• Make sure the rules balance personal freedom AND maintaining property values. What one owner views as wacky and cool may be a huge deterent to potential buyers...and that hurts value. By the same token, a bunch of rigid rules won't necessarily help values either.
• Hire a management company to manage day/day stuff and be the "hammer" when something goes awry.

My condo is 20 years old, but we have a six figure reserve and haven't ever had an assessment or had an increase in dues in 10 years despite:
- maintaining all the grounds,
- resurfacing the parking lot,
- replacing all the cedar shake roofs
- and dealing with ongoing unit repairs.