How Assesments Are Forcing Owners Out of Their Homes!

What would you do if you were hit with a quarter of million dollar assessment? Leave a comment down below.

I looked for months to buy a condo in S. FL. Every one was rejected by the bank because of low reserves and /or lack of maintenance. Owners have been milking these buildings for decades; it's caught up with them.

Salt water unfortunately eats away everything you own at the beach. There are always repairs every 5 years. That's about how long it takes for the rusting out to take hold. These condo owners should have known what they were getting into before the purchase. Homes on the beach require constant maintenance. The amounts seem excessive, but I guess that's what happens when the board doesn't keep the buildings maintained for decades.

I am the treasure for our condo complex board. We recently had our Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) done and will be raising the HOA dues by a small amount next year as a result. Our complex has always been well funded due to responsible board members and more importantly we have residents who knew that we needed a reserve account that could stand up to most anything. We broke the news to residents yesterday that dues would go up and not a single person complained. At the same time the property management company that we use told us that about 30% of the complexes they manage had 'kicked the can down the road' and have zero in reserves. Those complexes will be facing enormous HOA increases - some as much as 300% increase + a one time special assessment. The condo complexes on the ocean are a great place to live but buyers need to check the financials, and under recently passed legislation you are entitled to financial disclosure.

When this man emptied his 401K to buy a condo he sealed his fate 😢

I am an architect that specializes in building envelope design. I have sat through condo board meetings and have been screamed at by owners who didn’t want to make necessary repairs. Most people are very shortsighted. This is the result of

I use to own condo's in Myrtle Beach,,, most of the problems I experienced in Myrtle Beach was that the homeowners were always voting down HOA dues to build up reserves for replacement and upgrades.. Than as year went on and replacement of roof , elevators, concrete repairs all had to be financed by special assessments into the thousands.. One tell sign that your condo is in trouble is when the HOA board members sell their condos before all the assessments start taking place. The newer condos has reserves set up and included in HOA fee.. Owning an ocean front condo is not worth the cost of ownership unless you are wealthy person.

I feel bad for young families who can’t even afford to buy now, not for millionaires who have to pay for maintenance on their properties.

Our pension system offers a one-time, lump-sum, payout. A growing number of guys were taking this option and investing in Florida real estate. After 32 years of service, now they're going broke and are worried. They risked that lifetime check to get rich quick.

Who buys a condo without seeing the reserve fund is healthy!

These owners are delusional. It's not like you can buy a single family home, live in it for 40 years, and never have any major repairs. New roof, foundation cracking, new windows, hvac, and on and on... These assessments are accrued deferred maintenance costs, and they are higher because of the extremely corrosive marine environment, and a building built on SAND! These owners, with exceptions, bought these units for reasonable prices and want to enjoy the monster appreciation of the unit, but don't want to pay to maintain it.... Guess what, a potential new buyer doesn't want to pay for your neglect AND the monster appreciation.

Sorry for the unsuspecting, but I pay for maintenance and repairs on my house as I go. There is no free lunch.

Salt water very corrosive. In most cases the owners have refused for years to fund repairs

I lived in Fort Lauderdale area back in the late 1990's and absolutely loved it. I knew a guy, a friend of my now ex husband's who bought a nice 2/1 condo on the beach for $15,000 cash and when we were there for a party one time, he was laughing that he paid only $100 to live there. That's how much the HOA was back then. He sold that place for more than double since then and now owns his house in Delray Beach, I think. Family emergency made me move back to Seattle in 1999. I always wanted to go back to Florida but now that prices have gone to the moon, I won't be able to.

I owned a townhouse on a lake in New Hampshire with 100 units. Now the septic system went out and the leach fields were literally running uphill. The EPA required a 3 million dollar connection to the town sewage line... this was back in 2012 and was 1/5 the value of the condo and I exited at a loss. The HOA fees doubled during construction to pump out sewage by truck. I learned a lot from that experience.

Don’t people realize that buying a condo in a high rise is buying the entire building maintenance costs.

We were proactive. We knew what was coming and we sold ahead of this storm. With what we sold we bought a brand new house and kept some money. You have to be always on the look out,if not ...the world would eat you!..😮

I’m the Board President of a large condo association in major metropolitan city. Most of these owners are responsible for this because they don’t want any type of an assessment increase and fight it. In my city, a Reserve Study, is required by law. We use it as a guide for financial planning. Each year our assessments increase anywhere from 3 to 8% so that we can pay for capital projects. My building was built in the early 40s and is currently in better shape than buildings that were just built less than 20 years ago. We never defer maintenance and that is the key to a well-managed condominium building. One other thing that owners never seem to understand is that the cost of living and the consumer price index continues to go up each year and often every month. Associations have to keep up with these costs, many of which include the cost of salaries for the staff at a minimum.

It is interesting how real estate has kept going up and then the county raises taxes and says real estate is now worth more. It’s like my mom I remember her saying her real estate taxes went up a lot and her houses hasn’t changed in condition except got older with a roof that now needs to be replaced. It’s worth less but money printing and the government buying mortgages or backing them pushes bubbles higher.

Their first problem was that these people chose to buy a condo. Second, it was in Florida.