你的 Monthly HOA DUE 涨了吗？

For those live in town house / condo, has your HOA assessment gone up starting from January? If it hasn’t, congratulations! 60% of the properties I help manage or have myself, HOA has gone up from as little as $ 3-5 to as much as $ 30-50.

HOA assessment is up-front fee every month, it is also known as HOA due or HOA fee. If the property is your primary residence, HOA assessment is NOT tax deductible.

San Diego is the most HOA-dominated county in the state after Los Angeles. For history and operations of HOA as well as various horror stories, you can pretty much get them by searching internet. Here I’m just going to focus on things that you should pay attention when buying a home.

First, you need to know what HOA assessment covers for a particular home. Seller agent does not necessarily specify in entirety in a listing. I would suggest you contact HOA Management directly to get that information, asking what are included, such as water, trash pickup, exterior termite, HO-6 (a few HOAs cover this one, or before the close of escrow, as long as you mortgage, lender mandates you purchase HO-6 coverage). HOA fee runs roughly between $ 250 to $350 if water  bill is included. An HOA fee of $ 350/month is considered above average. If you could find a home with low month HOA due below $150 and that home owners are responsible for their own water and HOA is only responsible for common area, it would be fantastic, though sometimes you don’t have much choice.

Then, you have to confirm the fee in the listing is really the one. Recently I saw a condo in Carmel Valley listed $ 200/month HOA due, but in reality it is $ 310. The seller agent wrote "Up to buyer and buyer agent to verify all information" to unload her job at ease. There is another situation that if the property was listed last year, you better call to find out if there is any change in the new year. 
 

Some buyers may not aware about special assessment. When there is something comes up that needs expensive repair and replacement and was not budgeted in the reserve fund, after board approval, special assessment will be placed to each home owner either based on unit or number of sqt. Special assessment ranges somewhere between 2-3 grand to 7-8 grand. If the special assessment has been approved, you should be able to read that from the HOA Documents seller provides you during transaction. However, if it is still in discussion, you might or might not find it in the HOA document’s meeting minutes. But even if you happen to see that, you’re already in escrow, and most possibly, you have had home inspection done and the loan process started, money has been spent and effort has been made … now you’re in dilemma as to stay or move on. I won’t blame you if you didn’t detect that in the HOA documents at all. After all, how many people would take time to read through hundreds of pages of HOA Documents?! Again, call the HOA no later than offer acceptance, explain that you are purchasing a unit in this complex, and then ask about HOA due, what it contains and not contain, if there is any special assessment, and any pending special assessment. Such homework is very necessary.

For those who are buying investment properties, it’s even more so crucial as this part of the costs is paid by home owner.