Maintenance fees for a Coop/condo/townhouse???

Maintane fees are extra monthly fees on top of the mortgage?
What are these fees?
1) Can you estimate the monthly extra these fees will be?

Usually, while shopping for a condo, etc. there will be condo or maintenance fees discussed. This, of course, will be in addition to the PITI (principle, interest, taxes and insurance) you will be paying monthly. Sometimes the quote the monthly rate, sometimes it is given to you in yearly form and you have to divide by 12. This is a number decided by the Condo association as to the amount of monies needed by each member (owner) to pay for all the amenities and or maintenance which goes on yearly.

I would want to know what the condo fees cover. Mine cover my water, sewage, trash, building and parking lot maintenance and landscape fees. It also covers the property insurance for everything up to the inside of the actual condo, where my condo insurance picks up.

A good realtor should be able to tell you what the condo fees are going to be, if they have increased recently and are there plans to change what they cover or will those monthly costs be going up or down in the near future. When I moved into the condo in June 2006, my fees were $200.00/month, on January 1st, 2007, they dropped to $150.00/month. In my world, paying $50.00 less a month is like a raise.

I would also want to know about the reserves the condo association has for emergencies, contingencies and future improvements. Also, if the condo association is planning a large project, the condo fees you have been told may be due to increase.

Talk to your Realtor or real estate agent, they should be able to clear this up. During pre-qualification, these fees should have been entered into the equation. Sometimes, a person can qualify for everything, until they add the condo fees, which adjusts the income ratio standings, and makes them no longer look ‘good on paper’.

In the process of closing, the seller will have to give you copies of the most updated Condo docs that are available at this time ( you may have to pay a ‘copying fee’, or something to that nature). Some of these docs can be hundreds of pages long, other I’ve seen 15-20 pages. You will have a specified amount of time to look over these docs and see if you can ‘abide’ by the rules and regs laid out by the Condo association. If, for any reason you cannot accept the condo docs and all the rules and regs that apply to the property, you MAY (and I say MAY, depending on the Real Estate Laws of your area/state), be able to end the sales/buyers contract.

Please discuss all of this with your Realtor or real estate agent. They should get paid to keep you informed and keep informing you about the process at all steps along the way. If they are not doing this for you, demand that they do their job,,,or find another Realtor or real estate agent that will.

Realtors do this for a living, and understand the closing process. Most folks will get into a real estate transaction only a few times in their lives. A Realtor can have hundreds, if not thousands of transactions in their careers. Sometimes, Realtors can forget that a buyer or seller may not be informed as they are and make the assumption that the buyer or seller are better informed than they really are.

A good Realtor or real estate agent will keep you informed and be there to answer any and all questions. The more you know, the less buyer’s remorse, if any, you will have.

Best of luck and do not be afraid to ask questions. This is one of the largest purchases you will make in this life, you need to be well informed to make the right choices.

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