What is included in condo association assessments?

Answer 1

Your annual budget, which a board member can provide you, lists the line items for bills the association expects to pay during the year with the assessment dollars it collects.

Usually the line items include professional services, maintenance services and reserves contributions.

Every condominium association develops its own unique budget, because each community has different amenities, mixes of limited and commonly owned real estate assets and is in a unique physical condition and locale.

Answer 2

Depends on the association. You pay assessments monthly, and they are an automatic part of condominium ownership, usually.

You can ask your treasurer for a copy of the annual budget, so that you understand exactly how your assessments are being spent.

• Usually garbage and scavenger service, landscaping service and snow removal from streets and common courts (usually not driveways and sidewalks), and common property insurance which is usually liability insurance if someone gets hurt on a common area like your sidewalk or in a courtyard, and the structure of the buildings from the outside walls inward to your line of ownership -- see your governing documents for a description of the line -- roofs and sewers, Plumbing, wiring and so forth.
• Overall maintenance, preservation and protection of the commonly owned real estate assets, including regular payments into your reserves, which are savings accounts that accumulate monies over time to replace significant physical elements, such as windows, roofs, sprinkler systems and so forth.

Check the governing documents of the association for all the details you want.

Answer 3

You can review the categories of services included in your annual budget to determine what is covered by your assessments. Generally, your assessments pay the costs of operating the community, and includes contributions to your reserves.

Typically, you'll find association management expenses, utilities, master policy premiums, legal fees, pest control, earthquake and/or flood insurance premiums, and so forth.

Answer 4

Every condominium association, which is the business that protects, maintains and preserves the real estate assets that you own communally with all the other unit owners, requires money to operate the business.

Depending on the amenities in your community, the 'fees', most properly called assessments -- can cover everything from pool maintenance, landscaping, contributions to reserves, master insurance policy premiums, and more.

Your treasurer can give you a copy of the annual budget, so that you can review the line items showing how each of your assessment dollars is spent.

Answer 5

Anyone who is thinking of purchasing a condominium unit must take the time to understand the various assessments that can be imposed by the unit owner’s association. There is some confusion as to the difference between regular monthly condo fees that must be paid by all unit owners on a regular basis and special assessments that must be charged off to unit owners when unexpected or extraordinary situations arise.

Regular or ordinary assessments called monthly maintenance fees, are used to pay for regular, ongoing operating expenses such as road repairs, utility costs, landscaping services, snow removal from parking lots and roads, security, contributions to the reserve fund and insurance for the common areas. The key to understanding condominium fees is to think of regular, flat monthly fees that are paid on a regular basis.

Special assessments are levied to pay for expensive, necessary repairs or improvements that were not part of the association's operating budget and not covered by a reserve fund. Special assessments can cover expenses such as large scale repairs, roof replacements, storm damage not covered by insurance or providing access to a municipal sewer system. Think of special assessments as being used to pay expensive one-time costs.

Follow the link below for an interesting discussion of condo fees and special assessments in the State of Washington.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/new-state-law-requires-condo-associations-to-report-money-set-aside-for-long-term-maintenance/

Answer 6

Anyone who is thinking of purchasing a condominium unit must take the time to understand the various assessments that can be imposed by the unit owner’s association. There is some confusion as to the difference between regular monthly condo fees that must be paid by all unit owners on a regular basis and special assessments that must be charged off to unit owners when unexpected or extraordinary situations arise.

Regular or ordinary assessments called monthly maintenance fees, are used to pay for regular,ongoing operating expenses such as road repairs, utility costs, landscaping services, snow removal from parking lots and roads, security, contributions to the reserve fund and insurance for the common areas. The key to understanding condominium fees is to think of regular, flat monthly fees that are paid on a regular basis.

Special assessments are levied to pay for expensive, necessary repairs or improvements that were not part of the association's operating budget and not covered by a reserve fund. Special assessments can cover expenses such as large scale repairs, roof replacements, storm damage not covered by insurance or providing access to a municipal sewer system. Think of special assessments as being used to pay expensive one-time costs.

Follow the link below for an interesting discussion of condo fees and special assessments in the State of Washington.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/new-state-law-requires-condo-associations-to-report-money-set-aside-for-long-term-maintenance/