All About Green or Condo Fees

Typically, green fees cover grounds maintenance, insurance, garbage removal, snow removal, and amenities upkeep. Some communities include cable TV or other perks that the majority of homeowners are willing to pay for.
Here again, you want to look at the community closely to see if you’ll fit in. A clubhouse, swimming pool, and tennis courts are great if you use them. But if all you want is a quiet condo to get away from yard work, you’ll soon resent the higher fees. Not surprisingly, one of the biggest areas of contention among homeowner association members is finances. If the board is responsible and runs the association professionally, it will accumulate a reserve. However, this doesn’t always happen. So it’s important for you to find out before you buy how much money the development has in reserve. Otherwise, you may get an assessment (one-time bill) or a hefty increase in your monthly fee right after you move in. Homeowners associations have the right to put a lien on your unit if you don’t pay an assessment or the monthly fee. Also, if you break the rules or incur a fine, it’s going to cost you, and there’s not much you can do about it.
So what can you do if you don’t like the way your fees are spent? You exercise one of the basics of American democracy and get enough neighbors together to vote in a new board or have a recall election. The project’s bylaws and articles of incorporation contain the rules for elections and picking board members.
A must-read manual for anyone who buys a home in a project with a homeowners association is Joni Greenwald’s book Homeowner Associations, A Nightmare or a Dream Come True?
The bottom line is that condos can be a good way to go, and there are many areas that have a stable market where you can build equity. However, you don’t have as big a margin of error with condos as you do with detached homes. This is why your homework and planning have to be a little more rigorous.
If you buy a condo or co-op, your insurance needs will be slightly different than if you buy a detached single-family home.