Condo Fees in Florida Threaten Owners

[Terrel L. Shields]

Florida's condo fee crisis could trigger the 'next wave of homeless people' in the state, says one representative

Here's why he believes the elderly might be the first ones pushed out.

www.yahoo.com

A new building safety law that was passed in the wake of the Surfside tragedy in Florida has resulted in a tremendous amount of financial pressure on condo owners. Now, one state lawmaker warns it could prompt the "next wave of homeless people," with elderly residents living on fixed incomes at the forefront.​

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The law requires associations for condos three stories or higher to fully fund their maintenance reserves. Previously, they could waive filling these reserves, which potentially allowed damage to build up over decades.​

I have to question why the government allowed condo associations to neglect having a full fee maintenance fund not kept full and allowed them to leave the POAs to NOT fund 100% of the actual requirement. Now that those funds are so depleted, it is going to force a lot of people to sell (cheap), deplete their savings, etc.

Why did they allow this? Every appraiser is allowing for reserves. Why not Condos?

 

[ucbruin]

We don't need to stinkin' regulations....

Mr Schizoid....
Make up you mind....

 

[KHS445]

My bothers (my twin brothers married sisters) MIL and she recently sold her ocean front condo in the Ft Lauderdale area. Her unit was hit with an approximately $300,000 assessment and she decided at 86 it was time to sell. A year or so ago similar units in her building were selling for around $1,000,000 and when she received an offer of $700,000 cash she took it. Another major deciding factor was they were repairing decks, the exterior along with painting and there was going to be a large tarp completely blocking her view and deck access for most of the summer. Full disclosure they purchased the unit pre-construction around 50 years ago, so she came out ok.

 

[J Grant]

I was surprised to see the mandatory engineer study and then reserves law to fund repair not affecting sales as much as I thought it would. One way or another, property needs to be maintained, and especially along the water, the salt air and shallow soil above sea level creates problems that have to be addressed at some point,

But FL properties, and especially condos, have another problem, and that is a huge jump over the last 2 years in HOA fees due in large part to much higher insurance premiums. Many areas will probably face higher premiums because climate change is seeing more storms and weather events or fires and mudslides affecting areas that used to be considered safe or safer from those events.

Property prices overall are softening in FL to a more reasonable level, although the prices overall are still substantially higher than they used to be -

 

[Tom D]

But FL properties, and especially condos, have another problem, and that is a huge jump over the last 2 years in HOA fees due in large part to much higher insurance premiums. Many areas will probably face higher premiums because climate change is seeing more storms and weather events or fires and mudslides affecting areas that used to be considered safe or safer from those events.

So there were no storms, mudslides or fires before recent climate change. Maybe there were more, but no one was living in these areas, and there was no television for the climate freaks to keep repeating climate change.
So, keep over building on that beautiful Hurricane coast, and expect insurance to stay low with constant rising construction costs. At least when a urban neighborhood gets gentrified here, we move the zombies to another poor area. We can change the zombie climate here.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Many areas will probably face higher premiums because climate change is seeing more storms

Another nonsensical assumption that is unsupported by the facts.

 

[J Grant]

So there were no storms, mudslides or fires before recent climate change. Maybe there were more, but no one was living in these areas, and there was no television for the climate freaks to keep repeating climate change.
So, keep over building on that beautiful Hurricane coast, and expect insurance to stay low with constant rising construction costs. At least when a urban neighborhood gets gentrified here, we move the zombies to another poor area. We can change the zombie climate here.

That is a tired, silly argument. Of course, there were storms and mudslides and fires before the recent climate changes, but the climate change due to man made incursion has made things much worse. Don't take my word for it, just look at the last 10 years of events in areas that never experienced them, and the rise of sea level temps, melting icebergs melting permasfrst, loss of species diversity and loss of habitat etc..

Does not matter if we believe in climate change or not; it is unfolding in real time and is about more than the weather -

can we get back on topic -addressing a topic.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

it is unfolding in real time and is about more than the weather -

Again, you have zero evidence of "man made climate change" - zero.

PS the chart is from the EPA.

• Since 1878, about six to seven hurricanes have formed in the North Atlantic every year. Roughly two per year make landfall in the United States. The total number of hurricanes (particularly after being adjusted for improvements in observation methods) and the number reaching the United States do not indicate a clear overall trend since 1878 (see Figure 1)
• The results described above generally align with global trends reported in the most recent assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Studies generally agree that tropical cyclone intensity has increased around the world over approximately the past 40 years, but changes in observation methods over time make it difficult to know whether intensity or frequency have increased over the full period with available data

The IPCC claims "low probability" of there being a relationship between intensity and climate change. But they also claim that oceans will warm and hurricanes will intensify blah blah blah "in the future" - the same trite predications that never seem to come true.

 

[Mark K]

Why did they allow this? Every appraiser is allowing for reserves. Why not Condos?

Its not just FL. I owned a condo for a rental property some years back. The board didn't want to raise the HOA fee and kept it artificially low for a long time. Next thing you know, the units need new roofs, siding, and windows. The $60K condo was hit with an $18,000 special assessment and the monthly fee was raised 200%.

I was looking at condos in the Ft.Myers area a 3-4 years back when Mom was living down there. The average condo was say $400K and the monthly fee was $250. Today those same condos are selling for $300 - $325K and the monthly fee is $600 - $800. Those are condos built in the 80's. The older units, built in the 70's, are getting hit much harder. Prices are dropping from $300K to $200K +/- and the fees jumped from $125 to $500+/month.


EDIT: Wow!! I just did a search around Punta Gorda and there are a LOT of condos under $200K. A few years back you were lucky to find one under $300K. BTW, the HOA fees on the 5-6 that I looked at were anywhere from $500 up to $1,500/month. These were all listed under $250K. Zillow price graph showed a price drop from 20-40% in the past 4 years. They are getting slaughtered.