Buying A Home With A HOA....Check For Assessments

Most homes sold in the Charlotte area today are part of a neighborhood. Those neighborhoods often offer amenities or have common areas that need to be upkept. When that happens you have a home owners Association fee (or commonly known as a HOA) attached to your home that is paid either monthly, quarterly or yearly. In most cases that will be the only fee attached to the home. In a condominium complex or a townhome community you will always have an association fee attached to the unit you live in. But, is there a special assessment attached to the home/townhome? Is there one on the horizon? These are questions you need to ask before you purchase a home. In some cases the special assessment can be the same amount or greater than the HOA dues.

When you are looking to purchase a home there is a form that the homeowner fills out letting you know what the HOA fee is and how often it is paid. They also check off various boxes that let you know what your money goes toward paying. They must also inform you if there are any special assessments on the complex and the amount and time frame for which it is paid. However; there could be a special assessment in the works for the complex or neighborhood you are looking to buy in. Without it formally ratified and started the seller is under no obligation to inform you of the potential of a special assessment.

So how do you protect yourself? I always ask for a copy of the covenats and restrictions for the property when I present an offer. In addition if we are close to finalizing a deal I will ask for the minutes of the past three HOA meetings. Any discussions of a potential assessment will show up in those minutes. That dollar amount could be the difference between you purchasing that home and not.

I recently had an incindent where this became an issue. After reviewing the minutes I found out that the HOA for a complex was attaching an assessment on all homes of an additonal $200.00 monthly over a three year period. That was in addition to the regular HOA dues that had to be paid each month. Without checking those minutes my buyer might have ended up in a townhome with additional fees they were not expecting. I came to find out that the chance of the assessment is what led the seller to decide to sell their home. They were already on a tight budget and this would have pushed them over....

So, if you are looking at a home with an HOA. Make sure your Realtor is doing some homeowrk in regards to the HOA and checking to see if there are special assessments and if there are considerations for one...


Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com