If you're buying a home or a condo in a Denver community with a homeowners association (HOA), it's likely that your attention is focused on things like your monthly payments, homeowners insurance, taxes and furnishing your new digs. You're probably not thinking much about the homeowners association itself.
But Terry Jarrett, CEO of BEST Management (an HOA property management company) and president-elect of the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Community Associations Institute (a non-profit group dedicated to HOA issues and research), says there are questions and tips anyone living in a HOA-governed community should address.
Things you need to be aware of include:
- How much are you expected to pay in assessments, or HOA dues?
- What do the fees you're paying exactly cover – what are you getting for your money?
- Read all of the documents you'll receive from the HOA. There are people who live in a community for decades, and never review the details of the agreements drawn up by the community's HOA.
- Be sure to read the minutes of the last HOA board meeting.
- Get the HOA's financials; they're available to all residents. Find out how much they have in reserve.
- Find out the last time roofs or other community property were repaired or replaced. If it has been a long time and the reserves are small, it could mean that there's a special assessment upcoming if there's a major problem.
- Find out if there is any pending litigation that may have an impact on future HOA fees.
“What I did, before I bought in an HOA community, was I actually sat in on one of the board meetings,” Jarrett said. “After I listened to the issues they discussed and how careful they were as far being good stewards of the money, I had a high-level of confidence of buying there.”
Being well informed about your new community just makes good sense. Get involved, and stay active in order to know what's going on with your HOA.
It's spring, and now is a great time to buy a Denver-area home! At The Bandy Team, we help new Denver homebuyers as well as sellers with all their real estate needs and we will help you work through any issues that may arise in buying or selling a Denver property.
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Until next time,
Marianne Bandy, Team Leader
The Bandy Team
Keller Williams Park Meadows
720-466-3790
