If you’re moving into a homeowners association in California, you may want to find out whether HOA fees apply to you and how much you’re expected to pay. HOAs collect these payments from the owners of properties within the association to cover various costs. For the owners of some residential property types, these dues must be paid each to their respective HOA.
What are HOA fees for?
Understanding why these fees are in place and the importance of paying yours may help to feel less like you’re losing something from the transaction. It should feel more like you’re exchanging money for certain benefits – because you are.
Fees enable HOAs to carry out essential operations like making property improvements and maintenance. It takes a significant amount of capital to keep up with the myriad expenses that come with managing an association of homeowners and all their properties.
Who pays HOA fees?
People who own condominiums are usually quite familiar with these fees. Depending on the neighborhood where you live, single-family homeowners might also be subject to HOA fees as well.
These conveniences are part of the point of having a homeowners association in the first place. Your monthly dues are just the cost that you have to pay for them. And that cost is likely negligible when you compare it to all the advantages that you’re reaping from the arrangement.
The amount that you’ll have to pay for your monthly HOA dues depends on what kind of property you own and the services you are provided. In general, you can expect to pay at least a couple hundred dollars a month for these types of fees.
HOA fees are standard for condominiums, apartments and planned communities, so they’re something to be prepared for if you’re entering into an HOA for the first time. You may want to find out if your particular single-family home will be subject to any additional fees ahead of time. Fees are necessary to cover an HOA’s amenities as well as to maintain properties and repair any damage.