January 11, 2010 Featured article: Taxes, Condo Fees

This week we will talk about property taxes, condo fee's and club fee's prior to buying a home or condo. I have customer's look at several properties in the same communities and the taxes will vary greatly. We have something called homestead here in which your property values can only go up 3% per year. So if you owned your home for a long time your taxes will be less then someone purchasing new. When you buy your property will be reappraised at  the new sales price and your tax bill will be adjusted to approximately 2% of the new sales price. If you pay $250,000 you can expect a yearly tax bill of $5,000. Hope that helps answer your questions.  
Visit our property appraisors website which will give you more detailed information on property taxes and homestead of your property.  You can also see what properties have sold for in the paste on this site.    http://www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/papa/index.htm

Now I will talk about condo and HOA fee's that you see on the mls sheets I send you.
Condo fee's are the monthly fee's you pay the association to manage and run the community.
In most cases the the fee's include the folowing: Exterior building insurance which covers hurricane damage to the exterior building. It usually covers water/sewer, basic cable, lawn care and common elements such as pools and  tennis as well as manangement fee's. It may also include reserve funds for painting,  roofs, elevators and whatever projects they want to tackle.  The condo assoc may also include  other future expenses. The community decides whether to fund these future costs or give you a special assessment when it comes time to do theses projects. Every condo is somewhat different and I encourage you to talk with the manager who will provide you with a budget and year end fiscal statement on the property.

Many attached townhomes you would think that your HOA fee would include roofs and insurance but most don't. Places such as Abacoa and Jonathan's Landing you are responsible for your rrofs as well as building insurance, water and sewer. It is important to check and see.
Condo and HOA fee's run from $250 per month on the low end to an average of $375 and as high as $1,000 per month in many upscale communities and oceanfront luxury condos.

Golf and Country Club communities have a fee to join and it is usually shown as a membership equity fee on the mls sheets. This fee is a mandatory fee when you purchase inside that community. It may run from $35,000 to $150,000 depending upon the community. This fee is refundable once you sell. You will not receive the entire amount back but expect to see 60 to 80% back when you sell.
In addition to the membership equity fee you will also incur a yearly dues which usually runs from $7,500 to $12,000 per year. This covers the use of the club house, tennis, fitness centers and the golf course. It may also include the tips for the restaurants and activities you use.
Most communities require you to join as a minimum social membership. Your next step would be sports which may include tennis and limited golf and then the full golf membership which allows you to use all the facilities of the community.

Jonathans' Landing is one of the only communities that does not require you to join the club and the social membership is around $3,000 to join and about $2,500 per year which allows you to use the club house, restaurants and the fitness center. Therefore the homes tend to be more expensive for a similar home in a community that requires you to join and pay a $35,000 membership equity fee. Jonathan's does have different levels of memberships but they don't require you to join.

If you have any more questions feel free to contact me.