It depends on the HOA covenants. They dictate whether the amount can be increased, how, and by how much. For example, the HOA covenants may say the board of directors can raise the fees by simple vote by a maximum of 10% per year. Other HOAs may work by a different set of rules. Your best bet is to read the HOA covenants, you will find your answer there.

We have 2 properties with HOA fees.

They do not change every year, but increases happen. Remember the HOA fee will more then likely increase when property taxes, insurance costs and maintenance costs go up. Attending the Association meetings will help you understand the reasons for increases.

My HOA has had two special assessments in the last 5 years. What that means....the HOA can come up with some pet peeve...ie: they want to put in a swimming pool at the club house...take a vote...and 110% have to vote NO to vote it down....by law...or the vote is automatically YES. Then everyone owes the amount they decided on to build the pool....say $1000 each home. Then the HOA fee can go up ANY amount the board decides, it also gets voted on...and 110% of the people don't cast a vote...so it always goes through..

I attend a LOT of HOA meetings....it's a LOT of time and effort to attend. I also volunteer our time for FREE...which gets me a LOT of favor...and more say-so as to what goes on. Still a battle.

An example. In the year 2000 the HOA fee for a small condo we bought was $140.00 a month. Same condo HOA fee in 2024 is $439.00 monthly. A three hundred dollar increase in 24 years is acceptable to us.

Thanks so much for the information. I have casually looked at condos online and I wonder if it's financially better to have utilities included or not. For example my electric bill is about $15 a month and gas- water is about $65 to $80 .

In our case, utility bills are not included in the HOA fees. Are they anywhere?

What Nicole said. Our vacation condo is governed by an owner-elected and owner represented HOA. In other words, the HOA board is made up completely of condo owners. There are board meetings which can (and are) attended by any owner, plus there is an annual meeting held in March each year. The board also holds short Executive sessions which are private. Usually those are when individual owner issues might be discussed, not for public discussion.

Since we bought ours in 2008, there have been 2 special assessments of $1000 each and a raise in quarterly dues about 3 times iirc. It has gone from $500/quarter to $700 in almost 16 years.

I urge you to ask the question about the makeup of any HOA Board, the past history of special assessments and raises in dues. And ask of there is a governing HOA board meeting which you can attend. Not that you have to but it is good to know.

I've been in one HOA (an area of custom houses but owning a pool and private roads) for over 25 years and another for over 6. No special assessments in either.

I attribute that to stringent California laws governing common area associations. They are required to engage experts periodically to revisit replacement dates and costs individually for each major asset and then to build up corresponding reserve balances in time for the spending. Both the annual updates to the reserve assessment (the law specifies how often it needs to be reassessed) and the funding plan for the required balance is disclosed annually.

Not every projection results in carved in stone info. Unexpected/premature failures, weather events, and other problems can accelerate spending. Which is why the reserve also needs to have an unallocated contingency element.

" In our case, utility bills are not included in the HOA fees. Are they anywhere? "

My HOA fees cover water, sewer and garbage collection. I am responsible for electricity and cable/internet.

I only moved into my condo at the beginning of November. HOA dues increased from $400 to $450 as of February 1st. But I had 30 days notice of the increase.

Our water is included, but the sewer is not. We pay our own gas and electric and property taxes, of course. The HOA charge goes up some years, but some years it does not. I think our HOA board does a nice job of investing. But I don't resent the increases. We are in an apartment-style condo, with 9 units in each of 26 buildings. The superintendent and the landscapers (who also do snow removal--not that we've had much over the last few years) and the cleaning staff and the pool people deserve raises every year. I have been very pleased with the way our condo complex is run. The board plans ahead for improvements, and we have never had an assessment for unforeseen costs. They have planned new roofs and lobby upgrades without a cost to us.

When we bought a small condo on Maui in 2001 the HOA board had been a casual mess. New owners took an interest, ran for office, and started tightening the bolts. One early change was to reduce the contingency funds, freeing them for better maintenance (and replacing the manager presumed to be receiving kickbacks).

Running a condo association is big business. Our board held monthly open meetings. There was an annual meeting with elections to various committees. Owners received spreadsheets, showing where the money was going now and was predicted to be needed in the future.

I'd be concerned if a property is very small, with only a few owners to manage the operation. Are there enough active, interested, *capable* owners?

Consider if you want to pay for pools, golf courses, exercise facilities, a doorman? Are the buildings in good repair and well maintained?

Good board management shows -- in what you observe at the property, and what you see in minutes of board meetings. Look at annual fees over the years. Talk to residents.

A friend where I volunteer lives in a condo. In a nearby city, someone in a condo was running a gas bbq grill on their deck, and went inside for X minutes. The grill flared, catching something on fire, which quickly got out of hand (windy day). Multiple units were affected.

That condo immediately outlawed all gas grills, smokers, patio heaters, etc. Soon after, other major condos did the same, including the condo where my friend lives.

I 100% understand it. But she was livid as they had, in late summer, just purchased a very pricey gas grill and had to sell it for a fraction of the value.

So, just something to consider when purchasing a condo. The HOA can make rulings for the benefit of the building, even if unit owners don't want it.

Also, for your comment about having utilities included in the monthly fee. Personally I would prefer to pay my own utility bill. I am very frugal with my heating/air conditioning usage. From what you've shared about your current bill, I'm guessing you are too. If the utility is included in your monthly HOA bill, I would assume that's an average of all units. Since other people commonly set their heat higher than I do, and their air conditioners lower than I do, I don't want to help pay for their usage.

Electricity is rarely covered by either HOA fees or rents, as it tends to be the most variable of utilities in terms of usage.

Either as a cost saving measure or because water was cheap at the time, my second location is in a development of free-standing homes that has one (!) water meter. It must have started originally that the bill was simply paid by the HOA and included as a cost in monthly dues. Somewhere along the way (before I bought), the owners must have decided that for cost or other reasons to change the approach. Remotely readable water meters were installed in each home. My bill is based on my individual usage plus a fee for the company that reads the water meter. In this way, the HOA is reimbursed for what remains to be just one bill for the entire neighborhood. Odd, no?

Jay touched on covenants. I'll add that some issues can require the vote of X percentage of owners to approve the change. Our HOA required a 60% approval to limit smoking on the property. We were able to limit smoking to designated benches at the edges of the property, but only by grandfathering in four of the more than 300 units. (When those units sold, smoking would not be permitted.)

Our HOA did not permit grills on lanai or balcony. Grills were HOA maintained and located a safe distance from condos. The HOA also maintained clothes dryer vents. Safety first.