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Why are my HOA dues so high?

“Why are HOA dues so high for these condos in Little Italy San Diego and Downtown San Diego?”

I hear this question ALL THE TIME. There is a misconception that a pool or a gym are the reasons that the HOA dues are high. That means that if a building doesn’t have a pool or gym their dues should be lower right? Well not necessarily and let me tell you why!

In a Downtown San Diego Condo Building, maintenance and major repairs of the roof, windows, parking, garage, exterior paint, lobby updates, and in this case heating and air conditioning make up a huge portion of your HOA dues. Money has to be set aside every month into your HOA reserves to be able to pay for these repairs and updates when they come up.

Earlier this week In Downtown San Diego the Electra Condos off of Broadway and Pacific Highway had to get a whole new HVAC system replaced. The HVAC replacement came with quite a hefty price tag. And guess who had to pay for the replacement? The owners!

I wanted to make this post to illustrate how expensive repairs and upgrades in condos, especially high-rises can make your dues go up.

Other huge impacts on HOA dues can include:

✅ Staff – Including front desk, security, building engineers etc
✅ Inflation – Inflation is at around 8% nowadays so you can expect your HOA dues to go up accordingly
✅ Unexpected repairs – roof leaks, plumbing leaks etc…

This is one of the reasons why it is very important to work with a local Little Italy and Downtown Condo expert that is used to selling condos and has knowledge of which condo HOA’s are well managed.

*Pro Tip – Please READ YOUR HOA DOCS during your due diligence period when you are buying. Condo sellers are required to provide buyers with HOA rules, financials, meeting minutes etc before you buy. Most buyers don’t take the time to read these docs, especially if they aren’t working with a condo specialist.

Reach out to me if you have any questions about a particular condo building in Little Italy or Downtown in general.
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