Hi All,

Lurker, podcast addict, investor in Myrtle Beach SC, NY, and NJ, and finally publishing my first post here. Was curious what the community's thoughts are on condo investing evaluations.

While many HOAs are different, I find it to be very common for HOAs to cover landscaping, exterior renos (roofing, siding, etc.). That said, when evaluating investment opportunities for SFH, I factor in 10% for CapEx, 5% for Maintenance, 10% for vacancy, and 10% for property management.

My question to the community is what you'd consider a more realistic evaluation, given that exterior repairs are covered by HOA, what would a more accurate assessment be for Maintenance and CapEx?

In my limited experience thus far, I had to replace a washing maching over an 18 month span for $1,000 and that's been the only repair to date. I foresee replacing HVAC as maybe being the biggest expense/repair that I can think of. That said, wanted to poll and get your thoughts on more accurately assessing/evaluating condos.

@Charles Romano It is not the interior maintenance what you need to be concern in a HOA's as a top priority but the financial health of the HOA community. I have managed HOA communities for 11 years and an HOA without strong financial can cause you more money than any potential interior repairs. (Eg: Special assessments, delinquency rates, lack of reserves, etc)

Any advice on how to evaluate the financial health ? Are you looking for specific %'s of reserves, or delinquency rates (I assume you mean in paying the HOA dues). I too would like to be able to do this and not solely rely on a realtor who has a financial inventive to make a sale.