CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Property association fee hikes are putting many people in a bind trying to hold onto their investment property or home.
The fee increases started around the pandemic and show no signs of ever retreating.
You've heard about major increases in property taxes and other expenses involved in owning a home or condo.
Some owners say it priced them out of such ownership.
Holly Howard, condo owner and HOA board member said, "Price increases started about two years ago with insurance. And we saw a 30, or a 26 percent increase in our insurance. We were already paying 23 thousand to 35 thousand dollars a year and so that upped 30 percent."
Howard owns a condo on Padre Island. She said the way inflation and price increases continue to climb, more bad news could be on the way. "I'm anticipating a scary, another 30 percent."
As a condo owner and HOA board member, Holly says she has seen property owner association fee hikes force people to sell because they hadn't planned for such hikes.
Property manager and realtor Gary Graham says it's a real problem for many.
"There are a few people especially in an older community that they come back and say we need to replace a roof or siding, and they come up with a substantial special assessment. The people cannot come up with that or they don't want to pay that special assessment. So unfortunately, they do have to sell so that they can get out of a bad situation for them personally," said Graham.
We checked with Gary Allsup, the CEO of the city's housing authority to see if there are any programs that could help owners with unexpected fee increases. "Is there a way that someone could help with that insurance temporarily. Not that I know of right now but certainly somebody could come up with a great idea of how to make that work. I think it would be very beneficial for everybody."
Graham says don't buy into a property on impulse. "I would just caution buyers that are buying into multi family with a homeowners association or a sub division with a home owners association that they do their homework up front first to make sure they fully understand what they're getting into."
Nationwide, according to Forbes, annual dues average $291 a month or about $3,500 a year. But some report their HOA fees are more than their monthly mortgage. So asking your realtor becomes critical for property ownership.