Average HOA Fees in Portland 2021. Are your HOA fees too high?

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Some HOA fees are too high due to past mismanagement

There are some condo complexes in Portland right now that have higher monthly HOA fees than the cost of the monthly mortgage if you were to buy one of their condos for sale. This happens for two main reasons. First, sometimes HOA management collected too little in fees for too many years, giving themselves a financial break at the time by not saving up properly for future costs to cover whatever the HOA made itself responsible for. This is why it is crucial for a condo buyer to analyze the HOAs financials and reserve study before purchasing, to make sure the HOA won’t suddenly have a special assessment (huge hike in fees) to cover something they didn’t properly save for. Second, sometimes the HOA has properly saved up but for unexpected reasons the costs to cover their responsibility far exceeded what they had saved up for.

HOAs are wildly different from one another

HOA fees are scary! Huge variances in cost exist from one HOA to another. Also, HOAs may cover nearly everything, utilities, the building’s exterior including siding, windows, roof, decks, landscaping, and more, or the HOA may cover nothing more than the cost of running the HOA! In addition, some HOAs may have extensive rules (bylaws) about what homeowners (or condo owners) can and can’t do, while others have almost no rules at all.

Average HOA fee cost criteria

Since HOAs vary so wildly from one another I want to cut out those HOAs that only charge $100 a year to operate and basically cover nothing but the cost of having an HOA in the first place. So my criteria for determining the average HOA fee in Portland is to only include those HOAs that cover exterior maintenance. This means the HOA at least covers the cost of maintaining and replacing the roof and siding. This, in my experience, is a serious HOA tasked with maintaining the buildings so the home or condos owners can relax.

Portland HOA Cost Averages 2021

From 01/01/2021 to today 897 homes, condos, and townhomes with HOAs that covered exterior maintenance sold. The average sq. ft. of the sold properties was 1,186 and the average HOA monthly fee was $439 giving an average HOA fee price per sq. ft. of 37 cents.

Average HOA Cost Examples for 2021

Using the above forumla for average HOA costs you might expect a:

  • 500 sq. ft. property to have a monthly hoa fee of: $185
  • 750 sq. ft. property to have a monthly hoa fee of: $278
  • 1000 sq. ft. property to have a monthly hoa fee of: $370
  • 1250 sq. ft. property to have a monthly hoa fee of: $463
  • 1500 sq. ft. property to have a monthly hoa fee of: $555
  • 2000 sq. ft. property to have a monthly hoa fee of: $740
  • 2500 sq. ft. property to have a monthly hoa fee of: $925

Use our smart search platform to search Portland homes for sale with reasonable HOA fees

We have a platform with two different powerful tools to help you search for reasonable HOA fees. First, input your criteria like you normally would, location, price range, sq. ft. range, etc. Then click the filters menu at the top and locate HOA MONTHLY. Here you can enter the acceptable HOA fee range for you!

Second, like before enter your normal basic search criteria of what you’re looking for, then click on the VestorFilter™ power tool called BEST PRICED CONDO. Suddenly, you’ll notice each condo has two different price tags. The first price tag is the normal one, what the seller is listing the condo for. The second price tag is our smart tool in action. The second price tag adds 5 years of HOA fees and property taxes to the normal price tag to help a condo buyer see in a quick snapshot, which condo is truly the best deal. Here is an example below, where the price tag in green is the smart tool at work:

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