Sell or Double Down to take over HOA?

[Erik D.]

Hi everyone,

I own 1 condo within a 4-unit building. I rent it out. The HOA is self managed - and by self-managed I mean that I pretty much handle the day-to-day because nobody else wants to do it.

The 3 other units are occupied by their respective owners, unlike mine which I have rented out to a great tenant.

The other 3 owners don't do anything. They don't pick up trash around the building, they don't want to contribute to lawn mowing or snow removal, they basically treat their homes as apartment units. As in; when you live in an apartment unit, you aren't responsible for anything outside of your walls.

The boiler in the basement is 25+ years old, that will be $25,000 to replace. The roof has 8 to 10 spots that leak, the chimney needs tuck-pointing, and there are many areas of damage to the roof and to the exterior walls. We could open an insurance claim for a recent hail storm but the deductible is $25k. The yard used to be grass but it is mostly dirt now. The gutters are neglected and falling apart. Overall, there is differed maintenance that nobody seems to pay attention to besides me.

The HOA dues are $400 per month and everybody does pay on-time except for one owner that pays in large amounts at a time to pre-pay. HOA bank account balance is about $17k - pretty good for a 4-unit condo building. While the bank account balance is ready to absorb an emergency situation, nobody wants to spend money or trigger an HOA assessment.

Questions is - should I just get out of this situation and sell my unit at a discount due to the neglectful HOA or do I buy up a 2nd unit to take full control of the HOA? I purchased the unit for $115k and today it may be worth $190k at full price. Inside the walls, the condo unit is in good condition. The 100+ year old exterior however is hard to keep up with in this HOA that does not seem to care. Another option I consider is to let the current tenant live there as long as they want and sell once I receive a move-out notice from them.

Anybody have a similar situation or any advice? Thank you!