Should I be suspicious of low HOA dues?

[James Carlson]

Hi BP community. My wife and I are looking at a townhome in Denver's Five Points neighborhood. It's a 1913 building that developers bought and have redone all 11 units. 

I've lived in condos most of my time here, and the HOA fees are usually between $200 and $400. The HOA for this townhome is $70, and the agent I'm working with wondered aloud whether the developers were starting the HOA low and wondered whether we would find that that $70 doesn't cover capital costs as they arise.

The big expenses for the HOA would be the roof and maybe paint for the exterior? (Each unit has its own furnace.) I called the agent. He said the roof "is not new but has been totally repaired." Not sure what that means. Anyway, does anyone have insight on this? Maybe I should figure out how old the roof is, figure the cost of that new roof and work backwards to see if our dues will build a reserve big enough to cover that cost when it will come due?

Thoughts?

[James Carlson]

No, no, we're looking to just buy one unit. (Somewhere between $389,000 and $425,000 depending on the unit). It's not a coop. It will have an HOA. I just don't see a history for one, and so I was trying to do some calculations myself to see if that advertised $70 HOA fee is high enough to cover whatever might come up in the future.