Country Club Membership Required

[Jake Randall]

I am a resident of South Florida and I love the Boca Raton market for the "buy and hold" scenario. With the large number of elderly retirees you are almost assured occupancy in this market. The only problem is that I keep running into the "Country Club Membership Required" kick back. If the membership was $15k or even $20k it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but these are $70k to $125k! This leads into the foreclosure property I found today listed for $25k in a neighborhood where avg rents are around $1200, but again I've run into the $70k country club membership that is required upon purchase of the property. The other issue is that it is a Fannie Mae Homepath Property which would be great if I was planning on occupying the residence, but I'm not. I have a private lender that would fund the entire amount but I'm not sure how to proceed with the rent structure. Oh, I forgot to mention, this would be my first deal... Thank you for any advice in advance!

[David Sicherman]

Run away unless you have some advanced kung fu when there is a county club involved. Typically they are $75k equity buy-in, $15,000 per year dues AND a freaking ridiculous $600/mo HOA dues as well. People buy them when they have money to throw in the garbage and don't care because friends live there.