Properly Evaluating Condominiums & Maintenance Costs

[Charles Romano]

Hi All,

Lurker, podcast addict, investor in Myrtle Beach SC, NY, and NJ, and finally publishing my first post here. Was curious what the community's thoughts are on condo investing evaluations.

While many HOAs are different, I find it to be very common for HOAs to cover landscaping, exterior renos (roofing, siding, etc.). That said, when evaluating investment opportunities for SFH, I factor in 10% for CapEx, 5% for Maintenance, 10% for vacancy, and 10% for property management.

My question to the community is what you'd consider a more realistic evaluation, given that exterior repairs are covered by HOA, what would a more accurate assessment be for Maintenance and CapEx?

In my limited experience thus far, I had to replace a washing maching over an 18 month span for $1,000 and that's been the only repair to date. I foresee replacing HVAC as maybe being the biggest expense/repair that I can think of. That said, wanted to poll and get your thoughts on more accurately assessing/evaluating condos.