What to watch out for when purchasing a town house woth a HOA?

[William J Mcmillen]

Currently trying to purchase my first rental property. It's a townhouse in a great location with a reasonable price, reasonable HOA. Your thoughts on townhouses and HOAs? Does HOAs typically go up often?

[Tim Herman]

@William J Mcmillen Like @Ian Walsh said read the bylaws. See if they limit the number of rentals allowed in the complex. Another document to see is the reserve fund. They should be setting aside money for capex, ie:Roof and parking lots replacement. If it cost 4k to replace a roof and there is only 5 years left before roof replacement and the reserve is only 1k in the fund . Guess what the rest will be a special assessment on the current owners, unless the reserve grows enough to cover the cost.