Not planning for the big cash expenses like roof, windows, siding, decking, exterior painting, lead paint abatement...Every few years I got surprised with a new $5,000-$45,000 improvement.

., 4 Bdrm 3 Bath, 3 Ocean view decks, 2 Loft spaces.  

I has a dishwasher, garage, patio, private deck, dishwasher, kohler rainshower, etc.

Decks/PorchesN.A.

For example, I was looking at a property with a second story deck.  

We replaced the deck on our rental house in 2016, but to make a long story short, we made a number of individual payments for various parts of the deck. 

The association replaced some lights and siding and did a back deck repair on them while I owned it, but I ended-up replacing a bad garage door and air conditioning condenser because those items were not covered.With an HOA, your fee is supposed to go to ongoing maintenance and some larger replacement items, BUT.... if the HOA is bad at managing their money and/or they have a bad balance sheet you could and likely will get stuck with the bill as a special assessment for your portion of that capex item. 

, an external paint job, and the front porch and back deck need some love (good structurally, just needs a paintjob and a few new stairs).

Shingles and decking boards.. if it wasn’t for my inspector almost falling through into the attic space I would have never known the decking boards were the old-school, super thin decking boards.

The $25K includes this basic scope: sidewalk repair, new porch floor, painting, new cabinets in kitchen, relocate kitchen plumbing (since I'm flipping the plan), renovate bathroom, replace small back deck, finish roof shingle work (they got half way through new shingles) add new front door and 2 windows.