How Much Money Is in Your HOA’s Reserve Fund?

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As we’ve discussed before, Homeowners Associations come with many pros and cons. Before you decide to purchase a property within an HOA, you need to review the financial documents during your contingency period.

You want to make sure you are moving into a community that is financially secure. Obviously, there’s an HOA fee due. Whether that fee is $50 or $350, you need to know what that money is going toward. What are you getting for that fee? The HOA fee covers amenities such as parks, pools, and landscaping, but a portion of that money goes to the reserve fund.

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Pay attention to the reserve fund.

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As time goes on, fences, roofs, and landscaping may need extra repairs. The reserve fund is there for any major repairs. Every year, the HOA conducts a reserve fund study. Look at those studies to see how the reserve fund is doing so you know what is going on in the community in the long run.

If your reserve fund is 50% funded, 100% funded, or 150% funded, you’re in pretty good shape. If the reserve fund is only at 35%, that is a red flag. The HOA may even need to order a special assessment and, depending on the number of homes in the community, that could run a few thousand dollars. They may even plan to raise the dues, so definitely pay attention to the reserve fund and special assessments.

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Is It Really the Best Time to Sell in Silicon Valley?

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We've seen a lot in the media about what a great time it is to sell - we even did a market update for you recently with the numbers. But how do you know it's really the best time to sell? Does that blanket sentence mean it's the best time to sell your Silicon Valley property?

In reality, not necessarily. It is a seller's market and a great time in general to sell, but as we always talk about in real estate, it goes back to the 3 most important things about a property: location, location, location. This is because real estate is very localized. An area may have an average value of $400 per square foot, but that's because one neighborhood has a value of $350 per square foot and another neighborhood in the same area has a value of $450 per square foot. With real estate being so localized, it's hard to say a blanket statement like "now is the best time to sell."

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It goes back to the 3 most important things about a property: location, location, location.

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You really want to break it down by the local market in your local neighborhood and see if it's really the best time to sell. When doing that, you need to look at price and competition. For example, if there are 3 homes in your neighborhood that are the exact same model as yours, maybe now is not the best time to sell; wait a week or two and see what happens with those properties. Waiting until after they sell, or accept an offer, is a great time to list yours, because the house may have had lots of interest that can be funneled into your similar home.

The key to remember is to consider your neighborhood. It may not be the perfect time to sell right now, but it may be soon. We put a property on the market the week before Christmas. People were wondering why - but it was in a very desirable community with no other homes for sale, so no competition. It sold very quickly with multiple offers. In general, Christmas isn't the best time to sell a home, but it was the perfect time to sell that particular home.

If you're interested in selling your home and now is the best time, give us a call and we'd be happy to work with you. Likewise, if you have real estate topics that you'd like to see covered, let us know too.