Century Village Deerfield Beach vs. Century Village Boca Raton

[ndcairngorm]

SavannahMick is quite correct, many of the seniors' complexes around here have complicated funding situations. I cannot speak to Boca Raton's Century Village as they are all different. But I can give you an example using our own Century Village here in Deerfield Beach.

The overall care and maintenance of the complex - roads, landscaping, infrastructure, etc., is taken care of by Master Management, who charges a certain fee per month. The clubhouse and all its activities, including the clubhouse pools and all the 17 pools scattered throughout the complex, and also including all the live attractions brought to the village and all the classes and clubs and groups, and tennis, pickleball, etc.etc., are under the management of Cenclub, who also charges a monthly fee for these services. The building you live in will have its own HOA, which is the normal type HOA and takes care of the normal HOA things, and they also charge a monthly fee. So you have three monthly fees, which total around $400-$450 per month. Some realtors when listing homes for sale do not detail all these fees, which is why you will see big variances in amounts. But rest assured, if you are buying a condo in Century Village East (Deerfield Beach) you will have a monthly maintenance total of between $385 and $450 depending on the size of your unit and the slightly different HOA fees of your building.

[hebell]

My husband and I sold our property there at CV Boca early this year. I would not buy there now knowing what I know now. Reserves have been underfunded for years. With the mandated State building inspections going on, it has been come clearly evident that reserves need to be significantly boosted. In many cases, now there are special assessments for mandatory repairs. Other associations are trying to avoid assessments, by really jacking the monthly coupon rates, which of course hurts home prices. Associations acted as if the buildings would never get old. Here they are now, having to raise funds for stucco repair, concrete repair, fixing corroded steel framing behind stucco, electrical systems for elevators , delaminating catwalks and spalling expansion joints, hydraulic pumps for elevators, starter motors, replacing nearly antique fire safety systems, old wiring, the sanitary risers that form the plumbing between floors, and on and on the list goes.

Fortunately, the units are small so the homes are dense. Meaning that the special assessments are divided between many unit owners. If you can get a price really cheap, it might still be worth it, but go into it with your eyes open.

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by hebell

My husband and I sold our property there at CV Boca early this year. I would not buy there now knowing what I know now. Reserves have been underfunded for years. With the mandated State building inspections going on, it has been come clearly evident that reserves need to be significantly boosted. In many cases, now there are special assessments for mandatory repairs. Other associations are trying to avoid assessments, by really jacking the monthly coupon rates, which of course hurts home prices. Associations acted as if the buildings would never get old. Here they are now, having to raise funds for stucco repair, concrete repair, fixing corroded steel framing behind stucco, electrical systems for elevators , delaminating catwalks and spalling expansion joints, hydraulic pumps for elevators, starter motors, replacing nearly antique fire safety systems, old wiring, the sanitary risers that form the plumbing between floors, and on and on the list goes.

Fortunately, the units are small so the homes are dense. Meaning that the special assessments are divided between many unit owners. If you can get a price really cheap, it might still be worth it, but go into it with your eyes open.

Good advice. Too bad this can’t be a sticky.

[ndcairngorm]

Yes, when you get a team that wants to keep payments static in an inflating world, just to pacify owners who fuss about raises in fees, this is what happens. Everything costs more these days, and so we should expect our HOA fees to escalate, too, to pay for them. Water costs are up, insurance costs are up, salaries for repair people are up.

We are very fortunate in Century Village Deerfield Beach that Master Management has been pro-active and keeps our place up to date and beautiful and has thought ahead about improvements that will be needed.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by ndcairngorm

Yes, when you get a team that wants to keep payments static in an inflating world, just to pacify owners who fuss about raises in fees, this is what happens. Everything costs more these days, and so we should expect our HOA fees to escalate, too, to pay for them. Water costs are up, insurance costs are up, salaries for repair people are up.

We are very fortunate in Century Village Deerfield Beach that Master Management has been pro-active and keeps our place up to date and beautiful and has thought ahead about improvements that will be needed.

Also note values real estate values are up significantly. New owners are paying more and will have a higher expectation for the property amenities.