Originally Posted by Dave M
That's about typical as far as MFs go.
Yes, $25,000 for upkeep on what amounts to a single condo seems like a lot. However, the expenses are not the same as for a condo that you live in all year long.
I live in a condo as my primary residence. I pay $547 per month to the homeowner's association for landscaping maintenance, maintenance of the property (including amenities such as tennis courts and swim pool), a reserve fund to replace roofs, decks, sidewalks, building siding, parking lot pavement and a host of other "common area" items that need replacing from time to time.
In addition, I have my own property tax, owners' insurance, heat, electricity, water, phone, cable, etc. that I pay for myself. That adds about $800 per month to the costs. Property tax alone is about $350 per month of that. I haven't added in my costs for furniture and supplies.
Thus, before I consider the additional costs that I would pay if my condo were a timeshare, I'm up to about $1,350 per month or $16,200 per year!
Now for the timeshare resort, you have to add in the costs for a reservations staff (for a floating-weeks resort), accounting, billing, housekeeping, the cost to maintain and repair the inside of each unit, the cost to replace furniture, carpeting, drapes and other items inside each unit, a newsletter (for some resorts), the profit for the outside management company that will handle much of this stuff, check-in staff, an annual audit, legal costs, tax returns and a host of other expenses that are associated with a residential property that hosts a transient population.
Thus, the surprise (for me) isn't that the total costs are an extravagant $25,000 per unit. The surprise is how well the developer (and eventually the HOA) is able to pay for everything and still keep fees as reasonable as they seem to.
Still, what's reasonable for one resort may be at a much different plateau for another. There are numerous resorts where the fees per week are in the $300 range. There are also quite a few where fees per week exceed $1,000. The differences can be attributed to different amenities, different levels of luxury, difference in costs in various geographic areas and many other reasons, including occasionally, yes, mismanagement.
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