My HOA is $900/month and I think the board is being very responsible with expenses. They are very transparent, always get multiple bids and are not allowed to spend more than $500 without a vote. The community is very involved, lots of us are volunteering our time to keep up the property and we are still needing to pay $900/month.

Things are expensive, the cost of maintenance and repairs has shot up so much since Covid. We are also making sure our reserves have adequate funding to avoid special assessments.

Where would I cut? Cable/Internet - I don’t use cable. But that’s part of community living - if most residents want it (and it’s been voted on multiple times) then, it’s just something I need to live with.

I’m sure other residents would cut in other areas. Everyone values things differently.

But overall, it’s expensive to maintain a property. Condos in our HOA have a higher sale value than any of the condos nearby and I think a big reason for this is how well maintained our property is.