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Any Zillow addict in Detroit has all but assuredly gotten sticker shock when looking at the HOA fees for some condos in the city.
Communities such as the Harbortown condos, 1300 Lafayette building and other options along the east riverfront and in Detroit's central business district can require homeowner association fees that in some cases exceed the monthly mortgage payment.
That creates something of a two-fold problem, experts say.
First, the HOA fees serve as an obvious deterrent to many buyers who might be attracted to some of the amenities and relatively care-free living many of the developments offer, but are turned off by the additional fees. Secondly, that creates a challenging market for sellers, many of whom invested in upgrades in their units with the hope of seeing a return with a sale.
In short, purchasing a condo can be a "buyer beware" situation, experts say.
"There's a lot of condo purchasers who have all these pop-up expenses when they think they have everything covered," said Jeff Horner, an associate professor in urban planning at Wayne State University in Detroit.
"They've got the note on their condo, they've got to pay insurance on top of that and they've got taxes on top of that. So that's a lot and then when you get whacked with these big pop-up expenses … there's a reason that condominiums are hard to sell."
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