Condominium residents wonder why their maintenance fees are high.  I am no exception.  Nearly every condo association is raising maintenance fees to keep up with inflation, so most of us can expect a sizable increase next year, mainly due to rising energy costs.  An association’s largest cost components typically include electricity (number one by far), employee wages & benefits and insurance.

There are times when a condo association chooses to impose a special assessment rather than raise the monthly maintenance fee.  As I write, owners at Hokua at 1288 Ala Moana and Nauru Tower are in the process of paying a special assessment.  The condo association decides if the special assessment will be paid in a lump sum or spread over a period of months.

Perhaps you’ve been wondering how your building’s maintenance fees compare with similar buildings’ fees.  Just as an example; if someone owned a 1000 sq. ft. apartment and their maintenance fee is $600 per month, their fee per square foot is $.60.  It’s not possible to completely compare apples to apples because every building provides a different set of amenities, but below are the maintenance fee costs per square foot of living space for some buildings located in Kakaako and Downtown.

**Some listings indicate individual apartment electricity may be included in the Harbor Court maintenance fee.  In most buildings, owners pay for their electricity usage in addition to the maintenance fee.
***Calculated different figures for various apartments ranging from $.65 to over $.85 per sq. ft.

Are you thinking of relocation to Honolulu?  Please use Michael Zimmerman’s complimentary online Honolulu MLS Search.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.