Condo Fees in Boston: Comparing Apples to Apples

This is the first in a series of posts about Condo Fees in Boston, and what buyers should expect when looking at condos in Boston to buy.  We’ll start here with the basics about condo fees and average costs, then jump into more details about building reserve funds, and how to make sure the condo building you’re buying into is run well.

What is a Condo Fee?

One of the biggest factors when looking at condos in Boston (or elsewhere)  is the building association fee, aka “The Condo Fee”.  Condo Fees are the monthly expense that one must contribute to the condo association. The fee covers all of the common shared expenses it takes to run a building (typically master insurance policy, water and sewer, common electricity, and if applicable, things such as heat & hot water, professional management, and an elevator). The fee will also include some amount to go toward building the financial nest egg (aka. “reserves”)  for future capital improvement or maintenance needs.

Here are a few quick generalizations regarding condo fees:

Rule #1- The fees are all over the map and can range from $150-1,000+/mo (and way higher for large units in primo luxury buildings like the Mandarin or Clarendon)…..

Rule #2- You get what you pay for…..most of the time….

Rule #3- The more services or more luxurious (and usually bigger) the building, the higher the condo fee…..

Rule #4- Utilities have the greatest impact on the fee amount in the “typical” sector of the Boston market ($300K – $1MM dollar units in 2-10 unit buildings)

Luxury Building Condo Fees

Let’s knock out the “Luxury Buildings” right off the bat. Bottom line is that if you want to live in The Ritz, you pay for it. If you want a 24 hour concierge, valet parking, and on site superintendents, expect a higher condo fee.  The salaries of the people that provide these services is the biggest contributing expense to higher condo fees in “full service” buildings.  If you want a pool, a gym, a media room, etc. again, expect to pay a higher condo fee. Fees in these types of buildings GENERALLY range from $.75-2.00/SQFT. This means if you have an 800 SQFT 1 bed in a Luxury building, plan on the condo fee being around $800/month. There is some deviation from this generality, but it is a safe bet that the fee will fall into this range.  Pay special attention to the utilities that are included, or not; and additional fees for services like: parking or gym/common area membership and rental fees.

Typical Condo Fees

In the “typical” sector of  the market condo fees range from $150 – $500 per month on average. This can be generally categorized as follows:

2-3 Unit Self Managed Converted Multi Families run approximately $200 without heat, $350 with heat included.

4-6 Unit Professionally Managed Unit Brownstones:  $275 without heat, $400 with heat included.

Again, these numbers are estimates and averages and your mileage may vary, but these are very good barometers for people in the Boston real estate market to use when evaluating common condo fee structures.

For even more details on condo fees, get a full report of average Condo Fees broken out by neighborhood and by price range in our full Boston Condo Market Report.

Stay tuned for future blog posts on “The Importance of a Well Funded Condo Reserve Account” and the “Logistical Differences within Condominiums”……not quite as exciting as Gigli II- Affleck’s Revenge, I know, but educational nonetheless……