Hello.
There has been something on my mind for a while, that while not an emergency at this time, I believe might be something to look out for.
I live in a Townhome neighborhood with an HOA that I think is subpar. I have lived here for 12 years and it started out great, but has been in decline. It started out with things like not seeing the sprinklers go on for all of the rows when they used to follow a strict schedule, and has advanced to things like weeds, tennis court looking awful, tear in pool cover, dumpster is always a mess, mildew on siding, etc. They hired a property management company, but the board still has to make approvals and they don't approve much because it seems like everyone just wants the fee to be as cheap as possible. Besides that pool cover, the pool seems to be the only thing that they do care about in here.
To get to my worry. The units are now between 22 and 32 years old, mine being on the newer side, and none of them have had any new roofs put on besides hail damage repairs. Some of the roofs look a bit beat up when looking at them. They are architectured shingles but are curling a bit - especially on the older rows of homes. I also worry about how bad the neighborhood owned streets are. They are blacktop and they generally just patch the holes as they come. I have seen what is in the reserves for money wise and it is not much. It can cover repairs, but not anything big - it would need some sort of massive special assessment, but the way things are managed I don't think they would do this type of stuff proactively. The board didn't have much to say on these concerns which is typical. They priority is generally just to have the lowest monthly fee possible.
The good: The are is one of the fastest appreciating areas in my mid-sized city. It has a multibillion dollar development in discussion and they are cramming houses and commercial real estate on every piece of land that they can get. Hip restaurants in the cities are opening 2nd locations out here. The virus sped things up even more as people are leaving their their downtown apartments to houses as well as extreme taxes on the nearby state that people are fleeing.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to see if anyone has any advise to offer me based on my post. I am kind of debating in my head between wait a year or 2 since it is booming and then move, or just move asap. My unit is mostly remodeled.
Thanks