Motorcoach lot ownership

[USMCRET]

I have a question for those of you who own lots at these resorts.

Reading thru the declaration of covenants of a place we recently stayed, it speaks of an "assessment" that owners receive on what appears to be an annual basis. I will phone this place to obtain info on their assessment history, but I'm wondering what others in other places experience. If you don't mind, please share your experiences with this either here or in private message.

Thanks,
Ed

[radar]

They may be referring to the tax assessment. Once a year riverside county says us our tax bill. Roughly one percent of the value of the property value etc. So a 100,000 dollar lot costs you about 1000 bucks a year.

They may be referring to the monthly dues as well. I have seen them as low as 80 or 90 bucks a month in some places to 600 a month in the real high end places. We are in Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs and they are around 355 a month. When we bought 11 years ago they were around 320. Depends on what amenities and facilities your country club provides. Those with golf courses tend to be higher for obvious reasons.

Other than those two things I have never seen any other kind of assessment. Hope that helps. If you don't mind me asking, where are you looking at buying?. There are some nice places out there.

[CLIFFTALL]

My yearly tax bill came directly from the County my lot was in. The yearly common charges were assessed by the Board of Directors each year based on the budgeted expenses.

[kustom]

yes sounds like the land tax we pay

[USMCRET]

Originally Posted by Clifftall

My yearly tax bill came directly from the County my lot was in. The yearly common charges were assessed by the Board of Directors each year based on the budgeted expenses.

This is what I'm referring to.

The language reads thusly: "Assessments may be levied by the Association for the improvement and maintenance of the common areas, administration of the property, and to promote the health, recreation, safety, and welfare for the common good of all the Owners."

This is in addition to monthly maintenance fees and taxes.

I suspect the assessments vary greatly, heavily dependent on the quality of the management and planned capital improvements. So this thread could be useless, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

[radar]

Originally Posted by USMCRET

This is what I'm referring to.

The language reads thusly: "Assessments may be levied by the Association for the improvement and maintenance of the common areas, administration of the property, and to promote the health, recreation, safety, and welfare for the common good of all the Owners."

This is in addition to monthly maintenance fees and taxes.

I suspect the assessments vary greatly, heavily dependent on the quality of the management and planned capital improvements. So this thread could be useless, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

Hmm. I have heard of situations where maintenance was deferred to long or natural disaster (earthquake etc) causes some kind of damage that needs to be paid for. This is done with a special assessment. Same as in a condo organization. These places all have contingency funds but I suppose either bad planning or mother nature can throw a wrench into that type of thing. Hasn't happened here yet but we have a contingency valued in the millions.

Find out what the history is and how often it has happened. Might not be a show stopper. Good on you for being thorough. We were too. Happy we bought though. Definitely the right way to go for us. Contrary to what you may hear it won't have any affect on your wanderlust if you don't let it.

Happy trails.

[nothermark]

Also check on the contingency fund and how it is managed. Some boards let it run down to keep out of pocket costs low then something happens and everybody gets hit for a sizeable bill. Ditto it gets big and somebody gets delusions of grandeur about what the money could be used to build.

[FORTRIDER]

Originally Posted by radar

They may be referring to the tax assessment. Once a year riverside county says us our tax bill. Roughly one percent of the value of the property value etc. So a 100,000 dollar lot costs you about 1000 bucks a year.

They may be referring to the monthly dues as well. I have seen them as low as 80 or 90 bucks a month in some places to 600 a month in the real high end places. We are in Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs and they are around 355 a month. When we bought 11 years ago they were around 320. Depends on what amenities and facilities your country club provides. Those with golf courses tend to be higher for obvious reasons.

Other than those two things I have never seen any other kind of assessment. Hope that helps. If you don't mind me asking, where are you looking at buying?. There are some nice places out there.

Currently looking at this park, do you still own there? How is the surrounding area? Would you buy there again? Any info is appreciated.
Thanks

[USMCRET]

Originally Posted by radar

They may be referring to the tax assessment. Once a year riverside county says us our tax bill. Roughly one percent of the value of the property value etc. So a 100,000 dollar lot costs you about 1000 bucks a year.

They may be referring to the monthly dues as well. I have seen them as low as 80 or 90 bucks a month in some places to 600 a month in the real high end places. We are in Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs and they are around 355 a month. When we bought 11 years ago they were around 320. Depends on what amenities and facilities your country club provides. Those with golf courses tend to be higher for obvious reasons.

Other than those two things I have never seen any other kind of assessment. Hope that helps. If you don't mind me asking, where are you looking at buying?. There are some nice places out there.

The one I'm considering is an Outdoor Resorts property as well. This one is in Port St Lucie FL.

Thanks for your reply!

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by USMCRET

The one I'm considering is an Outdoor Resorts property as well. This one is in Port St Lucie FL.

Thanks for your reply!

Are you looking at this one?

We are looking at visiting this later in January for a "look see".

[cb1000rider]

Ed - I don't own a lot, but I'm familiar with the property setup.
You own the lot, pay taxes on it, but you'll also pay into some sort of association too, largely for maintenance on amenities and common property.

These associations all come with what is typically a monthy or yearly fee and the ability to assess a "special assessment" at any time for anything that isn't in budget.

An example is if you own a condo, suddenly it needs a roof and the maintenance fund won't cover it, the association can assess everyone for the costs of that roof. If you don't pay, in most states (not all), the association can foreclose.

What is of primary importance is to get the financial documents on the association from the owner or selling party. These associations are owned by the membership and some can be stingy about providing such docs, all owners are granted access to the financial health. You should not not check for a history of special assessments, but see how much money the association has in reserve, how much they are taking in, and how much is going out....

You asked a good question..

[USMCRET]

Originally Posted by Sky_Boss

Are you looking at this one?

We are looking at visiting this later in January for a "look see".

Yes sir. We spent a week there. We are at another place in Okeechobee now.

[USMCRET]

Originally Posted by cb1000rider

Ed - I don't own a lot, but I'm familiar with the property setup.
You own the lot, pay taxes on it, but you'll also pay into some sort of association too, largely for maintenance on amenities and common property.

These associations all come with what is typically a monthy or yearly fee and the ability to assess a "special assessment" at any time for anything that isn't in budget.

An example is if you own a condo, suddenly it needs a roof and the maintenance fund won't cover it, the association can assess everyone for the costs of that roof. If you don't pay, in most states (not all), the association can foreclose.

What is of primary importance is to get the financial documents on the association from the owner or selling party. These associations are owned by the membership and some can be stingy about providing such docs, all owners are granted access to the financial health. You should not not check for a history of special assessments, but see how much money the association has in reserve, how much they are taking in, and how much is going out....

You asked a good question..

Great input. Thanks!

[radar]

Originally Posted by FORTRIDER

Currently looking at this park, do you still own there? How is the surrounding area? Would you buy there again? Any info is appreciated.
Thanks

Yes, we still own here and probably will for the next 20 years or so. We love the area and yes we would buy here again. But every one is different and for us these were the criteria that made it worth while.

* We are casual golfers and like to golf a couple times per week (although a shoulder injury has set that back a bit for me). We are fine with par 3 courses so the 27 holes of golf here works well for us. Your monthly dues give you unlimited golf here. That adds up to about 500 or 600 bucks a month in savings for us so right there it made sense for us. Many who are in here golf every day so you can see how it would make sense from that point of view. It is a nice course.

* I swim laps every second day so a full sized pool is important for us. There are 8 pools and 11 hot tubs here. There is never a pool far away from any site. (There are about 1200 sites)

* A good gym facility is important for us and we have an excellent gym here.

* Good security is important to us and the security is good here. It is a walled and gated community with 24 hour roving security.

We are not big social butterflies but the resort has two large very nice club houses with full facilities. It also has an owners lounge that is excellent for family events when the RV is just not big enough (it has kitchen facilities etc as well)

We have a nice theatre and there are regular movie nights.

We have a great restaurant. We tend to only go for breakfast though.

We have an RV parts store that is pretty decent.

We are not big racket sport players but there are 14 tennis courts here.

You can rent your lot out privately or through the resort office.

Lot prices seem to be between 50 and 150 thousand. They haven't changed much in the last 10 years although they have gone through some fairly steep climbs and falls depending on the economy. Seeing lots of the late 50's crowd buying now.


For us it is a great spot. We come and go over the winter but it is nice to come back to every time.

Here are a few shots.

Looking out the back of our lot.











Shot from the starter shack looking over the ist hole and the 18th hole.



Mount San Jacinto in the background. # 1 tee





Entrance way. All RV's are accepted here sauf truck campers. 15 year limit on paper but you are grand fathered if you own it when it gets to that point. It is a good safeguard to have as a way to keep things under control.



One of the two club houses.







The palm springs area is great. You will never run out of things to do.

Hope that helps.

John and Angela