HOA and insurance fees pricing out condo owners

Is a condo overlooking downtown Fort Myers worth $1,300 a month in HOA fees?

Dennis Adams thinks so.

Many Condo owners, like Adams, are having difficulty selling their units.

“It’s a premium unit,” Adams said. “It used to be one of the models, and I’ve upgraded it tremendously.”

He, and other condo owners at High Point Place, are having a hard time convincing buyers.

“The condo fees like any complex in the tri-county area,” Adams said. “They’re too high.”

“Fees went up two times almost,” said DeeDee Adams, owner of a Commodore II condo.

High Point’s monthly fees went from $830 in 2021 to $1,300 in 2023.

Commodore II condos’ fees increased from $488 to $799 each month.

Some can’t afford it anymore.

“The snowbirds can’t afford the fee,” said Dennis. “They’re selling their unit, and a lot of them are selling it just to get out.”

“If you put all those numbers together, there’s a lot of people that are not able to comply with those numbers,” said Jessica Colom, owner and broker of SWFL Life Realty.

Although they’re trying, people are also having a hard time selling.

“I’ve had open houses,” Dennis said. “We’ve advertised, but no traffic.”

“No one wants to write a contract,” said DeeDee. “They get hung up because of the fees that have to be paid here.”

Colom says the fee hikes are a domino effect.

“People that before the hurricane were not in a flood insurance area, and now they are,” she said.

“Some owners actually cannot afford the rising insurance cost of their properties,” said Stephanie Wilfong Steely, realtor with Starlink Realty. “If the association fee is covering the condo flood insurance, and that flood insurance doubles, then obviously the condo fee has to increase accordingly.”

Steely also says buyers are hesitant of higher prices.

“When you pair that with really high interest rates still right now, you know, people are just more skeptical,” she said. “With condos, it’s built into the fee. It’s not your choice. You have to be able to pay it.”

“We have 55 plus people, retired people, that want to move here, and they’re on fixed incomes also,” said DeeDee. “So the fees can be quite a drawback.”

“There’s nothing I can do except pay it,” Dennis said.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation says eight new insurance companies were approved to enter Florida last week.

Southwest Florida will likely not see any relief until 2025 at best.