A $2,000-per-month condo HOA tends to create immediate sticker shock. Buyers (and even seasoned investors) often assume a single-family residence must be materially cheaper because there is no HOA check to write.
But that comparison is usually incomplete. An HOA is not a random surcharge—it is a bundled operating budget. When you “unbundle” that budget into the services and long-term planning it typically covers, the true monthly cost of owning an equivalent single-family residence is often in the same ballpark. When that happens, cost stops being the deciding factor—and lifestyle takes over.
What the HOA is really paying for
In higher-service buildings, HOAs often bundle a long list of expenses into one predictable monthly payment, including:
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Building/master insurance and liability coverage
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Water/sewer/trash (and sometimes additional utilities)
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Exterior maintenance and repairs
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Landscaping and common-area cleaning
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Amenity upkeep (pool, fitness facility, clubhouse, etc.)
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Security/access control (varies by building)
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Professional management, accounting, and compliance
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Reserve funding for major future projects (roof, exterior work, mechanical systems, elevators, and structural components)
A single-family residence owner still faces many of these same categories. The difference is that they show up as separate bills and one-time projects rather than as a single line item.
Apples-to-apples assumptions
To compare fairly, the lifestyle has to match.
Condo model
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HOA: $2,000/month ($24,000/year)
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Typical amenities and services in this fee range: pool and on-site fitness facility, maintained common areas, managed exterior/grounds, and building-level operations.
Equivalent single-family residence model
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The home has a pool (to mirror the condo pool amenity).
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The owner pays $150/month for a gym membership (to mirror condo gym access).
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The owner budgets for routine maintenance and long-term reserves (because excluding reserves makes the single-family residence look cheaper on paper but not in real life).
The numbers: an “HOA-equivalent” budget for an equivalent single-family residence
Below is an illustrative single-family residence operating budget that mirrors the categories a condo HOA typically covers. These are non-mortgage costs.
Equivalent single-family residence “HOA-equivalent” costs (monthly):
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Homeowners insurance: $300
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Water/sewer/trash: $200
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Landscaping/grounds: $300
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Pool service/chemicals: $200
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Pool long-term reserve (equipment + resurfacing planning): $100
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Routine exterior maintenance: $250
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Major replacement reserves (roof/HVAC/exterior paint, etc.): $500
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Security/alarm monitoring: $60
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Gym membership: $150
Total: $2,060/month
The point is not that every single-family residence will cost exactly this amount. It is that when you match amenities and include responsible reserve planning, the monthly totals can become surprisingly close—which changes the decision.
The difference is often timing: predictable vs. “lumpy” expenses
A condo’s costs are typically smoothed into monthly dues. A single-family residence can feel cheaper for long stretches—until it doesn’t.
Major replacements arrive as one-time projects. For example, replacing a roof is not a monthly expense, but it is a real cost of ownership. Depending on roof size, pitch/complexity, materials, and local labor pricing, a roof replacement can easily run $15,000 to $40,000+. HVAC replacement, exterior painting, drainage issues, and pool resurfacing can create similar spikes.
This is exactly why budgeting reserves matters: the goal is to convert unpredictable large hits into a planned monthly allocation.
For investors, this point is decisive. Returns look stronger on paper when capital planning is ignored—and normalize quickly when the first major replacement comes due.
Lifestyle and operating model: what you are really choosing
If costs can converge, the more meaningful differentiator becomes how you want to live—and, for investors, how you want to operate the asset.
Condo living tends to fit best when you value:
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Predictability: many expenses are consolidated into one monthly number
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Convenience: exterior and common operations are managed for you
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Amenities: on-site pool/fitness and shared spaces you will actually use
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Lower personal maintenance coordination: fewer vendor calls and fewer moving parts
Tradeoffs: shared walls, shared decision-making, and rules that can affect daily life and leasing flexibility.
Single-family residence living tends to fit best when you value:
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Privacy: separation, yard space, and fewer shared environments
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Autonomy: freedom to renovate, customize, and control the property
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Control over timing and decisions: you choose vendors, scope, and schedule
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Flexibility: fewer use restrictions and less governance friction
Tradeoffs: more responsibility, more coordination, and more variability in when costs show up.
A financial “health check” buyers and investors should not skip
There is one final lens that matters—especially in high-HOA buildings:
Just like you would not buy a house that is in poor physical condition, you should not buy a condo in poor financial condition. A well-maintained building should also be well-capitalized, with adequate reserves, realistic budgeting, and clear planning for upcoming capital projects.
When reserves are thin or deferred maintenance is stacking up, the result can be special assessments—large, unexpected one-time charges to owners to cover expenses the HOA did not (or could not) plan for. Those assessments can quickly outweigh any perceived monthly savings and add real strain to cash flow, particularly for investors.
Conclusion
A $2,000/month HOA can look expensive in isolation, but an apples-to-apples comparison often reveals a more useful truth: many condo “fees” are simply the same ownership expenses a single-family residence owner pays—just bundled, shared, and smoothed into a predictable monthly number. Once you account for comparable amenities (like a pool and gym access) and responsible reserve planning, the cost difference frequently narrows enough that it should not be the primary deciding factor.
The smarter approach is to decide based on fit. Do you want the convenience, shared maintenance, and amenity-driven lifestyle of a condo? Or do you want the privacy, autonomy, and hands-on control that comes with a single-family residence? And whichever direction you choose, remember the parallel: you wouldn’t buy a house with hidden physical problems—so don’t buy a condo with hidden financial problems.
If you’re weighing a condo versus a single-family residence (or evaluating a high-HOA building as an investment), I can help you run a clear apples-to-apples comparison for the specific properties you’re considering—and review HOA financials for reserve strength and assessment risk. Send me the listing(s) and your lifestyle priorities, and I’ll help you determine which option fits better and why.
