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In the current market, homeownership costs extend beyond mortgages, insurance, maintenance, and taxes, with HOA assessments becoming a key expense buyers should review carefully.
For homes in managed communities, aging infrastructure and higher insurance costs have been pushing assessments upward, making association budgets and reserve planning more important.
Experts said boards need to maintain assessments and raise them consistently so communities can keep pace with ongoing expenses and stay financially viable.
Before buying, shoppers should ask about monthly fees, whether reserve funds exist, and if those reserves can cover major capital expenses adequately.
Condo buyers especially should learn whether properties face issues that may require special assessments in coming years, since board transparency can ease community concerns.

A finance expert said California's median home price sits near $930K, while households need ~$212K yearly to compete, far above the typical ~$116K income.
He argued the squeeze is real: steady jobs, respectable salaries, and years of savings still may not get many California families through the door.
In the Bay Area, the same expert placed a typical home near $1.4M, reinforcing his view that ownership increasingly feels like a luxury commodity.
Saving more, reducing debt, or moving farther from expensive job centers may help some buyers, but he said budgeting alone cannot close every gap.
His closing point was that California affordability now hinges on who the state still works for, as ordinary working families risk being priced out.