Moab, why is your HOA fee so high? What kind of dwelling do you live in? I ask because my fees haven't gone up in the 1 1/2 years since we signed on to buy.

I live in the Carriage Townhouses. A few months ago they sent out a letter saying everyone that shares a water meter will have their rates go up $30/month, making my HOA $185/month. They did not say why the rates needed to go up. So either the people who live in the town houses are just running the water all day long or the lawn care people don't know how to water the lawns properly or the HOA really mismanaged the finances or the HOA president wanted to get his daughter a new car. I'm betting on the latter.

so is this fee consistent with what others pay, or is it more b/c of the townhomes?

I live in a regular house and my HOA fees are $75/month.

The townhomes pay more because they get all maintenance and upkeep included in their fees: lawns are mowed, walks are shoveled etc

Right, and I don't mind paying more. I had no problem when it was $150/month. I had a problem when they raised it $30/month with no explanation and I realized that the HOA can raise the rates whenever they feel and for however much they want and never need to explain it to anybody. Now I pay $555 every 3 months and every time I go to the mail box I fear that I'm going to find another increase. When the HOA is run by the community it will be better, but that is years away.