Buying a new home in a gated community?

Posted by Carmine Miranda

What are CDD and HOA Fees?

Community Development District Fees
CDD) Florida counties don’t finance infrastructure elements for planned developments, so CDD fees are used to cover the costs of building roads, bridges, utility lines, and various amenities – (pools, golf courses, playgrounds etc…) in many newer developments.
CDDs allow developers to borrow money in the form of tax-exempt municipal bonds in order to finance these public projects.
These are basically loans that must be paid back at maturity.
In Florida, developers can collect CDD fees from homeowners to pay back the loan.
CDD fees are usually paid back over a period of 10-30 years, and if the home is sold prior to the payoff period, the new owner assumes the balance.
While CDD fees are generally undesirable, they allow the home buyer to purchase a home in a newer community with many desirable amenities, for a comparable price to an established home in a less desirable area, by spreading the cost of such over 10-30 year period.
Home Owners Association Fees (HOA)
The HOA fee is an amount of money that must be paid monthly by owners of certain types of residential properties, in order to assist with maintaining the properties and grounds.
A group of people is elected to direct the Homeowners Association.
The HOA’s purpose is to represent the community residents, and to assess and collect fees to help pay for upkeep of common areas of the community as well as any other areas provided for in the covenants and deed recordings.

Homeowners’ association fees vary widely depending on the amount of amenities that are provided to the homeowners.
Some cover the maintenance of the common areas and amenities, while others may cover exterior upkeep, or even cable TV or Internet access with service providers.
You may be charged fees for those services monthly, quarterly, or yearly.