Primary Drawbacks (compared to Houston Townhomes or Houston Single Family Homes):

• Monthly maintenance fees. Staff and amenities are great, but come with a fee. Monthly maintenance fees pay for shared expenses.
• Neighbors. Neighbors can be great and can turn into some of your best friends. However, some people aren’t good neighbors. Unfortunately, you can’t choose them in advance. You’re going to be living closer to other people, so look for units with good soundproofing. Also be wary of buildings that were originally apartments “converted” to condos as the quality of construction is usually inferior.
• Associations. Condo living differs from traditional homeownership as residents elect a Board of Directors to manage the building’s business and make residential decisions. Some boards (and buildings) are great and have world-class talent. Sadly, many other buildings have entrenched bad leadership. This can affect your resale value, so choose wisely.

As a sample, for financing purposes, the two properties below are about the same:

• $400,000 townhome with $0 HOA fees
• $200,000 condo with $2,000/mo. in HOA fees

Even if you don’t have any problem with the HOA fee, these monthly fees can become an issue when you go to resell.

Typically, buildings that have large HOA fees have not performed well over the past decade, as a percent of the populate will just choose to live in a Houston townhome or Gated community home instead. (Read about which buildings have performed best.)

Contact Paige Martin, one of Houston’s top condo realtors, to talk about building options and get a list of lenders who do a great job with condo financing.

4. Buy a Houston Condo That’s In Line With Your Goals

Houston has about 115 condo buildings (several dozen new Houston condos have been announced, but I think a good percentage of them will fail and not make).

Developers have become masters at pitching new gee-wiz features (e.g. virtual golf simulators, heated outdoor pools, tennis courts, secured dog parks, valet parking, etc.)

If you choose to live in a “high touch” building, understand that you’re paying for all of those features, every month.

If you hate golf, realize the outdoor pool is only 12 feet long (and you’d never be able to swim laps there), don’t play tennis, don’t have a dog or have a one-block commute to work) then you may not want to be paying for these.

By contrast, if you only focus on mid-rise buildings with limited amenities, you may be hurting yourself on resale or suffer from sub-par management (as the building could be too small to pay for quality, full time management and the job may go to someone who is more interested in their own pet projects).

Typically, the best way to buy a new condo in Houston is to:

• Buy in line with the median sale price in the building (e.g. if you have $1.5M condo in a building with a $450k median price, you may have more issues than most residents.)
• Find a great Houston condo realtor who is able to help you avoid pitfalls and help guide you on the personality types of the different buildings.

For a tour of Houston condos, building recommendations or condos for sale, contact Paige Martin, #1 Keller Williams Realtor in Houston, #9 in the United States.

We’ve analyzed a tremendous amount of Houston condos for sale in an effort to determine which Houston condos have been the best buy, over time.

While the answer can differ based on your price point and goals, the successful buildings have common themes.

Below, we’ve presented HOA fee trends by building age, Houston neighborhood, and those highrises that have a pool versus those that don’t.

If you’d like personal recommendations on good buildings (or buildings to avoid), and you’re interested in buying a new Houston condo, contact Paige Martin, one of the top ranked Realtors in the State of Texas.

Notable highlights:

• Older buildings, on average, have larger HOA fees.
• Part of this is due to the nature of a building’s board (it’s always easier to increase fees and services than it is to take away) and part of it is due to ever increasing costs.
• It’s also due to the fact that many of the older buildings are less energy-efficient.
• One word of caution: many new construction Houston condo developers are promising low HOA fees. Based on the data of over 100 buildings in Houston, many of these fees are below the amount required to run a building in a quality manner. A number of developers are happy to subsidize the cost of building management (until they sell all their units). Caveat emptor.

Notable highlights:

• The Galleria has higher than average HOA fees for two main reasons:

Many of the earliest Houston condos reside in this vicinity.
Many buyers who prefer to live near the Galleria are looking for a more luxurious experience and want more amenities.

• The Heights, on average, has the youngest collection of condos. In addition, many of the buildings around the Heights are mid-rises (thanks to permit restrictions). Generally speaking, mid-rises have less amenities and lower fees.

Notable highlights:

• Having a pool is one of the most requested amenities from new condo buyers. However, it is one of the least used amenities, based on the average-resident-use quotient.
• Approximately 68% of Houston condo buildings have a pool (32% don’t have one).
• Downtown Houston has the largest concentration of buildings without a pool (many of the downtown buildings are Historic Houston Lofts, so they didn’t have room for a pool).
• Houston’s Galleria has the highest concentration of buildings with a pool.
• The HOA fee difference is not solely related to having a pool. Typically, buildings with a pool have more services and more staff.

Below, we’ve included a collection of similar buildings and their monthly HOA fees. Prices are displayed on a per square foot basis, paid monthly.

If you’d like personal recommendations on good buildings (or buildings to avoid), and you’re interested in buying a new Houston condo, contact Paige Martin, one of the top ranked Realtors in the State of Texas.

Notable highlights:

• These luxury Houston condos were selected based on their median sales price per square foot. Read about which of them have been the best buy over time.
• A number of these buildings are fabulous and have great staff and great governance.
• However, several of the buildings are facing current resale challenges (e.g. new construction buildings are going up nearby and blocking views, the developer sold the units at a high price per square foot and the first resales are trading below original purchase prices, etc.)
• Many of the newest buildings have some of the lowest HOA fee prices per square foot. In some cases, I believe these listed rates are being subsidized by the developer and will need to increase over time so they are consistent with what it takes to run a quality building.
• As of the time of this writing, I also believe that several of the buildings on the list have or will have governance issues as their HOA is not fully developed and/or has structural issues.