Buying a Condo: HOA Financials, Special Assessments and Reserves

By Charlie Wu, Realtor since 2015 · Updated Oct 25, 2026

The monthly fee is the part of a condo or townhouse purchase you can see on the listing. The part that decides whether it is a good purchase is in the association's financial records: how much it has saved, what it owes, and what is coming due. This guide covers what to request and in what order, how to read a reserve study, which red flags matter, and what fees actually look like around Princeton.

This is the diligence companion to our townhouse and condo buying guide, which covers prices, bedroom counts and new construction. Every current fee figure here comes from one window: BrightMLS closed sales for the twelve months ending September 2026 (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026) in seven school districts: Princeton, Montgomery, West Windsor-Plainsboro (shown together, then split into West Windsor and Plainsboro), Hopewell, Lawrence, South Brunswick and Robbinsville. Homes are grouped by school district, not by mailing city. The Hopewell district combines Hopewell Township, Hopewell Borough and Pennington. The sample is resale townhouses, condos and twins built before 2024, with 55+ communities excluded. The fee is the monthly HOA or condo fee reported on the listing, and statistics use only sales that reported one. The one exception is the fee-change table in the next section, which compares two periods and says so.

What HOA fees look like around Princeton

Monthly fee on resale attached homes, by school district (twelve months ending September 2026)

"Middle half" is the 25th to 75th percentile, so half of the fees fall inside it. The two "of which" rows are part of the West Windsor-Plainsboro total, not additional districts. Three things stand out.

Five of seven district medians sit between $260 and $375. Princeton is above that band and Robbinsville well below it. Princeton's middle half runs from $294 to $761 because the town mixes modest townhouse communities with a few high-service ones: in the same twelve months, Governors Lane had a median of $1,095 (only 6 fee-reporting sales, so a small sample) and Palmer Square $589 (12 sales).

A low fee is not automatically a bargain. It can mean the association covers less, or that it is not saving enough. Robbinsville's $162 median is the lowest here, and it is a reason to read the budget and reserve study, not a reason to relax.

Some attached homes have no fee at all. In Princeton, 16 of the 71 sales reported no fee, and in Robbinsville 6 of 74. A blank fee usually means there is no association, but confirm it. Without one, you pay for the roof and paving yourself.

Community fees, and how they have moved

Town medians blend many associations, so the community is the better unit. This table is a comparison of two periods, not a window used anywhere else in this guide: the median fee on sales in the twelve months ending September 30, 2024 (October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024) against the twelve months ending September 30, 2026 (the same window as the town table above). It uses the same communities in both periods, each with at least five fee-reporting sales in each. Where either period rests on fewer than ten sales, treat the change as a signal rather than a measurement. Each community name links to its neighborhood page.

Median monthly fee, two years apart (fee-reporting sales in parentheses)

Across all 23 communities in the seven school districts that met the same test (the table shows 13 of them), the median fee was higher in 18, unchanged in 1 and lower in 4. The median change was +9.6% over two years, roughly 4.7% a year, with a range from -22.5% to +20.2%. So a fee that rises a few percent a year is normal. A fee that jumps by double digits in one year, or climbs several years running, deserves the question "what is the money for?"

Two cautions. These are medians of the fee on homes that sold, not the bill for one unit, and a mix of unit types can move them. And a fee that fell is not proof of health: ask whether the association cut the fee, cut its savings, or simply sold a different mix of units.

What the fee covers, and what it does not

In a condominium the association maintains the common elements, usually the roof, exterior, grounds and often some utilities, so the fee carries more of the building's cost. In a fee-simple townhouse community the association may handle only roads, open space and amenities, and you may own your roof and siding. The listing's style field does not settle which you have; the governing documents do.

Among the 428 resale sales that reported a fee, the median was close for flats ($347, 124 sales) and townhouse styles ($334, 304 sales). The spread is not: the middle half for townhouses ran $225 to $400, against $278 to $401 for flats. A townhouse fee tells you less about what is included, so compare the inclusions line by line.

Typical inclusions are trash, snow removal, landscaping, exterior maintenance, building insurance, and sometimes water, sewer, heat or a pool. Not covered: your interior and personal property (you need your own policy), utilities you meter yourself, property taxes (billed separately), any special assessment, and one-time charges at closing such as a capital contribution or resale document fee. Add the fee to the mortgage and taxes before comparing monthly cost.

What to request, and in what order

I suggest asking for the first four items before you write an offer. They take longest to produce, cost nothing to read, and rule out most problem associations quickly. Your attorney then requests the full package, and in New Jersey the contract's attorney review period is only three business days, so ask your attorney how the contract handles the timing of that review (see our attorney review guide).

How to read a reserve study

A reserve study lists the shared components an association must eventually replace (roofs, siding, paving, boilers, elevators), estimates each one's remaining life and cost, and builds a funding plan. Read it for five numbers.

1. The date and preparer. A study that is five or more years old, or prepared without a site visit, is out of date. 2. The reserve balance today. 3. The fully funded balance, which is what the reserve would hold if every component had been saved for evenly over its life. Balance divided by fully funded balance is the percent funded. Many reserve specialists treat under roughly 30 percent as weak and 70 percent or more as healthy, but that is a rule of thumb, not a legal standard, so ask the preparer how the study defines it. 4. The recommended annual contribution against the budgeted one. A gap means the study is being ignored. 5. The big items in the next five to ten years against the balance. A roof replacement due in three years against a nearly empty fund tells you where the money will come from: an assessment or a fee increase, paid by whoever owns the unit then.

Also check the funding plan. "Baseline" funding lets the balance fall to zero without going negative, which leaves no cushion for surprises. New Jersey law now requires associations to obtain a reserve study at least every five years and to fund according to the plan the board adopts, with a 30-year projection and review by a licensed architect, engineer or credentialed reserve specialist. A board may fund at 85 percent of its chosen plan for up to five years, but it must notify owners in writing, and a seller in that period must tell the buyer and pass along the board's notice of any expected special assessment. If you see that notice, you have been told the reserves are short.

Red flags

Any one of these can have an innocent explanation. Several together are a reason to walk away or to negotiate.

Underfunded or missing reserves. No study, a study over five years old, a balance small against near-term replacements, or a budget that borrows from reserves. New Jersey allows a board to borrow from reserves if it adopts a resolution to repay within five years, so ask whether any loan is outstanding.

Repeated or announced special assessments. One assessment after a storm is an event. A second, or a minutes entry discussing one, suggests the fee is set below the real cost of the building.

Deferred maintenance. The same leak, railing or paving repair appearing in minutes from month to month, or a visible exterior in poor shape while the reserve is full.

Fee jumps. Double-digit increases in one year, or increases every year, measured against the roughly 10 percent two-year median in the table above.

Concentration and rentals. A single owner or investor holding many units, a high share of rented units, or many owners behind on dues. Besides the budget risk, lenders screen for these, and FHA, VA and conventional loans each apply their own condo review. Thresholds change, so ask your lender to confirm the specific community before you offer.

Litigation and insurance gaps. A pending suit, a very high master policy deductible that can be passed to the unit owner where a claim began, or a coverage lapse.

New Jersey law: what protects you

This is a summary of public sources. It is general information, and your attorney must confirm which rules apply to your purchase.

The Condominium Act (N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 and following) governs how condominiums are created and run, including the association's power to levy assessments. Section 46:8B-21 provides for a certificate of unpaid assessments that an association must issue within ten days of a request, which is the document in row 6 above.

The Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act (N.J.S.A. 45:22A-21 and following) and its rules (N.J.A.C. 5:26) require a developer to deliver a current public offering statement on or before the contract date, and developer contracts must carry a notice of the buyer's right to cancel by midnight of the seventh calendar day with a full refund. The 100-unit exemption does not apply to condominiums. These protections are aimed at purchases from a developer, such as new construction or a conversion. In a resale from an individual owner you generally rely on attorney review and the association documents above, so confirm with your attorney which regime applies.

Reserve rules. The reserve study and funding requirements described above took effect January 8, 2024 and were amended in August 2025. Ask your attorney whether the association you are looking at is covered.

Attorney review. The first three business days after the contract is signed let either side's attorney propose changes or cancel. Inspections start only after it ends and the deposit is paid; see our home inspection guide.

What this means for you

Use the town and community numbers to see whether a fee is ordinary for the area, then use the documents to see whether it is enough. A fair fee with a healthy reserve and a clean history is a good sign. A low fee with a thin reserve is often a deferred bill. Price the home with the fee and the likely assessment risk in mind, and use what you find in the documents when you negotiate.

This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Fee figures are medians of listing-reported fees on closed sales and describe a past window, not any one association or a forecast. Your attorney and lender should confirm the specifics for your purchase.

• Buying a Townhouse or Condo in Greater Princeton, NJ
• Attorney Review in NJ Real Estate, Explained
• First-Time Home Buyer Guide for Princeton, NJ
• Greater Princeton Home Inspection and Repair Guide
• 55+ Communities Around Princeton, NJ