Question: Why would anybody waste thousands of dollars each year on condo fees?
Answer: Most people associate paying condo fees with throwing money down the drain, but most people do not look at condo fees the right way.
In this June 20 article, the Wall Street Journal reported a study by Angi (formerly Angie’s List) that home maintenance and emergency repairs have increased by 85% and 175%, respectively, from 2019 to 2025.
By comparison, condo fees in Arlington increased by an average of just 32% from 2019 to 2025, making them a steep bargain for condo owners compared to other homeowners.
What Do Condo Fees Pay For?
For those who haven’t spent time studying condo budgets, some of the main expenses in a condo budget include:
Maintenance, Emergency Repairs, and Utilities: general upkeep and operations of the building
Reserves: a building’s savings account for major repairs or replacement of things like the roof, elevators, carpet, etc
Property Management/Staff: contracts for a property manager, front desk, janitorial services, and engineer
Master Insurance: this policy usually protects everything except your personal items and improvements within each unit
Predictable Expenses
One of the most beneficial, yet underappreciated, advantages of condo fees is that they give homeowners a predictable, flat expense structure. Taking care of a single-family home might mean months with low/no maintenance costs and then tens of thousands of dollars in expenses (e.g. a storm damages your deck and your basement floods).
In a condo, your biggest financial exposure is usually HVAC and appliances, with predictable expirations and service costs. The other normal home maintenance and replacement costs usually fall under the purview of the Association.
For younger buyers with less savings and retired homeowners on a fixed income, the benefits of stable, predictable condo expenses make financial planning/management easier and require less of an emergency savings fund so more cash can go into investments or elsewhere.
Home Maintenance Cost > Condo Fees
When you own a condo, you’re responsible for what's inside the walls of your home (appliances, water heater, flooring, walls, plumbing fixtures, etc) and, if you have one, an outdoor HVAC compressor. With a single-family home or townhouse, you are responsible for a lot more without anybody to share those costs with.
In 2025, the average condo fee in Arlington was $668/mon ($8,000/year) representing about 1.5% of the average condo price in 2025. Estimates for annual single-family home maintenance range from about 1-4% of your home’s value, depending on size and age, in annual maintenance expenses.
Many homeowners will spend more in the long-run maintaining a single-family home than they will on condo fees, plus condo fees include more than just maintenance and repair (~$15,000-$60,000 annually based on average home values in 2025).
Lower Utility, Insurance Bills
Condo living will help you save money on other expenses including utilities and homeowners insurance. It’s usually easier to keep your unit comfortably heated and cooled because you benefit from the ambient temperatures from the units and hallway around you. And because of the existing Master Insurance policy for the building, your own homeowner’s insurance policy is less expensive than a comparable policy for a single-family home or townhouse.
Amenities
Many buildings have amenities that can either save you money (e.g. a gym that saves you from paying a separate gym membership fee or grilling area to save you on a grill and propane) or enhance your living (e.g. pool, rooftop terrace, 24hr front desk security).
Time is Money
One of the main reasons people sell a home they’ve lived in for decades to move into a condo is to relieve themselves of the time spent on maintenance and repairs. While you can debate whether you’ll pay more on maintenance in a condo vs single-family home, there’s no denying that you’ll spend a lot less time on maintenance in a condo.
Even if you are not doing any of the maintenance work yourself in a single-family, you will spend time contacting, meeting with, and managing contractors and vendors who do the work.
This goes for landlords/investors too – the effort of maintaining an investment property that is a condo is much lower than one that is a single-family home.
Evil Condo Boards?
Another concern I hear is that the evil condo boards/management will increase fees or levy special assessments on a whim.
First and foremost, the Board members are also owners and pay the same fee increases and special assessments as the rest of the owners so they have a shared interest in keeping costs down. Most Boards try to limit fee increases to 2-3% annually to keep pace with inflation. Special assessments are usually a last resort for Boards and uncommon.
If you are concerned about fee increases or special assessments, I encourage you to attend Board meetings, participate on the Financial or Building Committees, or become a Board member to personally oversee your investment.
If you’d like to discuss buying, selling, investing, or renting, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].
We have access to the most pre and off-market listings across the DMV of any brokerage and are happy to share what’s available with anyone who asks.
Below are some of our team’s pre/off-market listings, details and additional listings available by request:
Ballston - 4BR/3.5BA/2,400 sqft – Townhouse (2008) – N George Mason Dr Arlington VA 22203
Ballston - 4BR/3.5BA+office/4,000 sqft – Four townhouses (2026/2027) – 11th St N Arlington VA 22201
Mclean - 5BR/4.5BA/3,700 sqft – Detached Single Family (2023) – Randolph Rd Mclean VA 22101
Williamsburg - 6BR/5.5BA/5,500 sqft – Detached Single Family (2026) – 27th St N Arlington VA 22207
Alexandria VA - 3BR/2BA/1,200 sqft – Detached Single Family (1962, renovated 2021) – Steadman Pl Alexandria VA 22309
