Real Estate Q&A: What’s the best plan to pay off $10,000 special assessment?

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What’s the best plan to pay off $10,000 special assessment?

By Gary M. Singer

Question

Our community is levying a significant special assessment of $10,000 to be paid over 10 years. They tell us that the outstanding balance must be paid whenever a home is sold. The community has given us the choice of paying off the whole assessment in one payment, saving $4,300.00. What is your recommendation? – Jane

Answer

Because of deferred maintenance, underfunded reserves, and stricter community association laws, many, if not most, communities will likely see special assessments in the near future.

The assessments will range from a few thousand dollars to more than a hundred thousand. The amount will depend on the repairs needed and how much reserves were deferred.

Because some repairs need to be made quickly, communities cannot wait until their residents “save up” enough to pay for it and must get bank financing.

Special assessments like the one you describe are usually made with a bank loan, and the lender will dictate some terms of the assessment that needs to be passed by the association.

While monthly special assessment payments can be continued to the new owner when a unit is sold, many communities, and lenders, prefer the assessment paid in full by the departing seller to help maintain property values.

Buyers can only afford so much of a monthly payment, and ongoing assessments drive prices down.

Whether to make monthly payments or receive a considerable discount by making one lump-sum payment will largely depend on your financial health.

Paying less money for the same thing is a better choice, so if you can afford to make the lump-sum payment without jeopardizing your emergency reserves, do so.

Using the figures you provided, you will save more than four years of payments by doing so. However, you will be better off making smaller monthly payments if you are on a monthly income without a lot of money in your savings account.

Gary M. Singer is a Florida attorney and board-certified as an expert in real estate law by the Florida Bar. He practices real estate, business litigation and contract law from his office in Sunrise, Fla. He is the chairman of the Real Estate Section of the Broward County Bar Association and is a co-host of the weekly radio show Legal News and Review. He frequently consults on general real estate matters and trends in Florida with various companies across the nation. Follow him on Twitter @GarySingerLaw.

If you don’t know, Truffula Pink it is a globe amaranth. It is almost always grown as an annual that reaches about 24 inches tall and almost as wide. You can’t give it too much sun. It might be perennial in zones 9 and warmer. I live in 8a and had a patch that was perennial for me for a couple of years. I’ll explain its demise.

I planted it in 2019, and it returned in 2020 and was awesome. I never realized I planted it in conjunction with a chipmunk thoroughfare. In 2021 my granddog Alli, a 120-pound Dutch Shepherd, came to live with me for a year. Her sole existence became to rid Grand Dad of the chipmunks. The Truffula Pink area became pulverized. Today the chipmunks live happily and have found new joy in torturing Tootie the bichon.

This year in a way seemed like a second coming out party. It wasn’t with fanfare, but if you had your eyes open, you probably muttered a “holy wow” once or twice. One such moment for me was at Mississippi State University’s industry day at the Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs, Mississippi. It was a “why didn’t I think of that?” moment. Right out in the full scorching summer sun of central Mississippi was Truffula Pink gomphrena, standing so stately over this year’s hot new Augusta Lavender heliotrope. The lavender blue and hot pink were a perfect partnership.

The “why didn’t I think of that?” moments kept occurring for me, thanks to son James. Before I could tell him “you can’t do that,” he was partnering Truffula Pink with Mangaves like Thunderbird and Silver Fox. If you aren’t familiar with Mangaves, they are hybrids between manfreda and agave. These come with a WARNING: If you start, you will not be able to stop. Just Google “Mad About Mangave” and enter at your own risk.

So, let’s visit the idea: Can you plant Truffula Pink with a plant that looks like it belongs in a Mexico desert? Sure, add some zinnias and angelonias or summer snapdragons and it will look like Sunday tea at Miss Betsy’s house. Any design you have in mind, Truffula Pink will make it better.

I would like to think I broke the mold a little. It wasn’t pushing the envelope by planting with Mangave, but I used them in a prairie-like look with the new Meant to Bee Royal Raspberry and Queen Nectarine agastache and Pyromania Blaze kniphofia or torch lily, and Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues salvia. I was mesmerized by the planting, and just like every other year, Truffula Pink has been a butterfly champion, bringing in buckeyes, American ladies and an assortment of swallowtails. The Garden Guy makes this promise: Truffula Pink will be among the most enjoyable flowers you will ever grow, whether it is an annual or perennial.

Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.

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Truffula Pink gomphrena, angelonias or summer snapdragons and zinnias combine together with Thunderbird mangave for poolside splendor.

This Common Buckeye butterfly is ever so picturesque feeding on Truffula Pink gomphrena. Truffula Pink gomphrena combines with Meant to Bee Royal Raspberry and Meant to Bee Queen Nectarine agastache, Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues salvia, Color Coded Orange You Awesome coneflower, Sunstar Red pentas and Pyromania Blaze kniphofia or torch lily in this pollinator corner.

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