September 9, 2026 | Mark Luis Foster

I did a radio interview with WCCO Radio yesterday and am unsure when it will air, but I think it’s sometime today (Wednesday). The subject was HOA fees and why fees are going “through the roof” as posited by the reporter.

I did my best to provide a well-rounded view of HOA fees. Reporters often don’t understand that HOA fees are often-negotiated prices for amenities that a homeowner would normally pay for “out of pocket” if they want similar services in a non-HOA.  So if you want your lawn mowed, your driveway cleared of snow, occasional external maintenance, high speed internet and insurance for the roof, you’ll be paying for all of that across the street even if you’re not in an HOA. But the homeowner association allows for negotiated pricing, meaning that the “per driveway cost” is lower than normalized pricing.

Of course, I discussed the rising cost of insurance, the major driver of the increases in HOA fees the past five years, and that’s been the case for nearly every homeowner (HOA or not). With fires raging, hail falling and Mother Nature’s damage in states like California, Texas and Florida, the insurance “love” gets spread across the fruited plain.

We recently did a Pop Up Survey that revealed the average cost of our HOA assessments in our own network is about $462 per month. That blends townhomes, condos and detached single family homes together into one factor, at least within reporting HOAs in our network. If you come to our chapter meetings this month, you’ll see even more data.

If I get a link to the WCCO interview, I will post it.