You cannot know for certain, though the right documents narrow it considerably. Read two years of board minutes for repair discussions, weigh reserve balances against the study, and check the owner delinquency rate. Florida HOAs can still vote away that funding, unlike condos, so a waived reserve line stands as your single clearest warning of trouble ahead.
The Honest Answer Comes First
Most content on this topic promises certainty nobody can deliver. On the Discover South Florida Podcast, Larry Mastropieri opened by refusing that premise.
"You don't know. The answer to the question is you don't know."
What follows is probability work instead of prediction.
"We try to go through the process of evaluating what the probability is of HOA fee increases in the future."
He describes where that process lands with unusual candor.
"We ask a ton of questions. We collect a bunch of documents. We analyze it. And then we guess at if we think it's cool or not. That's at the end of the day the best you can do."
An informed guess still beats an uninformed one by a wide margin. The documents below move the odds meaningfully in your favor.
What the Documents Will Actually Tell You
Two records carry most of the predictive weight, and Larry reaches for both.
"We try to look through meeting minutes and understand what might be coming. What have they been talking about? Are they talking about increases?"
Financial statements supply the other half of the picture.
"We try to look at the budget and see if there's any deficits regarding reserves."
Board Minutes Reveal What Is Coming
Minutes function as an early warning system, since boards discuss problems for months before they vote on them. Request at least 24 months and read for patterns instead of individual items.
Watch for engineering reports, contractor bids, and repeated discussion of the same failing component. A board reviewing roof proposals across three consecutive meetings has an assessment forming, whether or not anyone has said the word yet. Owners in Palm Beach County communities often find the answer buried in routine minutes nobody bothered to read.
The Budget Shows Whether They Are Saving
A reserve line funded at a fraction of what the study recommends tells you the money arrives from somewhere else eventually. Compare three years of budgets side by side, since the trend matters more than any single year. Owners across Palm Beach Gardens learn that lesson after the fact.
A budget where costs climb against flat assessments signals a board postponing the decision. That gap closes through a fee increase, a special assessment, or deferred maintenance that grows costlier each year.
Do HOAs and Condos Follow the Same Rules?
Larry flags this distinction early, and it changes your entire analysis.
"If we're talking about a condo building or just a single family home association, these processes are different."
Florida tightened condominium reserve rules dramatically after Surfside. Condo associations running buildings of three or more habitable stories must now complete a structural integrity reserve study. Owners there can no longer vote to waive funding for those components.
Chapter 720 left homeowner associations outside that framework. Under Section 720.303(6), HOA reserves become mandatory only when a developer established them or a majority of voting interests approved them. Members can still vote each year to waive or reduce that funding.
That gap between the two statutes matters enormously. A single-family HOA can legally underfund reserves indefinitely, which quietly transfers the cost onto whoever owns the home when the work finally becomes unavoidable.
Under contract in a community and unsure what the fees will do? Talk to a real estate agent near Boca Raton who pulls the minutes and reads the budget before your inspection period closes. Reach out to The Mastropieri Group or call (561) 544-7000.
Which Warning Signs Predict an Increase?
- Reserves waived or partially funded in any recent budget year.
- Reserve balances far below what a current study recommends.
- Delinquency rates above roughly 5%, which shifts costs onto paying owners.
- Visible deferred maintenance on roofs, paint, pavement, or common amenities.
- Litigation involving the association, which drains funds and blocks financing.
- Fees that have stayed flat for years while insurance and labor costs climbed.
- Frequent management company turnover or board resignations.
- A reserve study older than five years, or none at all.
Flat fees deserve particular suspicion right now. Insurance premiums and contractor pricing have risen sharply across South Florida, so an association holding assessments steady absorbs that pressure somewhere you cannot see. Communities in Delray Beach and Boca Raton show that strain clearly.
The 115% Rule Gives Owners a Voice
Florida provides one procedural protection worth understanding before you buy. A proposed budget that raises assessments beyond 115% of the prior year lets owners petition for a special meeting and vote on the increase.
The threshold cuts both ways for a buyer. Boards aware of it sometimes structure increases just beneath the trigger, producing a series of 14% jumps that compound without ever reaching a membership vote. A look across several years of assessment history reveals that pattern quickly.
What You Are Actually Buying Into
Larry shifts from documents to something more fundamental, and this is the part buyers underweight.
"When you buy in an association, note that you are giving control of a budget of some sort to other people that you may or may not agree with their decisions."
He states the consequence about as plainly as possible.
"You give control to this community management team to decide your future financially. That's what it is."
His read on how owners actually feel is sobering.
"Majority of people don't agree with the decisions that these HOA and COA presidents, vice presidents, and treasurers make on a regular basis for their community. That's the reality of it."
Financial authority represents only part of what you hand over.
"It's not just for financial control. It's a whole bunch of other things."
A Self-Test Before You Commit
Larry reduces the decision to a question about temperament instead of arithmetic.
"If you are okay giving away that control, then an HOA won't be so painful for you. But if you are one of those people that can't stand that, well, you're going to be very upset in an HOA."
Answer that honestly before you tour anything. A buyer who researches each purchase and questions every expense will find board decisions genuinely hard to live with. No amount of document review changes that dynamic.
One board meeting attended before closing costs you an evening and reveals more than any financial statement. You will see how the board handles disagreement, whether owners trust them, and how they discuss money. Buyers considering communities across Broward County rarely take that step and frequently regret skipping it.
Documents to Request Before Closing
- Board meeting minutes covering the past 24 months.
- The current adopted budget alongside the prior two years.
- The most recent reserve study, with its funding recommendations.
- Current reserve balances broken out by component.
- Financial statements showing delinquency rates and receivables.
- The estoppel letter disclosing any approved or pending assessment.
- Insurance declarations for the association's master policy.
- The governing documents, especially rules on assessment approval.
Associations with larger parcel counts carry online document-access obligations, so much of this should already sit on a community website. Reluctance to produce records tells you something useful on its own, and buyers in West Palm Beach should weigh that resistance carefully.
Questions Worth Asking the Manager
- Has the membership waived or reduced reserves in any of the past five years?
- What assessment increases have owners absorbed over that period?
- Which major components come due for replacement within ten years?
- What does the master insurance premium look like against last renewal?
- Are any special assessments approved, proposed, or under discussion?
- What percentage of owners currently sit delinquent?
This page covers general concepts and is not legal advice. A Florida attorney should review association documents for any specific purchase.
Read the Minutes, Then Decide
Nobody can promise your fees will hold steady, and anyone who does is guessing without the documents. We pull the minutes, compare the budgets, and tell you honestly what the record suggests about the years ahead. That work turns a blind commitment into a calculated one, which is the most any buyer can ask for here. Reach out to The Mastropieri Group, Realtors® at (561) 544-7000. and name the community and we will tell you what its paperwork says.