Shores of Panama Association Dues 2019

When compared to other gulf front buildings in Panama City Beach, Shores of Panama’s dues can seem high at first glance. This article will look deeper into the 2019 dues and what you can expect in the future. Association dues are usually made up of three separate cost centers. Operations, Reserves, and loans (if any). Understanding the operating budget is outside the scope of this article. We will cover reserves and the loan. In 2019 the association reported a 13.55% increase in dues. They reported “This was driven by the increase in cost associated with the mortgage of the pool vs. the lease payments as the main driver”. This section is my attempt to help you break down the math with my estimates.

There is a lot to Shores of Panama. If you would like a history of the building, you may want to look at my Shores of Panama Oversimplified article.  This math below is just my estimate. The actual math to understand the Shores of Panama budget is significantly more complicated. The goal here is to simply break out the budget for the loan.

The 16.2 million paid by the association for the pool averages to $23,137 per unit on average. Since there was not a special assessment the association needed financing. The budget for the loan is $2,135,563 per year which will cost each unit an average of $45,181 to cover the loan obligations. To be fair the payment to the club was $1,394,500 per year and could increase each year.

When you take the 2.1 million budgeted for the loan and subtract it from the 1.4 million already paid to the club, owners are only paying 700k extra for 15 years to own the pool and club area. The pool and club also received the revenue from the guests. So, it was clearly in the best interest of the association to purchase the pool and the club at some point. 

2019 association dues at Shores of Panama

Here is my estimate of the percentage of the dues going towards the loan taken out to pay for the pool and club purchase.

I believe this is an easy way to understand how much the special assessment will cost you over 15 years. You can also get a feel for the amount dues should go down after the loan is paid off.

Just add that price to your purchase price and you can evaluate the price you are paying relative to the price of other condominiums you would like to compare.

Example. If you pay $220,000 for a one-bedroom. Just add the 40k for all the loan payments and assume you are paying 260k. I believe it is an easer way to compare Shores with other condominiums.

Comparing Shores of Panama to Edgewater 2019 Association dues

Edgewater is a good comp for association dues because they have a similar size lagoon pool, but more amenities.  Association dues below show monthly dues minus my estimate of the dues being put toward the loan for the next 15 years.  This gives you a better comparison to other condominiums.

1 Bedrooms

 2 Bedrooms

 3 Bedrooms

Are you comfortable paying the dues budgeted when considering the Shores of Panama building and amenities? There are several condos in Panama City Beach that have equal or higher association dues. There are also many other buildings with lower association dues.

Reserves

Like most new buildings, reserves were not funded properly for years. Developers reserves are often underfunded. Many associations get a handle on reserves 5-7 years after the building conveys. The first time a building needs painting is when associations are often forced to face the reality of there reserve study and the reserve balance. Shores of Panama is at that point right now.

Operating Budget

Each building has a dollar amount that it cost to run a building. The staffing and amenities you maintain make up a significant portion of the budget. It is a matter of opinion and controlled by the association board members.

Association Dues

Dues are made up of the operating budget, reserves, and loans (if any). Most condos do not fully fund reserves. This means that they end up needing special assessments. These special assessments usually show up when you need to paint a building. Many owners, buyers and sellers look at association dues to make a judgement as to the health of an association. This is foolish without understanding why association dues are where they are. The good news is that even if you end up needing a special assessment, $5,000-$10,000 can often clean up years of underfunding reserves.

Summary

Shores of Panama will be paying off the loan for the pool and club purchase for the next 15 years. The operating budget and pool revenue are independent of that. If you have questions on other topics regarding the Shores of Panama, you can feel free to contact me. You should also check out my testimonials page to see what some of my clients were nice enough to write about me.
Christopher Arnold
850-625-5113