Searching for HOA fees directly can be time consuming and difficult within the MLS, based on the different options for the payment schedules of these fees.  The “worst case scenario” is could take up to 16 separate searches just to find the results your clients want when trying to search on the "HOA Fee" directly.

To that end, Canopy MLS has created a field available on all searches called “Yearly HOA Expense” that will reduce this down to just a single search. 

Enter the price range that fits your client’s budget and all listings that meet this range, regardless of the payment schedule, will appear.  For example, if your client has requested a maximum of $600 per year in HOA Fees, you will find listings that have:

• $50 per month (or less)
• $150 per quarter
• $300 semi-annually
• $600 annually

This will also find listings with multiple fee charging HOAs. For example:

• $100 per quarter for the first HOA, $150 per year for the second HOA

Listings agents will still enter the fee due to the HOA and the frequency the fee is paid, and listings will continue to display this information specifically.  Matrix automatically calculates the yearly expense of the HOA based on this information - so you will not see the HOA fees as a yearly expense, you will only see them as entered by the listing agent.  Additionally, entry of HOA Fees into a listing is optional, meaning that listings where no fees were entered at all will not appear in your search results when using this field.

Want more information on required information in Canopy MLS listings?  See our article: What’s required? Know your duty to discover and disclose in MLS listings.