Ask everything below, and treat every answer as provisional: a brand-new HOA runs on a preliminary budget, and the dues are an estimate until an owner-elected board takes over. Any builder who claims certainty about future dues is overselling. With that understood, ask: - What do landscaping and common-area maintenance actually cost today? - Is there a reserve study projecting the big replacements: roofs, paint, streets? Does the HOA cover those items, or will they hit owners separately later? - What do the CC&Rs cap dues at, and what triggers an increase? We have seen buyers in small new projects where the recorded documents set only a maximum possible fee until every unit sold and the owners could finally build a real budget together. That tells you how much uncertainty is baked in early. None of this means avoid new construction. It means budget a cushion for the increases that tend to follow once the community is fully owner-run, and read the reserve study especially closely. Underfunded reserves today usually mean special assessments or dues jumps tomorrow.