Yep, JudyB. You're right. Knowing the financials is critical - my brother had warned me about that based on his past experiences.
I checked out the financials on this community before I bought into it. It has a very healthy reserve & now I can see they do plan for the future with quite a bit of detail. I also got my hands on the HOA minutes of other complexes I was considering. Termites was brought up every time for one (NOT this one) - I stayed far away from that one.
The board here is very responsible & get right on folks who aren't paying their fees on time - or are breaking the rules. I don't know that they've ever had to foreclose on any units, but they do file liens when they need to. They also try to catch issues early on before they get out of hand. It is incredibly interesting to see everything that goes on behind the scenes. It's alot more 'attention to detail' than I ever imagined. Never a dull moment.
Martha, I suspect the kids will eventually live there which will offer them some benefits that we dont' have here. I know there's always trade-offs, but I know they both love it over there & it'll give me a great destination for visiting.