Community fees are highest at the top of the market
Towers have more to run than garden or midrise buildings: garages, elevators, staffed lobbies, amenity floors. The fee schedule shows it.
Two towers quoting the same rent can end up $150 or more a month apart once you add the fees. That's enough to change which tower comes out cheaper, so price in the fees first. See luxury and high rise locating for help choosing a tower.
What is on it
| Charge | What is different in towers |
|---|---|
| Garage parking | Priced by level and by reserved or unreserved, and a second space costs more |
| Reserved parking | Costs more than the basic garage rate |
| Valet trash | Pickup at your door, often required at newer towers |
| Package locker | Use of the package lockers, sometimes rolled into a “technology fee” |
| Amenity fee | Flat monthly fee for lounge, fitness, pool, and work spaces |
| Bulk internet | One contract for the whole building, required at many newer towers |
| Pest control | Same flat monthly fee for every unit |
| Pet rent | Per animal, monthly, separate from the pet fee and deposit |
| Renters insurance | Often a $100,000 liability minimum |
Electricity sits outside the community fees. In Oncor areas like Dallas, you choose a retail provider, and Oncor delivers the power and charges that provider for delivery.
For the version of this list that covers every kind of building, see the general community fees guide.
Why parking makes the biggest difference
In a garden complex, parking is usually an open lot and often included. In a tower, it's a garage. Space is limited, and you pay for it.
Ask four questions:
- What comes with the unit: one space, none, or an allowance?
- What does a second space cost?
- Does reserved cost more than unreserved, and by how much?
- Is guest parking available, at what rate, and is it enforced?
Got two cars? One free space against two paid ones is a big monthly gap, and it rarely shows up in a listing.
Ask for the fee schedule, not the rent sheet
They're two documents. The rent sheet is marketing. The fee schedule is what you pay, and if you ask for it by name, you usually get it in one email. It belongs on the same list as what to look for when you tour a tower.
How it changes which one is cheaper
Two towers, both quoting $2,600:
| Line | Tower A | Tower B |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $2,600 | $2,600 |
| Garage parking | Included | $150 |
| Valet trash | $35 | $30 |
| Amenity fee | $50 | $0 |
| Package locker | $15 | Included |
| Bulk internet | $0 | $85 |
| Monthly total | $2,700 | $2,865 |
Same sign, $165 apart, $1,980 over a year. Neither building did anything wrong. They price differently, and a search filter only shows you one of those numbers.
What we do
Through our luxury and high rise search, we send towers inside your budget whose screening rules look like a fit for your file. Before you compare towers, add the fees to each rent.
If a building won't hand over a fee schedule before you tour, that's worth knowing too.