A seller in Tuhaye recently pulled up her draft closing statement and found a line item she didn't remember discussing with anyone: a reinvestment fee equal to 1 percent of her sale price, payable to the HOA. On a home selling in the multi-million dollar range, that's not a rounding error. It's a five or six figure number that showed up late in the process, after the listing agreement, after the offer, sometimes after the inspection period had already closed.
A few pages later, a second number appeared: what happens to her $200,000 Talisker Club membership deposit. That one didn't show up as a fixed line item at all. It showed up as a choice.
Both fees involve real money. But they don't behave the same way, and confusing them is where sellers leave value on the table. One is fixed by a state statute and a community's own size. The other is a decision the seller, buyer, and their agents make together, and it can swing the seller's net proceeds by tens of thousands of dollars depending on how the purchase contract is written.
The Fee That Isn't Actually a Surprise, Once You Know Why It's Double
Utah law generally caps HOA reinvestment fees, sometimes called transfer fees, at 0.5 percent of the sale price. Most Utah homeowners who have sold a house before, even a nice one, remember a fee somewhere in that range if they remember one at all.
Tuhaye's HOA charges 1 percent on the gross sales price of every transaction, double the standard cap. That isn't an oversight or an aggressive board decision. Utah's reinvestment fee statute carves out an exception for larger communities, generally those exceeding 500 acres or 500 platted units, and Tuhaye's master plan calls for roughly 715 residences, with about 500 lots already sold according to community figures. A development that size clears the threshold that unlocks the higher fee, which is almost certainly why Tuhaye's rate sits where it does rather than at the lower figure sellers may expect from smaller HOAs elsewhere in the state.
The practical takeaway isn't that the fee is unfair. It's that it's non-negotiable in amount, but not necessarily in who pays it. Utah's standard purchase contract includes a section where buyer and seller allocate closing costs like this one, meaning the split between the two parties is very much on the table during negotiation, even though the 1 percent figure itself is not.
Association dues are also prorated from the sale date, and the HOA publishes its annual assessment each year. For 2026, that master assessment runs $2,565, a number worth confirming directly with the association before listing, since it factors into how a buyer's agent will present carrying costs to their client.
The Membership Decision You Actually Control
The bigger number, and the one with more room to move, is the Talisker Club membership.
Ownership in Tuhaye connects to Talisker Club's four venues: the Tuhaye golf and amenity campus built around the Mark O'Meara championship course, the Tower Club at Empire Pass for ski-in, ski-out access, Courchevel Bistro on Park City's Main Street, and The Outpost, a backcountry lodge at 9,000 feet. The membership deposit for full access runs $200,000, structured as an equity deposit.
Here's the mechanic that matters at resale: that deposit is commonly described as 80 percent refundable upon resignation. If a seller simply resigns their membership rather than transferring it, they forfeit roughly $40,000, the 20 percent the club retains. That forfeiture happens regardless of how well the house shows or how strong the offer is. It's a function of the membership structure, not the real estate transaction.
The alternative is transferring the membership to the buyer as part of the sale, which is exactly what many developer resale listings already do, often described in marketing language as membership included with purchase. When the membership transfers rather than resigns, the seller isn't leaving that 20 percent on the table with the club. Instead, that value becomes part of what the two parties negotiate into the purchase price.
Here's how the math actually diverges for a seller weighing the two paths:
| Resign the membership | Transfer the membership | |
|---|---|---|
| Refund from club | 80% of $200,000 = $160,000 | Not applicable, membership conveys |
| Amount retained by club | $40,000 (20%) | $0 |
| Where the remaining value goes | Forfeited | Negotiated into sale price or terms |
| Buyer's path to membership | Must apply and pay new initiation | Assumes existing deposit, subject to club approval |
| Typical use case | Buyer doesn't want a Talisker membership | Buyer wants the membership and the home |
The transfer path isn't automatically better for every seller. A buyer who has no interest in golf, skiing at Empire Pass, or the club's other venues isn't going to pay extra for a membership they don't want, and in that case resignation may be the only realistic option. But when a buyer does want the lifestyle Talisker offers, a seller who defaults to resignation without exploring a transfer is voluntarily accepting a $40,000 loss that a different structure might have avoided entirely.
What to Confirm Before You List
Not every Tuhaye property carries a transferable membership. Some were sold without one, and others have membership terms that vary depending on when the home was purchased and from whom. Before pricing a home for sale, a few questions are worth settling in writing:
- Is the membership deeded to the property, or held under a separate personal contract with the club. Deeded memberships generally convey with title, though the new owner may still need club approval. Personal-contract memberships require a separate assignment process.
- What does the current Talisker Club membership plan say about transfer or reissuance fees, and how long does club approval typically take. That timeline can affect how a closing date gets structured.
- Is the specific home's membership status documented anywhere in HOA or club records, or only in the original purchase paperwork. Buyers and their agents will ask, and having the answer ready avoids a delay during due diligence.
- What is the current annual dues figure and billing schedule, since broker-reported ranges for Talisker's annual dues have varied and the club's own current fee schedule is the only reliable source.
Why This Matters More at the Closing Table Than the Listing Table
Consider a hypothetical $4 million sale in Tuhaye. The HOA reinvestment fee alone comes to $40,000, a fixed cost that exists regardless of how the deal is structured, though the contract can determine whether the buyer, the seller, or both share it.
Layer in the membership decision, and the total swing in a seller's outcome grows. Resigning forfeits roughly $40,000 outright. Transferring the membership as part of the deal keeps that value in play, either reflected in a higher accepted price or preserved as a selling point that shortens time on market for buyers who specifically want club access. On a single transaction, the difference between the two paths for membership alone can rival the reinvestment fee itself.
None of this is a reason to avoid selling in Tuhaye. Communities with the scale and amenity base to trigger the larger reinvestment fee exception are, by definition, communities with the infrastructure many buyers are seeking out in the first place. But the two fees deserve different conversations with your agent. One gets negotiated in the contract's cost allocation section. The other gets negotiated as a strategic decision made early, ideally before the home ever goes live on the market.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Directly
Does every home in Tuhaye come with a transferable Talisker Club membership? No. Membership status varies by property and purchase history. Confirm it in writing rather than assuming.
Who typically pays the HOA reinvestment fee, buyer or seller? Utah's standard purchase contract lets the parties allocate this cost between them, so it's a negotiation point even though the 1 percent rate itself is fixed by the HOA.
Can a seller negotiate to transfer the membership even if it wasn't originally deeded to the property? Sometimes, but it depends on the specific membership contract and the club's current approval process. This is worth raising with the club directly during the listing period, not after an offer arrives.
Does the 20 percent membership forfeiture apply to every membership tier? The 80 percent refundable structure applies to the equity deposit format currently in place. Fee structures and refund terms can change, so current club documents should always be the final word.
Selling a home connected to a private club membership involves more moving pieces than a standard resale, and the fees that look similar on paper often behave very differently in practice. If you're weighing a sale in Tuhaye and want a clear-eyed read on how these mechanics apply to your specific property and membership status, Debbie Millar can walk through the numbers with you before you list, not after. Let's Connect.
