If you’re buying a condo or in a neighborhood with a HOA, at some point during the due diligence time period, you need to review and approve or disapprove the condominium documents. These documents generally include the Declarations and Bylaws, the Rules and Regulations, the current year budget, the meeting minutes, and the 22.1 disclosure. .
The reason you need to review these documents is that when you buy a property in a HOA, you’re not just buying your particular property, but you’re also buying into the community. You need to figure out if the community is stable and healthy financially speaking or if there could be potential problems, either with big upcoming maintenance issues or delinquent owners who aren’t paying their HOA fees, etc. It’s also important to learn about the rules such as:
Are there pet restrictions (number of pets, breeds, weights, etc.)?
Can you move in any day/time or are there restrictions on when you’re allowed to move in?
Are there are move in fees or procedures such as needing to reserve an elevator?
Can you lease your property and, if so, for how long?
Are there restrictions as to what plants you can plant or colors you can paint your home?
Are you allowed to have a trampoline, play set, pool, fire pit, etc?
Is more than 50% of the building renters? If so, there is a good chance your mortgage lender won’t approve the loan as a building with too many renters is a risky investment
For all of the above reasons, we strongly urge you to read each HOA document thoroughly. Write down any questions or issues you’d like to know more about as we can ask for clarification or further documentation. Pay particular attention to the meeting minutes as this is often where you’ll learn what’s really going on in the HOA and any future plans for big ticket repairs.
After you’ve read the HOA docs, email me any questions you have and whether you feel comfortable going forward, want to cancel the contract or would like additional information.
