Tuesday, January 28, 2014

I am buying a condo and no one can tell me exactly what the HOA fees pay for.

Hi Lori,

Hopefully you have a real estate agent representing you in the purchase. Your Realtor® needs to ask the seller and or their agent for a copy of the CC&R, The covenants, conditions & restrictions, are the governing documents that dictate how the homeowners association (HOA) operates and what rules the owners, and their tenants and guests, must obey. These documents may also be called The bylaws, The master deed, The house rules or another similar name.

These documents will spell out what dues or obligations exist between the owners of the units and the associations. Each association has a different set of operating rules regulating things such as parking, 3 of guests permitted and how long they can stay. Also such things as special assessments that may be required by the owners of all the units that comprise and association. Usually special costs that may not have funds in reserve like replacing a controlled gate access or repaving of drive way.

So there may be no one answering because they are not familiar with what is in the CC&R. These are typically provided to a prospective buyer once a property goes under contract with in a specified number of days from the executed date of the contract. However most selling (or listing ) agents should have this information available because their clients have been paying the same assessment since they have lived in the unit assuming it is a resale.

For new construction then the builder is responsible for these documents and the accounting of the dues. It is not common for a builder , especially for “pre construction”, not to have that information defined. Crazy as it seems they wait for the project to be completed to define those costs. A lot of people are caught off guard by larger than expected obligations.

Hope this helps point you I the right direction. Congratulations on your real estate purchase I hope your transaction is a successful one.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have additional questions.

Bob Kenney, Realtor®
Reilly Realtors

Mobile/Text: 512-922-4922



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