Buying a Condo?

There are a great many little things that can derail a condo purchase but the 5 things I will ask you about are below. Of course the Condo Resale cert will tell us the details but often you do not have that until we have mutual acceptance and someone has paid the many $$ to get it… so we play a little hide and seek on the information that can kill a deal early on~

1) Whom is the condominium project approved with? - Fannie Mae, FHA, VA (depending on the kind of financing). I have a source who will work on the paperwork for the HOA to gain project approval, and she charges her fee when she secures the Approval of the project.
2) What is the ratio of OOC to NOO? (Remember – NOO include any property that the mailing address for the property taxes is not that condo address – it is the only way the condo associations keep track).
3) What is the percent of owners delinquent on HOA dues?
4) Is the condominium association party to a lawsuit? (suing someone or being sued)
5) Are there any special assessments in place, or pending? … How much are the HOA dues.

Another couple of good things to know going into it:
1. How many units in the Project?
2. Professionally or self-managed?
3. Any Special projects pending? (almost always lead to special assessments, and sometimes lawsuits)
4. How much money is in the reserve account?

Links to the CONDO Projects approval list:
Fannie -https://www.fanniemae.com/singlefamily/project-eligibility?from=hp
FHA -https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm
VA - https://vip.vba.va.gov/portal/VBAH/VBAHome/condopudsearch

Today's guest blog is courtesy of Cheryl Taylor, American Pacific Mortgage, cherylt@aplending.com