Questions to Ask Before Buying a Condo
Twenty questions to ask the seller, the listing agent and the association before you buy a condo, covering fees and reserves, who pays for what, insurance, rental rules, the state of the building and how easily you could sell again.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What is the monthly fee, precisely what does it cover, and what was it each of the last five years?
Why ask it
The current figure matters less than the trend. A fee that has climbed steadily is either an association keeping up with real costs or one catching up after years of underfunding, and both change your budget. Also pin down what is included, since water, heat, cable and insurance vary wildly between buildings.
How much is in the reserve fund, when was the last reserve study, and what does it say is due?
Why ask it
The reserve study lists the roof, elevators, boilers and paving with expected replacement dates and costs. Comparing that list against the balance tells you whether a special assessment is coming. No study, or one more than five years old, is itself the answer.
Have there been special assessments in the last ten years, and is anything under discussion now?
Why ask it
Ask for amounts and dates, then ask what the board is currently arguing about. Boards often discuss a large project for a year or two before voting, so an assessment can be effectively certain while still being technically undecided when you sign.
What percentage of owners are behind on their dues?
Why ask it
Delinquency is the clearest single measure of an association's health, because unpaid dues fall on everyone else. It also affects your mortgage, since lenders in many programs will not finance in a building above roughly fifteen percent delinquent. A management company that will not give you the number is telling you something.
Is the association involved in any litigation, or is any threatened?
Why ask it
A lawsuit, whether against a builder, an insurer or an owner, can freeze mortgage lending in the whole building, which shrinks your buyer pool when you sell. Ask what it is about, who is suing whom, and how it is being funded, since legal fees come out of the same money as repairs.
Can I read the board meeting minutes for the past two years?
Why ask it
This is the most useful document nobody reads. Minutes reveal recurring leaks, disputes with neighbors, projects being deferred to keep fees down, and how the board makes decisions. If the minutes are thin, unavailable or clearly sanitized, treat that as information about how the place is run.
Which parts of this unit am I responsible for, and which belong to the association?
Why ask it
Go item by item: windows, balcony, front door, the heating and cooling unit, the water heater, pipes inside the wall, the floor slab. The dividing line is set by the declaration, not by intuition, and it decides who pays when a pipe bursts or a window fogs.
What does the master insurance policy cover, what is its deductible, and can owners be billed for that deductible?
Why ask it
Some policies stop at bare walls, leaving your cabinets, flooring and fixtures to your own coverage. Master deductibles have risen sharply and are often charged back to the unit where the damage started, so ask the figure and then ask your own insurer about loss assessment cover before you sign.
Will mortgage lenders finance in this building, and has anyone been declined recently?
Why ask it
Buildings can become effectively unmortgageable through thin reserves, litigation, too many rentals, one owner holding too many units, or unaddressed structural repairs, which lenders have asked about far more closely since 2021. Ask the listing agent whether recent buyers had trouble, and have your own lender check the building early.
What share of units are owner occupied, and are any being let out by the night?
Why ask it
The mix changes both the feel and the financing. A building with many short term rentals has more strangers, more wear on shared areas and more noise complaints. A high investor share can restrict which mortgages are available to you and to whoever buys from you later.
What are the rules if I want to rent my unit out?
Why ask it
Look for a cap on the number of rented units, a waiting list, a minimum lease term, a requirement to live there first for a year or two, and any board approval of tenants. This matters even if you have no plan to rent, since it is your fallback if you need to move and cannot sell.
How old are the roof, elevators, heating plant, and plumbing, and when is each due for replacement?
Why ask it
Ask for the year each was last done rather than a general assurance about maintenance. A building where several big items come due in the same decade is a building where fees rise or assessments land, whatever the current budget looks like.
What do owners complain about at meetings?
Why ask it
Ask the manager, and ask a resident in the lobby or the laundry if you can. The recurring complaints are the texture of daily life here: noise between floors, parking disputes, a slow response to repairs, one difficult board member. None of this appears in the listing.
What can I hear from inside this unit at different times of day?
Why ask it
Ask to see the unit twice, once on a weekday evening and once at the weekend, and stand still in silence for a few minutes. Footsteps overhead, a shared lift shaft, a bin store, a rooftop plant room or a bar downstairs are the sort of thing people notice on the first night and live with for years.
What do the rules say about pets, flooring, balconies, grills, guests and work being done inside the unit?
Why ask it
Read the actual rules rather than asking generally, because restrictions are specific: a weight limit on dogs, a requirement to carpet a set percentage of the floor, no planters on balconies, no contractors at weekends. Also ask how the rules are enforced and what the fines are, since inconsistent enforcement causes most neighbor disputes.
Is my parking space deeded to the unit, assigned, or allocated at the board's discretion, and does any storage come with it?
Why ask it
These three are very different things. A deeded space is property you own and can sell, an assigned one can be reshuffled, and a rented one can be withdrawn or repriced. If you drive an electric car, ask separately whether charging is permitted and who pays for the installation.
Is the building professionally managed or run by volunteers, and how does a repair actually get done?
Why ask it
Ask for the specific path: who you call about a leak at midnight, how long a routine request takes, and whether the manager is on site or handling twenty other buildings. Self managed buildings can be excellent and can also mean one exhausted retiree doing everything, which becomes your problem when they stop.
What will I pay at closing beyond the usual costs?
Why ask it
Associations often charge a transfer fee, a document fee, a move in deposit, and sometimes a capital contribution of one or two months of dues. Ask for the figures in writing, and ask whether there is a right of first refusal or an approval process that could delay your closing.
How many units in this building are for sale right now, and how long have they been listed?
Why ask it
Several units on the market at once, or one that has sat for months, usually means something the seller is not telling you: a pending assessment, a lending problem, or a difficult board. Check the listing history of the unit you are buying too, including any earlier sales that fell through.
If I had to sell in three years, who would the buyer be and what would hold the price back?
Why ask it
Condos with unusual layouts, high fees, restrictive rental rules or lending problems can sit for months in a market where houses move quickly. Being able to name your likely buyer, and what you would have to discount for, is a better test of the purchase than any general talk about appreciation.
How to check a condo properly
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
The documents to insist on
Ask for the full package, and build the review into your contract
You want the declaration and bylaws, the rules, the current budget, the last two years of financial statements, the most recent reserve study, two years of board minutes, the master insurance certificate, and any notice of pending assessments or litigation. Many places give buyers a defined period to review these and withdraw. Find out what your period is and start the clock deliberately.
Read the financials for two numbers first
The reserve balance against what the reserve study says is coming, and the delinquency rate. Those two tell you most of what you need to know about the years ahead. After that, look at whether the budget puts a sensible amount into reserves each month or keeps fees artificially low by deferring work.
Have your lender vet the building, not just you
Approval of you as a borrower is separate from approval of the building. Give your lender the association's name early so they can check reserves, delinquency, owner occupancy, litigation and any outstanding structural repairs. Finding a lending problem two weeks before closing is a common and avoidable disaster.
Check what the state now requires of the building
Several states have tightened rules on older or taller buildings, including periodic structural inspections of balconies and elevated walkways and requirements to fund reserves for major components. Ask whether any such inspection is due or has been done, and what it found. An overdue inspection is a foreseeable expense with a date on it.
Looking at the building, not just the unit
- Hire an inspector anyway. Even though the association maintains the exterior, you want an opinion on the plumbing, the electrical panel, the heating and cooling unit, and any signs of past water damage inside your walls.
- Walk the whole property: garage, roof access if permitted, mechanical room, stairwells, bin store. Rust, propped fire doors, water stains and patched concrete tell you about maintenance culture.
- Look for the same repair appearing repeatedly in the minutes. A leak fixed four times is a leak that has not been fixed.
- Note the smell and sound of the corridor outside the front door, and check where your unit sits relative to the lift, the rubbish chute and the entry door.
- In a new building, ask whether the developer still controls the board, when handover to owners happens, and what the construction warranty covers. Fees set by a developer are often set low and rise after handover.
- Ask about water. Historic leaks, pipe material, and whether the building has had any flooding are worth more attention than the kitchen finishes.
What owning in an association is actually like
- You are buying a share in collective decisions. Your fee, your assessments and some of your rules will be decided by a handful of neighbors, so it is worth knowing who is on the board and how they got there.
- Budget separately from your mortgage for the fee, your own unit insurance, and a personal reserve for an eventual assessment. Treating an assessment as unthinkable is how people end up borrowing for one.
- Attend a board meeting before you buy if the association allows it. Half an hour tells you more than the whole document package about how conflict is handled.
- Expect any change to your unit that touches a wall, a window or plumbing to need approval. Ask what the process is before you plan a renovation.
- Get to know the manager's name and the after hours procedure on day one, not during your first emergency.
- If you want autonomy over your own building envelope and no monthly fee, a condo may be the wrong structure for you regardless of how good the specific unit looks.