Questions to Ask When Buying a Condo
For buyers comparing condos and reading an association's paperwork for the first time. These 20 questions cover dues and reserves, special assessments, insurance gaps, rental and pet rules, repair history and resale inside the building.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What are the monthly dues, and exactly which utilities and services do they cover?
Why ask it
Two buildings with identical dues can differ by a couple hundred dollars a month once you learn one includes water, heat and trash and the other includes none of it. Get the covered list in writing, then add every excluded item to your own budget before you compare prices.
How much is in the reserve fund, and when was the last reserve study done?
Why ask it
A reserve study prices out the roof, elevators, boiler and risers and states how much should be set aside each year. An association funded far below its own study is not inexpensive, it is deferring a bill that will arrive as an assessment.
How much have the dues gone up over the past five years?
Why ask it
Flat dues sound reassuring but usually mean the board kept avoiding an unpopular vote while insurance and labor costs climbed. Small annual increases are the healthier answer, and five flat years followed by a sudden jump is the pattern to worry about.
Are any special assessments planned, under discussion, or recently completed?
Why ask it
Boards debate large projects for a year or more before anything is formally planned, so the word planned lets a seller answer no honestly. Ask instead for two years of board meeting minutes, which is where the real conversation about the facade or the parking deck is recorded.
How many owners are behind on their dues right now?
Why ask it
Delinquency above roughly 15 percent can disqualify the building for FHA and some conventional loans, which shrinks the pool of buyers available to you later. In the meantime, the owners who do pay are quietly covering the gap.
What share of the units are owner occupied versus rented?
Why ask it
Lenders price heavily rented buildings as higher risk and some decline them outright above a set investor concentration, so this number can limit your financing and your buyer's. It also tends to show up in how carefully hallways, laundry rooms and mail areas get treated.
Can I rent my unit out, and are there caps, minimum lease terms or a waiting list?
Why ask it
Many associations cap rentals at a fixed percentage of units, require you to live there a year or two first, or run a queue. If renting it out is ever part of your plan, get both the written rule and the current count of rented units, because a cap already reached means no.
Which repairs belong to the association and which belong to me?
Why ask it
The line usually runs somewhere near the drywall, but windows, balconies, sliding doors, in-unit plumbing branches and HVAC are assigned differently in every set of bylaws. Ask for a written maintenance responsibility chart, since a verbal answer from a seller is not what a board will honor.
What does the master insurance policy cover, and what does my own policy need to fill in?
Why ask it
A bare walls policy leaves cabinets, flooring and fixtures entirely to you, while an all-in policy covers the original finishes. Ask for the master deductible too, because a large one is often charged back to the owner whose pipe failed.
Has the building had water intrusion, mold or pipe failures, and where?
Why ask it
Water is the most common and most expensive condo problem, and it recurs in the same stacks and the same corners rather than moving around. Ask the manager which units have filed claims, and search the minutes for the word leak.
What major work has been completed in the last ten years, and what is next on the list?
Why ask it
Roof, elevators, boiler, windows, parking structure and plumbing risers all have known lifespans, and each one is large enough to trigger an assessment. The answer tells you whether you are buying just before or just after the building's expensive decade.
What is the parking arrangement for this unit: deeded, assigned, or first come?
Why ask it
A deeded space is property you own and can sell with the unit, an assigned space can be reshuffled by a future board, and a leased space can be repriced. Confirm which one appears on the deed rather than trusting the listing.
What is the pet rule, including any weight limit, breed limit and number per unit?
Why ask it
Pet rules get amended more often than almost any other, and they are enforced far more strictly against new owners than against long time residents with grandfathered animals. If your dog is anywhere near a stated limit, get written confirmation before you go under contract.
How is noise between units handled, and is there a flooring rule?
Why ask it
Many buildings require a minimum underlayment or ban hard flooring above the ground floor, which restricts your renovation and also protects you from the unit above. Ask the seller plainly what they hear on a normal weekday evening, because that is the detail no document contains.
Who manages the building, how long have they been in place, and how do repair requests work?
Why ask it
Frequent management turnover usually reflects either a difficult board or finances nobody wants to inherit. Ask how a routine request is submitted and how long one is currently taking, then ask a resident in the elevator the same question.
Is the association involved in any lawsuits?
Why ask it
Pending litigation, particularly a construction defect claim, can block conventional financing outright and has to be disclosed to your lender. Ask what the claim is about, the amount at issue, and whether an insurance carrier is paying for the defense.
What are the rules on short term rentals, and are they in the bylaws or just the house rules?
Why ask it
Even if you never plan to list your own unit, a building full of weekend guests changes security, elevator wear and resale. The location of the rule matters, because house rules can be reversed by a board vote while bylaws take a supermajority of owners.
What does the move-in process involve, and are there fees, deposits or elevator reservations?
Why ask it
Move-in fees, refundable deposits, restricted hours and a single reservable elevator all shape what you pay movers and when you can book them. The strictness of the answer is also a fair preview of how the building is run day to day.
What has sold in this building over the past year, and how long did those units take?
Why ask it
Sales inside the same building are the only true comparables for a condo, because the dues, the rules and the reserves travel with every unit. Long marketing times here usually point at the association rather than at the units.
If I request the full document package today, how quickly can I have it?
Why ask it
You are generally entitled to bylaws, the budget, the reserve study, recent minutes, the insurance certificate and financial statements, and a well run association produces them within days. A slow or partial delivery is itself an answer, and it is grounds to extend your review deadline.
Reading a Condo Association Before You Buy
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to Read the Document Package
Start with the minutes, not the budget
Two years of board meeting minutes tell you what the building is actually arguing about: a leaking garage slab, an insurance renewal that doubled, an owner suing over a balcony. Budgets are forward looking and optimistic by nature, while minutes are a record of problems that already happened.
Compare the reserve balance against the study, not against a feeling
Find the reserve study's recommended annual contribution and the reserve balance, then compare both to what the budget actually collects. A building holding a fraction of what its own study recommends has an assessment coming, and you can usually estimate the size by dividing the shortfall across the unit count.
Match the master policy to your own quote
Get the master insurance certificate and ask your own agent to read it before you buy the unit policy. You need to know whether original finishes are covered, what the master deductible is, whether loss assessment coverage is included, and whether the building carries enough to rebuild at today's construction costs.
Talk to two owners who are not selling
Knock on a door on the same floor or ask someone in the lobby how long repairs take, whether the board communicates, and what they wish they had known. Sellers and agents describe the building they want you to buy, and residents describe the one they live in.
Red Flags in a Condo Association
- A reserve balance far below the reserve study recommendation, or no study at all in the last five years.
- Dues unchanged for years while insurance premiums in the region have climbed.
- Delinquencies above roughly 15 percent, which can make the building unfinanceable for the next buyer as well as for you.
- Pending construction defect litigation, or minutes referencing an engineer's report you are not shown.
- A rental cap that has already been reached, if you might ever want to lease the unit out.
- Repeated leak or mold entries in the minutes with no completed repair recorded afterward.
- A management company that changed twice in three years.
- Any request for the document package that gets answered slowly or partially.
Costs to Add Beyond the Purchase Price
- Utilities the dues do not cover, priced from the seller's actual bills rather than an estimate.
- A unit insurance policy sized to whatever the master policy leaves out, plus loss assessment coverage.
- Your share of any assessment currently under discussion, estimated from the project cost divided by unit count.
- Move-in fees, deposits and any capital contribution the association charges new owners at closing.
- Parking or storage that is leased rather than deeded, and the risk that it gets repriced.
- The dues increase you should expect over the next few years based on the trend of the last five.