Community Chat

[Gooday]

On 7/9/2014 ------ said:

I've always used a realtor and I would hesitate to buy without one representing you. A good real estate attorney is expensive but he/she will guide you through the buying process. Anyway I would use an excellent escrow agent. In my experience that person does far more work than anyone in the purchasing process. Do your own due diligence. Which means don't sit back and rely on anyone to do investigative work for you.

Condos are tricky. There are owner disclosures that have to be filled out. For example the current owner has to tell you if there is excessive noise in his/her unit from neighbors and what repair work has been done to the unit and when it was done. In older complexes water pipes can be problematic. If you are purchasing on the ground floor potential flooding from burst pipes from the unit/s above are an issue. In CA if an owner lies on this disclosure form legal action can be taken. Talk to your insurance agent for info and advice on purchasing a condo. S/he can review the HOA's insurance for adequate coverage and also find out if any prior insurance claims have been filed by the owner.

Get a copy of the current CC&Rs and past HOA meeting minutes and read them over carefully. There are often restrictions re. parking, pets, remodeling, changing the exterior, what you can put in your garage,… Find out how much money is in the HOA reserves and if it's sufficient. There should be a certain percentage in the reserves (I can't remember off the top of my head what the % is). You don't want to be involved with an HOA that is in danger of running out of money or one that imposes special assessments because it's the homeowner who will be the one s*rewed. You need to be sure the unit you are buying is HOA compliant (for example if the owner has done changes in the unit that fall out of the CC&Rs the unit will have to be brought up to HOA standards at the buyer's expense).

Talk to the company that manages the property. Tell them you are a potential buyer and ask them if there is anything you should know about the unit and the property.

Get a thorough home inspection and be there when the inspection takes place. Get a home appraisal. Review the common areas for wear and tear. If the common areas look worn you will probably be hit with a special assessment in the near future. Talk to the neighbors. Ask questions. They can give you a feel for the neighborhood and how invasive the HOA is. Some HOAs are run by bitter angry people who wander around all day looking for homeowner violations so they can demand penalty fees.

There's more to look for but it's early and I can't think of it right now.

Good luck.

ETA have you done any research on Quicken Loans? They don't seem to have good reviews.

Here's a link to their BBB. Yes they have an A+ rating but look at all of the complaints they've accumulated.

http://www.bbb.org/eastern-michigan/business-reviews/consumer-finance-and-loan-companies/quicken-loa...

Great response. I would just like to add, I have both bought and sold without an agent. That's why you need a lawyer. We just sold my dad's condo privately. It was done in 4 weeks but the buyer paid in cash.

My dear friend who is a broker uses a mortgage broker as the banks are making it increasingly difficult in giving loans. Again, a lawyer can help.

DH and I have a condo and no matter which way you slice it, it's apartment living. If we were to do it again, I would opt for a one level townhouse. The by-laws MUST be presented prior to closing. Again, that's why you pay a lawyer to get the checklist of what is needed.

[lulu2]

docsgirl, you need a real estate lawyer before you commit to anything.

I hope you have not signed anything yet.

[Buck-i-Nana]

On 7/9/2014 terrier3 said:

On 7/9/2014 Buck-i-Nana said:

I don't have much to add regarding your mortgage hunt, but I will share what I found out when I was looking at a condo vs buying a single family home.

As someone else already posted, your condo fees can go up and you cannot fight that. If the initial fees were set too low, or the funds were mismanaged and necessary large $ maintenance becomes necessary you will be hit with a big bill.

The lure of a condo is not having to do that lawn and property maintenance yourself. I started looking in my area for property management companies and got quotes for how much it would cost me to have grounds and property maintenance and it was so much cheaper than the condo fees that came with every unit I looked at.

The plus side of a condo is that you are in a situation where you have a lot of people close by. That can be good for security.

Neighbors sharing walls can be problematic though. Depending on the age of the property, noise is only one of the potential problems. Smells can be another, such as cooking or incense can become overwhelming.

I'm not talking about a home in the country. A single family home in a nice neighborhood provides neighbors near enough for security and friendship as well as a quiet haven.

[Gooday]

Oh, and the lawyer's fee was $400.00. Other than a few phone calls, it was easy. We lucked out not having to pay a real estate agent 5% which is the going rate these days. At least in our area it is.

[------]

On 7/9/2014 Gooday said:

Oh, and the lawyer's fee was $400.00. Other than a few phone calls, it was easy. We lucked out not having to pay a real estate agent 5% which is the going rate these days. At least in our area it is.

Here in CA the escrow agent handles the closing. There's no need for an attorney unless the real property transaction is out of the ordinary (estate, short sale, commercial, overseas transaction, high end property, etc) or the buyer/seller feels s/he needs more guidance. In other states it's the closing attorney or Title Company (or "other") that handle the closing.

I negotiate the agent commission. I pay between 2-3%. Now there are real estate agencies that charge a flat 1.5%. I haven't used them but it sounds pretty intriguing.

[terrier3]

On 7/9/2014 ------ said:

On 7/9/2014 Gooday said:

Oh, and the lawyer's fee was $400.00. Other than a few phone calls, it was easy. We lucked out not having to pay a real estate agent 5% which is the going rate these days. At least in our area it is.

Here in CA the escrow agent handles the closing. There's no need for an attorney unless the real property transaction is out of the ordinary (estate, short sale, commercial, overseas transaction, etc) or the buyer/seller feels s/he needs more guidance. In other states it's the closing attorney or Title Company (or "other") that handle the closing.

I negotiate the agent commission. I pay between 2-3%. Now there are real estate agencies that charge a flat 1.5%. I haven't used them but it sounds pretty intriguing.

I still think having an attorney is a good idea when buying a condo.

You have a whole other level of contracts to sign!

[terrier3]

On 7/9/2014 Buck-i-Nana said:

On 7/9/2014 terrier3 said:

On 7/9/2014 Buck-i-Nana said:

I don't have much to add regarding your mortgage hunt, but I will share what I found out when I was looking at a condo vs buying a single family home.

As someone else already posted, your condo fees can go up and you cannot fight that. If the initial fees were set too low, or the funds were mismanaged and necessary large $ maintenance becomes necessary you will be hit with a big bill.

The lure of a condo is not having to do that lawn and property maintenance yourself. I started looking in my area for property management companies and got quotes for how much it would cost me to have grounds and property maintenance and it was so much cheaper than the condo fees that came with every unit I looked at.

The plus side of a condo is that you are in a situation where you have a lot of people close by. That can be good for security.

Neighbors sharing walls can be problematic though. Depending on the age of the property, noise is only one of the potential problems. Smells can be another, such as cooking or incense can become overwhelming.

I'm not talking about a home in the country. A single family home in a nice neighborhood provides neighbors near enough for security and friendship as well as a quiet haven.

The OP has rented and is used to being around people, I imagine.

I didn't want a condo in a high rise, but I have one upstairs neighbor in my brownstone.

A lot of single people (especially women) don't want a single family home for security as well as upkeep reasons.

Something to consider - in NY, condo taxes are lower than single family home taxes. Patio homes (detached homes in communities) also pay lower taxes - sometimes 50% lower than a traditional single home.

So even when you add in HOA fees, condos or patio homes may cost less overall.

[------]

On 7/9/2014 terrier3 said:

On 7/9/2014 ------ said:

On 7/9/2014 Gooday said:

Oh, and the lawyer's fee was $400.00. Other than a few phone calls, it was easy. We lucked out not having to pay a real estate agent 5% which is the going rate these days. At least in our area it is.

Here in CA the escrow agent handles the closing. There's no need for an attorney unless the real property transaction is out of the ordinary (estate, short sale, commercial, overseas transaction, etc) or the buyer/seller feels s/he needs more guidance. In other states it's the closing attorney or Title Company (or "other") that handle the closing.

I negotiate the agent commission. I pay between 2-3%. Now there are real estate agencies that charge a flat 1.5%. I haven't used them but it sounds pretty intriguing.

I still think having an attorney is a good idea when buying a condo.

You have a whole other level of contracts to sign!

I definitely think the OP should have legal representation since shes expressed concern.

But if one is comfortable interpreting the documentation and is familiar with the process it isn't necessary.

[qualitygal]

Please for your own protection, get an attorney. At this age, I'm finding more and more I don't know about stuff that an attorney does. They watch out for your rights and guide. Check with friends or whomever you choose to get a good attorney. 68 and alone on a major purchase like this, you need a guide.

[jlkz]

When we bought our FL condo, we made certain to check not only the HOA documents but analyzed the association's financials: were they on solid ground / how much was held in escrow for emergencies / how old was the roof ( if yours needs a new one and they don't have funds set aside, you could be looking at a large one time assessment on top of the regular HOA). Your lawyer should be able to review for this.