Buying a Condo Rental - What to Look For

[Dan Mumm]

Hello, I was one the forums about 4-5 months ago and I found a very informative post. The author was trying to decide whether to pursue SFR or condos. There was someone who responded and explained what exactly to look for when buying condos which is different from buying SFR - there were several points about the HOA, it's budget, % of owner occupants, several other criteria like this. I looked but can't seem to find it. Does anyone know where this is or have a similar type of input on this? Going to be buying a condo soon and really want some guidance on what red flags to avoid which are different from SFR.

[Mindy Jensen]

@Dan Mumm , you want to review the HOA's financial status. What does their monthly expense look like compared to what they are bringing in? How much do they have in reserves, and when was the last time they did major work on the property?

Having a low reserve fund doesn't necessarily mean that's a bad thing. If they are on top of their game, maybe they just had a new roof, boiler, and parking lot put in, and the pool was done last year and everything is all awesome and amazing. That means there is very little chance of a big job coming up, and they are probably just working to re-fund the reserves.

If the whole place is a mess, and the reserve fund is low, that's a bad thing.

I lived in two condos in my life. Both of them had special assessments almost every single month I lived in them. Never again will I buy a condo, because I'm too much of a control freak, and I have no control over how the board spends the money, collects the money, etc.

Beware of low assessments.