Buying a condo with no condo association

[Ryan Kurth]

Hi there,

I am not entirely new to BP, but not sure I've really posted anything before... So, here's a try.

Quick background-

I've finally got my financial life/ball rolling (i.e. out of school and a career started) and am looking towards the future now.

I am currently living with 2 other roommates, but we will be moving out of our house come the end of August this year. I live in DC, so renting in the area is not entirely affordable, which is especially true the smaller your dwelling gets.

There are, however, what look like some decent deals on the market for sale where I would at the very least be putting my monthly housing expense into building equity into a market that looks to at the very least be relatively stable over the mid-term.

A few of the deals I have been noticing involve REOs where there is a condo for sale in a small condo bulding (say 6 units total) but no HOA yet. The general stipulation given by the listing agents I have talked to is that since there is no HOA there will be no conventional financing and the buyer would have to come with some other verified source of funds.

One of the deals I have in mind is on the market for about $225/SF where in the neighborhood a turn-key townhome may go for $400-$450/SF a condo maybe a little less maybe not.

Another deal has 2 units for sale out of 6, with the bottom unit completely water damaged listed at $150/SF and the unit above it with relatively decent damamge (but no total gutting needed) for about $260/SF.... sorry, tangents

I guess the whole buying a condo w/no HOA is sort of an open ended question to the knowledge base here, and if you all could give any war stories, ideas or advice (especially for a young gun without 200K+ in cash to throw around) or if anyone would like to lend me $300k that would be great too (had to ask! ) :wink:

I'd like to leave it open for everyone to address the specific topic, or any advice they'd feel like spewing out to a guy like me in my situation for free.

Thanks in advance for any replies that come from this!!