All Forum Posts by: Dave M.

So I recently bought my first property, a 2/2 condo located on the 6th floor of a 6 floor building in Miami.

When I purchased the unit, there was extensive damage to the walls and floor directly below both bedroom windows and the balcony.  I figured it was water leaking through the window frames / balcony frame.  Someone who works for the building association told me they have seen the issue in other units as well but it is NOT the associations responsibility, and it's crucial to make sure I REALLY get it fixed before renovating / repairing otherwise the damage will occur again.

I am trying to get a window expert to come out and take a look and give me an estimate but every place I call says they only replace windows, they do not repair.  So my issue is where to go from here?  What type of expert can I call to come look at this?  Does anyone have any experience with this?

Ok, I think I understand.   It's confusing to me why someone would get foreclosed on by the COA, instead of their bank?  If someone was having money problems it doesn't make sense to me how they would pay their mortgage, but not the cheaper condo fees and lose their property over $300 a month?

I think that if I were able to work out the mortgage situation with the former owner / bank, I would be able to get the condo association to sell me the unit.  The reason for this is because the prop. mgr told me it would be nice to have more owners like me who want to renovate the unit and put some money into it.  I have also been living in the building as a renter for about 3 years now, so I may have some cache.

Hello,

I am looking to buy a condo in my building where I am currently renting.  It is a 2/2 with a great view, just completely gutted from the inside with no appliances or upgrades.  Perfect!  I figure I can fix it up and either sell it for way more than I bought it, or live in the remodeled unit myself.

Here's the problem: 

The unit is owned by the condo association (I verfified this on the tax assessor's website).  At the same time, the condo association cannot sell it because there is an existing mortgage in place with a bank.  My guess as to what happened, piecing together the sparse info given to me by the building property manager, is that the condo got foreclosed on by the bank, the bank did not pay the monthly condo fees, and the association foreclosed on the unit.  The property manager told me the unit is not for sale, because if they were to sell it to me, it wouldn't be a "clean sale".  Meaning the bank would step in and re-possess the condo?  She was very short with me and said it was complicated and would take hours to explain.

This is a great unit though, that I might be able to buy for extremely cheap and end up with a great value on my hands.  I would like to do what I can to try and make a cash offer on it.  What can I do here? Am I stuck?  I looked on the tax assessor's folio page and beyond having trouble understanding it generally, I was unable to find any bank or mortgage info on the page.  Any help?