Over the years, I have represented many people who have purchased Condominiums. I have become familiar with many “due diligence” procedures, including examining the Master Deed. By-Laws and even Minutes of Trustees in those rare instances where the Condominium operates within preferred standards of governance. For your information, I intend to direct the identification of, and solutions for, many current abuses and shortcomings of Condominium governance in future posts.

Having described above some ways for an attorney to help a putative Condominium purchaser, I must fall back on the most successful measure I have seen to make the Condominium purchaser understand what he or she is buying, the good old-fashioned “knock on the door”.

Anyone who purchases an existing Condominium without one (or more) “door knocks” is walking into an uncharted situation which can often lead to financial loss and emotional misery. What do I mean by the “door knock” you ask.

The door knock is that step the Buyer takes to find out what it is really like to live at Dreamhoue Condominium. You knock on the door of a neighbor in the building, introduce yourself as a potential Buyer, and then you rattle off these questions (there are probably manyI have missed, and maybe my readers will fill these in for me in comments): 

            1. What is it like to live here? Do my neighbors respect my rights?

            2. Are the neighbors friendly? Do you know them? Could you trust them with your child, your dog, your goldfish?

            3. What do you do when there is a power outage? A noisy sterro? A howling dog?

            4. Are you being kept informed by the Trustees of impending assessments, or plans for improvements? Are there reserves set aside for future contingencies?

            5. Do you feel that Condominium changing in any way in terms of mix of owners, or renters?

            6. Have you ever been a Trustee? Do you know if the same old group continues to manage things, year after year?

            7. When was the last time there was a common area fee increase?

            8. Do you attend Trustee’s meetings? If not, why not?

            9. Do you attend the annual meeting of Unit Owners? Is it well publicized and are you encouraged to attend?

As I indicated above, there are many more questions you, as Buyer, or even Buyer’s agent, can ask. You may say “why would these people speak with me”  You may wonder “why would these people give me accurate answers”. The plain truth is that they may be speaking with their future neighbors. If they lie, or embellsih, and they need to make eye contact with you in the hall or on the elevator, it is going to be very uncomfortable for them. My experience is that most people do tell the truth, even though it may hurt them financially. In any event, these people behind closed doors hold the key to what really happens at Dreamhouse Condominium, and they should be spoken to, and listened to,  as soon as practicable, and in any event, before you plunk down that Deposit and move forward with your purchase. If you  get answers you can live with, you almost certainly will find Condominium  ownership in that location ,or building ,pleasurable. if you do not get the answers you are seeking, move on until you find a situation where the answers meet your standards. Only then will DreamHouse Condominium provide the road to a dream and not a nightmare.