1. Before you make your offer, ask the realtor you are working with, what they know about the association. (If you are representing yourself, this is the time to do some due diligence). If they don’t know anything and don’t offer to do any research, kick them to the curb. Top realtors will go or send representatives to the association meetings in their market area. You’d be surprised what you learn at an association meeting. It will help you understand how well-run the association is and the feeling in the community towards the board.

2. If you are going to read anything, be sure to read all the rules and regulations. With the onset of VRBO and AirBNB, most boards are at war with the concept and have instituted rental regulations or are in the process of changing by-laws to address this situation. A condo that I own, allows VRBO, but changed the by-laws to institute a fine system to penalize the owner if a renter breaks the rules. This particular development fines the owner $1000 for the first offense, $2000 for the second offense and $5000 for the third. This is something you are going to want to know if you are buying the property for a rental.

Secondly, you will want to know what terms are required for rentals. Do the rental terms require a thirty day minimum, six month minimum, etc. It would be disappointing to think you can rent it out by the week, but, find out it’s a minimum of thirty days. Find out the parking regulations. This is often overlooked, but, critical. You might have a three-bedroom condo that you expect to rent to three people with vehicles and only two parking spots except for temporary visitors. When one of their vehicles gets towed, you know who they will be calling.

This one might seem silly, but you want to find out what the flooring requirements are. Most associations that allow hard surface flooring on the upper levels, have a very expensive underlayment requirement to dampen the sound. If you have a lower level condo, you will want to know this so it doesn’t sound like the river dance troupe is performing above you. If you are buying an upper level unit, you will want to know what your flooring options are moving forward. Lastly, don’t be afraid to email the president or other board members to ask if there are any issues you should know about before buying.

3. When looking at the financials, see what the association fees cover and what is not covered. If they seem higher or lower than other area association, try to find out why. Some cover many more items and are building up a healthy reserve, so their fees may be higher. Where others that are lower might be constantly assessing homeowners and trying to keep their fees low for marketability. If you are buying a new property and the developer is running the association, make sure the fees are not artificially reduced and will cover the expenses when the homeowners take over.