An independent pre-purchase review that reveals a condo building’s likely fee and special-assessment risks before the buyer commits.
Added Aug 25, 2026
Medium opportunity (58%)
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Condo buyers can see the current maintenance fee but often cannot determine whether it reflects sound building management or years of underfunding. Reserve shortfalls, aging infrastructure, expensive amenities, and deferred repairs can produce major fee increases or special assessments after purchase. A conventional home inspection does not fully evaluate these building-wide financial risks.
Provide a fixed-price diligence service that reviews the reserve fund study, financial statements, budgets, meeting minutes, insurance information, maintenance history, and planned capital projects. Deliver a plain-language risk report with projected fee pressure, warning signs, missing records, and questions for the buyer’s lawyer or property manager. Begin as an expert-led service and gradually productize document extraction, benchmarking, and report preparation.
Aging condo stock and rising repair, insurance, labor, and amenity costs make historical fees a poor guide to future ownership costs. Buyers need building-level financial diligence before waiving conditions or finalizing a purchase.
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Absolutely. Matt, they did a study conducted over the last 36 months to see if the HOA has enough cash for major replacements that are planned, like roofs and whatnot. And 70-plus percent of the HOAs were strongly funded. They had strong financial health. And that's good. That's a good number. But if you're one of the 30% that are underfunded, that becomes a high risk for expensive special assessments. So check for shortfalls. And then lender alerts. Stricter Fannie and Freddie guidelines mean underfunded reserves can actually derail your financing. So work with a good lender as well.
Yeah, and so always know what you're getting into when you are buying into any HOA, whether that be a townhome, a home, condominium, et cetera. And I know you're going to say, and I'm going to jump the gun here, work with a real estate attorney who could help you navigate the intricacies of homeowners' associations. Because each one is different. Each one is chartered independently with different rules and regulations for your association. And work with a great agent, too, Matt, that understands the community. So anyway, look into planned and past improvement projects. When you're looking at these communities, they have to provide you with past information and future information.
What's in the books? What's in reserves? So boards generally maintain a three- to five-year improvement plan. Ask your HOA when you're prospectively buying in there, what's on the horizon? Are there any major improvements that are going to hit my pocketbook with a special assessment? Are the elevators working? In the next five years, are you going to replace this? The parking deck, the roof, the siding, do you need tuck pointing on the 50-floor building? So all those things. Pay attention to how they are funding things. Is there a special assessment? Is there a regular assessment? Are they planning accordingly? What are the reserves? And buyers don't necessarily have automatic access to HOA records.
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