Sellers and/or their agents are required to disclose what they know about the property under the laws of Washington State. Your real estate agent should be aware of disclosure laws but remember their underlying interest is to sell properties. I frequently see the seller’s realtors wait until the last minute to provide the disclosure information from the condo association. Is it intentional or was it that the association/ management taking their time to produce it?

Here are 5 questions a buyer should ask:

Will my home inspector check the structural and exterior areas? No – most condominium inspection only include the interior and deck areas. You can ask the inspector to give any opinion of the overall condition of the common areas but typically this visible areas and not the structural elements.
Is the condominium older than 10 years? Condos that are 10 years old or less typically have a builder warranty on the structure, the roof and exterior building materials.

 In Washington State older associations are not required to have a reserve study. Association built after 2018 with 11 or more units are required to a reserve study. Professionally managed condo associations will typically have a reserve study. I have heard sellers state that there is plenty of money in reserves but when we take a deeper look we find many areas of deferred maintenance such as roofs, decks and paint. These areas can quickly consume large amounts of money.

Are any special assessments planned? 20 Have there been any in the past?
A special assessment is a fee in addition to condo fees used to pay for a specific project(s). Condo owners must pay the special assessment if one is voted on by the condo board. I have seen association assess owners as much as $50,000. Most owners cannot afford to write a check for this much. Association then have to scramble to arrange for financing or arrange a payment plan.
Depending on how long the sellers have owned the unit, they should be able to tell you if there have been any special assessments in the previous few years, what they cost and what projects they paid for.

Sellers should be able to provide the resale  disclosure documents that Washington associations are required to send out.
Did the disclosure documents include the last 2 years of association meeting minutes? Meeting minutes serve as the official record of an association and can reveal topics that the board discusses. Beware if there are no meeting minutes or if the board doesn’t address issues that could be problems going forward. It only takes 1 or 2 owners to cause major headaches for the overall association. I have seen entire boards quit because of 1 or 2 argumentative owners. If you see this in the meeting minutes then I highly recommend investigating it further.

What is the best source of information for the condominium I want to purchase? I recommend talking to the board members and the neighbors adjacent to the unit your buying. Your perspective neighbors have nothing to lose and will usually tell you everything that is going on while board member maybe more reserved.