Question About Condo Ownership Expenses

[Global Friend]

The contract should be explained to them in detail by their Realtor until they understand it. They should not sign anything until they 100% understand what they are signing, that's the first thing. They can also have an attorney look it over if they don't feel comfortable or are second guessing anything.

The taxes, POA fees etc...are sometimes paid in advance and are kept in escrow, this would be explained on the contract.

On the contract there should be a section that explains about the condo (POA) assessments and if anything shows up that was not paid or owed that the seller is responsible. The Realtor can actually look up if the taxes are all paid in full.

So to answer your question...it's the Realtors job to answer these questions and if they don't know the answer they should be directing your parents to who will answer them. Everything is on the contract.

[neecewh]

Thank you for the reply Rapture. They did receive the contract for placing their bid after I posted this on CD and, just as you said, there was a section that did state that they would not be responsible for anything (POAs, insurance monies etc.) that were incurred prior to their settlement.

As for the Realtor, I don't want to give the impression she is not doing her best to communicate clearly everything that is involved to my parents. Up until they decided to place a bid, I was the one speaking with her and asking her the question (my parents are in their 70's and living 500 miles away). Now that they have moved along in the process I can no longer do that, which quite frankly is a little nerve racking for me and my brother because we don't want them to miss something, or misunderstand something, that will be a costly error. I know foreclosures can get tricky sometimes.

It turns out that they may just throw in the towel if their original offer is not excepted. Like I said they are in their 70's and the frustration factor may end up being more than they are willing to go through. Today they found out Bank of America owns the property. They (BOA) said the pre-approval they submitted would not be sufficient and they would need to get pre-approval from Bank of America. They called up a local loan officer with BOA who told them that Bank of America does not finance condotels so he could not give them pre-approval. So unless Bank of America figures out that 1 + 1 = 2 they won't be selling their property unless they find a cash buyer.

As always, thank you for your help Rapture! Unfortunately, CD won't let me Rep you.

[Global Friend]

What a pain. Those foreclosures can be a nightmare but they have been getting better. Short sales are the worse and I always try to explain to clients they will need a lot of patience if they want to try and buy one. You're right the stress might not be worth it all. I never heard of a bank saying that they want the pre-approval to be through them but I also don't deal with a lot of foreclosures for the simple fact they are too stressful. I hope it all works out and your parents can move here w/o much stress.

[neecewh]

Thank you Rapture. They actually threw in the towel today. It turns out the bank they received pre-approval from will not finance Non-Warrantable Condos anyway. We found only 2 places that will. One was offering a 5% ARM (need I say more?). The other would do it for 5.5% fixed, which, even though it was higher than what they original expected to pay, they would have done it, but it was only a 15 yr mortgage and that put it out of their reach.

I can't believe anything oceanfront gets sold. From what I hear most buyers of these condos are only purchasing as an investment (please correct me if I am wrong) and do it by taking home equity loans on their existing property. This would not be the case for my parents. I can't believe that a couple who both have credit scores in the mid 800's and over 20% down can not get a mortgage. If anyone out there has any knowledge on how to reasonably finance a Non-Warrantable Condo please let me know.

[Global Friend]

Honestly, all of the oceanfront condos I've sold paid cash but you're right mostly everyone buys them as an investment. Sorry things didn't work out but give Jane Bunton at BB&T a call 903-8702 or try Ed Bocchino at REMN 839-3700. I don't know what they can do but they are very helpful.

[neecewh]

Thanks again Rapture! We will give them a call!