Buying a risking condo

[liane30]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Lyly,Maryland

Hi,

I live in a condo and my landlord is selling it bc of the condo fees. This condo has a lot of foreclosures and the properties are going for almost nothing (40K), the condo is full of investor and that is one of the issue. my landlord bought it for 150k 4 years ago and the condo fee is 600$/month. when I add up everything together (mortgage, tax and condo fee) I will be end up paying the same price and renting. With all the places going into foreclosure here it is hard to get a buyer or loan etc, the place is not great but it is good for the price..so I am thinking about buying it. Here are my questions:

what can happen if the price keeps going down and people dont pay their condo fees? can the whole building foreclosure?

I have been living in the place for 4 years and for the price I cant find anything decent, so i thought i have nothing to loose since at the end of the month I pay the same fees than what I am renting...Do I really don't have anything to loose?

[alligatorob]

Originally Posted by liane30

...Do I really don't have anything to loose?

Only money.

I am not a lawyer, but I am a kind of bottom feeding investor and have been buying some foreclosure bargains lately. I suggest you get a good real estate lawyer to look into the specifics of your situation before you jump. This is a great time to get a great deal, but as always you got to know what you're getting into.

[jdm2008]

Originally Posted by liane30

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Lyly,Maryland

Hi,

I live in a condo and my landlord is selling it bc of the condo fees. This condo has a lot of foreclosures and the properties are going for almost nothing (40K), the condo is full of investor and that is one of the issue. my landlord bought it for 150k 4 years ago and the condo fee is 600$/month. when I add up everything together (mortgage, tax and condo fee) I will be end up paying the same price and renting. With all the places going into foreclosure here it is hard to get a buyer or loan etc, the place is not great but it is good for the price..so I am thinking about buying it. Here are my questions:

what can happen if the price keeps going down and people dont pay their condo fees? can the whole building foreclosure?

I have been living in the place for 4 years and for the price I cant find anything decent, so i thought i have nothing to loose since at the end of the month I pay the same fees than what I am renting...Do I really don't have anything to loose?

Hello,

You need to make sure the HOA is solvent. If it isn't(sounds like it isn't) that could mean large problems. If the HOA is running out of money they may not maintain the building property and you could get special assessments(for sometimes tens of thousands) for various repairs that result. Also the fees may be able to rise much more(it will say in the condo docs). You need to do alot of investigation, don't just buy it because its cheap, there's a reason the value has went down 70% in 4 years. You'll also have a hard time getting a bank to lend on a insolvent HOA as well.

Also if the hoa doesn't have enough insurance, and someone gets injured their, the liability could be on the shoulders of the homeowners.