This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Purchasing A Condo In Westchester County NY

Purchasing a Condo in Westchester County NY is much different from purchasing a Coop yet alot of people tend to get them confused. I explained in detail, in a previous post what a Coop is and discussed the purchasing process. A Condo is a single real property parcel with all of the unit owners having a right to common use and common elements with separate ownership confined to the individual units which are serially designated. There are a few different styles of Condos; Garden (usually a small building consisting of no more then three levels), Townhouse style, Midrise and Highrise buildings. Unlike a Coop You own the Unit and receive a Deed along with a Title. You will pay Property Taxes as well as monthly Common Charges which usually cover the expense of maintaining the Common areas. 

The Condiminium is goverened by a Board Of Managers that makes financial decisions as to the Common Charges, but not for the costs of individual units. The Condominium Board Of Managers usually do not have decision making powers as to the sale or sublet of the unit to whom it may be sold or as to repairs and alterations within the particular unit. In some cases You may find that when situated in a building with other units any electrical or structural changes to be made may have to be brought to the attention of the board. This is to make sure that the structural integrity of the building isn't compromised and the other owners aren't going to be affected. You may also be required to have work done during certain hours during the week and have only licensed and insured workers perform.

The Buyer of a Condo will get to review a copy of the of the Condominiums Offering Plan which will include the sale price of the building and each apt or home, history of the building, budget, financial statements, right of existing owners, existing contracts or agreements (capital imporvements, ongoing construction, etc), and engineering reports. You will get to look this over with your Attorney before signing contracts. Some lenders will want to make sure that there aren't an outstanding number of owners that are late or in default with their Common Charges. This is a major red flag and could affect your chance of getting a loan for that specific complex. You will also get a copy of the Condominiums by-laws to review, which ar basically the laws that govern.

When selling a Condominium some Boards have a "Right of First Refusal". This is a provision that states the Condominium has the first right to purchase if a member wishes to sell their unit. From my experience, and my experience only, it is not common that the Condominium will buy the unit so a waiver of Right To First Refusal is usually signed. 

There are many benefits to owning a Condominium, absolute ownership being the most important along with more freedom and tax incentives.  There are also different types of financing available for purchasing a condo.  The FHA is very particular about which condo complexes they back loans for.  You can visit the Hud.gov website and use their condo look-ip tool to see which condos are on the FHA approved list.  SONYMA is a loan for first time home buyers and have very similar guidelines as the FHA but can be used for all condos.  Please speak to your loan officer to find out what you will qualify for and more clarification on these and any other loan products.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?