Check out the financial information of the Association and find out exactly what your fees cover. If the fees cover building maintenance, for example, I would want to make sure they have enough in reserve (or a solid plan) for paying for high-cost things like a new roof or parking lot maintenance. I agree that it is not unusual to see an apathetic board (and an apathetic group of homeowners). Try to talk to some of the current residents also.... but be aware that you will get a wide range of opinions.

What a disservice of your realtor to make such a ridiculous statement. We have two homes in HOAs and we spoke to the president of the board prior to making an offer in either community. We also got a copy of the bylaws and financial reports for each and carefully reviewed before making an offer.

We have a board and a management company and I cannot imagine having an apathetic board that didn't look out for the best interests of the homeowners. One way to improve the board is to become a part of it which is usually pretty easy to do because very few people want the thankless job. One of the biggest problems is when everyone is apathetic and no one wants to pay the amount of dues necessary to adequately maintain the property.

The fact that the board doesn't seem to do much is not good, but is it a reason not to buy the condo? Is there some possible thing about the board or management company you can think of that would give me reason not to buy the place? Is there some important question I should ask? I'm not talking about the financial records of the condo or the rules. I will look at those.

I have spoken to a couple of owners there who say they are happy with the condo.

It's hard to say if it is good or

bad. It could be good in that the board isn't micromanaging everything, which some people prefer, and their focus only on big issues. But it could be bad if they are not enforcing the rules uniformly. However if the management company is good, they probably keep an eye out for rule violations.

I would find out how quickly they respond to issues that may come up ((maintenance, rule violations, community activities, etc). It is a good sign that the residents you have spoken to like the complex.

You might want to know if they allow rentals (either long-term or short-term) and what percentage of the units are rentals.

I would highly suggest you get a RE lawyer to look over the condo board docs and financial statements.

Since the board at this condo doesn’t seem to be doing much, I wonder what are roles of the home owner’s association board vs the management company? Does the board decide how much money to put in reserve for maintenance and repairs? Does the board decide whether or not maintenance will be done on certain parts of the building? Is getting repairs done in reasonable amount of time the management company’s responsibility? If the management company isn’t doing a good job repairing things, can the board somehow force them to do better?

This is practically the only condo that I can afford that is in a nice neighborhood in my city. I almost feel like I have no other choice if I want a condo.

I will be getting the bylaws and financial information. I will ask about meeting minutes.

I don't know to what extent you can hang around and take a closer look at this Condo and how well it's maintained and who comes and goes but that can also be useful. We recently had someone new buy in our neighborhood and he managed to hang around long enough to find some of us outside and asked a lot of questions about the neighborhood, HOA, etc. Might be a little more difficult to do that kind of thing in a condo building especially if it's a secure building. Ours is a freestanding town home so it's easy enough to just park on the street and see what goes on.

One thing about reserve funds and such. There seem to be different philosophies on this from what I've seen. You can pay higher dues and have a higher reserve fund that is well positioned to pay for everything that may come up. Or your dues may be lower and the reserves aren't enough to pay for everything and you are assessed for larger repairs in the future. Some people would rather invest their own money and pay if needed and if they die or sell first, the $ go with them or their heirs. Others would rather give their money to the HOA every month and have everything covered. And maybe others would rather not pay more or save their own money and just hope for the best.

I'm actually part of three HOAs. Two of the three are in the process of having a reserve study done. The other one's only responsibility is a private road and we all know we don't have enough money to replace the road some day and will have to pony up a substantial amount of $ if we are still around when that needs to be done.

I belong to 2 HOA's - one is extremely active the other sometimes has trouble getting a quorum. Yet both of these HOA's do a great job. So much depends on the make-up of the community.

Personally I would take another look at this condo association - I think the inactivity is a warning sign.

We just moved to an over 55 community and the HOA is very involved. The community is spotless, the homes well maintained, there is an ARC that checks any changes to the exterior to maintain a certain uniformity and the board inspects every yard and the exterior of the home twice a year. I was cited for having weeds before I even moved in. However they did add a note that the property was in transition and gave a 3 month extension. I think one of the reasons that this neighborhood is in high demand is because it is so well maintained. The Board meets twice a month and there are various sub-committees. The Board also hires the management company.

My vacation home is in the other HOA. This is a small community of 50 homes on multi-acre lots in the mountains. The HOA only has a few responsibilities - there isn't a clubhouse or pool, but the HOA maintains the roads, plows snow in the winter, keeps the mail center in good repair and hires contractors as needed to help with these duties. We have one annual meeting a year and the Board may met one or two other times is something arises that needs to be addressed.

My son is president of his HOA and in the last few years he has noticed that attendance has dropped at the meetings - and this condo association only consists of 24 units. But it's in a popular area of Philadelphia and many of the condo owners have moved out to larger places and are now renting. Renters can't vote so there's no reason for them to attend the meetings. My son has discovered that the increase in renters has also caused more problems for the association. Many of them are not as careful about the property as the homeowner would be and DS has had to fine the absentee owners when their renters fail to follow the rules of the condo.