Condo buildings framing the Seattle skyline.
When you buy a condo in Seattle or the Eastside, there are certain condo building features you should always look for in order to make sure you’re investing in a healthy complex and a home that you’ll enjoy living in.
Here are some of the most important things to look for when buying a Seattle area condo:
Seattle Condo Buying Checklist
- Owner occupancy rate of at least 70%, preferably over 80%. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have relaxed their guidelines on this recently, but I still think over 70% is a good baseline to aim for.
- Active homeowner association. Review minutes of recent homeowner association meetings.
- Good reserves. Your review of the resale certificate will tell you about the financial health of the complex.
- Reasonable homeowner dues. “Reasonable” depends on amenities, for example, elevators, exercise room, utilities included, etc. A very general guideline is that monthly homeowner dues should be somewhere around .001 multiplied by the price. For example, a non-short-sale unit selling for $360,000 should have dues somewhere around $360 per month. (This is a VERY general guideline, but gives you some idea.)
- No pending litigation issues, for example, regarding faulty building materials.
- FHA-approved complex. There are some good complexes that are not FHA-approved, so this should not necessarily be a deal-killer unless you are purchasing with FHA financing, but a complex that’s approved gives you a bigger target market when you sell. FHA now sometimes does spot approvals for individual units within a complex, so check with a lender on this.
Washer and dryer in the unit, not in a shared laundry room. This is very important for the first-time condo-buyer market.- No upcoming special assessments that a buyer would have to pay. Frequently the seller pays off any special assessment at closing, but not always, and rarely during a short sale.
- Reasonable pet restrictions. Do they make sense, or do they limit too much of your potential target market? Tip: Many people have dogs. At the same time, you don’t want to buy into an “anything goes” complex.
Remember, with condos you also want to consider if the CCRs (Covenants, Codes and Restrictions) limit the number of units that can be rented out. Having a rental cap of, for example, 20 percent, can protect you from ending up with an owner occupancy rate that is too low for potential buyers to qualify for certain loans, so I personally feel it’s a good idea. On the other hand, you want to be aware that if you would like the option to rent out your condo in the future, a rental cap might prevent you from doing so.
Are you planning to buy or sell a home in Seattle or the Eastside? Call me at 206-335-3335 for a no-obligation consultation, or use the ‘Contact Me‘ form on this website to send me a message.
