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We are in the market for a newer (built last 10 yrs) town home around Carolina/Kure beach area.
How does the HOA typically work with these town homes, e.g. a 3 story town home with side by side units.
Who manages the HOA, collects dues/pays for services? Is there a set of by-laws?
For insurance, is this a typical scenario?
1. blanket or master policy that covers the common grounds and exterior walls of the property - paid for by HOA.
2. Flood policy - paid for by HOA since covers both units in the town home
3. liability policy - separately paid by each owner
4. property insurance policy. protect you from fire, theft and other property risks. - separately paid by each owner
We are in the market for a newer (built last 10 yrs) town home around Carolina/Kure beach area.
How does the HOA typically work with these town homes, e.g. a 3 story town home with side by side units.
Who manages the HOA, collects dues/pays for services? Is there a set of by-laws?
Do you have a specific complex in mind? The questions you have asked sound like they would vary with the complex. Specifically, whether the complex was set up with fee-simple ownership or condominium ownership. With condo ownership the condominium owns the outside of the building. With fee-simple the individual owner owns each unit and pays for their own insurance. Townhouses and duplexes *can* be set up either way.
FWIW, out of 4 "townhouse" listings in Kure or Carolina, 2 sound like small condominiums, and the 2 other do not say. And to further confuse the issue, there is one listed at a very cheap price, but it is a 10-week fractional share. I suspect most are condos, however.
Many of the HOA's in this area are managed by a company like CAMS (Community Association....). They do the accounting for collecting the dues. But there is somebody in the HOA responsible for ordering repairs, etc.
All HOA's have to have a set of by-laws, which is a state law, as I understand. A realtor selling such a unit ought to be able to explain the specifics to you.
Last edited by goldenage1; 07-21-2012 at 01:56 PM..
thanks for the reply, so now that i'm looking through some properties, some are listed as 'town homes', some as 'condos' and others as 'single family' YET, all the properties appear to be the same. That is, a 2-3 story building with side by side units, for example 204 S Carolina Ave, Carolina Beach which is listed as a town home.
So since all these buildings appear the same, does the classification basically affect how the insurance works?
So since all these buildings appear the same, does the classification basically affect how the insurance works?
I think the classification in the ads is not reliable for what its legal category is, or the insurance set-up. Or, at least, I think most are condos, but I would not trust the ad's description. You probably have to contact the realtor, or find the deed in the county's GIS or property system.
I did locate one "condo/townhouse" in the New Hanover County records, as an example of how to find the ownership. You go into the GIS and search on address, leaving off the North or South designation. The one I found is 1208 N Fort Fisher Blvd, Kure Beach, and it is clearly a condominium from the property record: http://etax.nhcgov.com/Forms/Datalet...idx=1&sIndex=4 The main website is here: http://www.nhcgov.com/Pages/GIS.aspx
I couldn't find the 240 South Carolina Ave, but one may have to try variations of the address.
Last edited by goldenage1; 07-21-2012 at 11:55 PM..
Having just moved here from NY, where I lived in a "town home" - which was 3 floors, here in NC the term town home is used for most single level units I've been shown. Although I'm not looking in the same area as you (Leland mostly, for me) the words "town home" and "condo" seem to be used interchangeably.
GoldenAge hit it spot on when he/she said the classifications in the listings are unreliable and that each HOA will have a different set of by laws, which will dictate all of this stuff.
Unfortunately, Realtors don't always get accurate information about these details (and that's understandable, given the enormous number of variations between complexes). The only reliable information is available by reading the by laws and CC& R documents.
GoldenAge hit it spot on when he/she said the classifications in the listings are unreliable and that each HOA will have a different set of by laws, which will dictate all of this stuff.
Unfortunately, Realtors don't always get accurate information about these details (and that's understandable, given the enormous number of variations between complexes). The only reliable information is available by reading the by laws and CC& R documents.
Thanks for the compliment (and I am female).
Damron- I found another example where the unit appears to be a side-by-side duplex, (not apparently a condominium), and realtor's ad calls it a single family. The ad also says that the HOA fee includes the following: Club House, Common Area Maintenance, Community Pool, Flood Insurance, Management Fee, Master Insurance, Tax Comm Area, Termite Bond, Yard Maintenance. So this sounds like what the OP was expecting. This is 1530 Island Marina Drive in CB. The GIS mentions Harbour Point as the the development name. You might be able to find the HOA documents online or you might not.
Another SFH one in the ad is 204 South Carolina Ave #2, CB which is also a side-by-side. This one is owned by the developer and the ad says nothing about ownership, HOA or insurance. The GIS says nothing either, so you would have to contact the realtor to get the scoop.
Again, I am belaboring the point, but the house at 1718 Swordfish in Kure Beach has three property records in the GIS, one for the homeowners common area, and one for each of the owners of the units. The GIS legal description is single family attached condominium. The Realtor's ad lists it in the single family category, and says nothing about the ownership or insurance.
Probably these houses are listed in the SFH category rather than condo for greater visibility in the real estate search sites.
Last edited by goldenage1; 07-22-2012 at 09:29 AM..
GoldenAge1 hit the nail on the head. Like anywhere the protocols and "rules" for real estate are unique. What is called a townhouse in one area is a "rowhouse" in DC for example. Here is Wilmington condos, townhouses and even houses are used interchangeably which is frustrating I know. At some point you just focus on residential and don't focus on what type of residential--which seems lame to me especially for those new to the area.
The rules are there are no rules and each property will be case by case for you to research.
I believe the legal distinction is that with a townhouse you own the unit and the land under it, party walls and roof overhangs can get a little touchy, but basically you own an individual unit complete. The HOA owns any pools, recreation facilities and the exterior grounds outside the individual lots. With a condo the HOA owns and maintains the roofs, exterior walls and common areas, you're only responsible for the unit interiors. With a co-op you own 1/100 (or whatever) of the total property and the right to occupy a particular unit. In Maryland I owned a townhouse and paid my own insurances, utilities, all maintenance and repair for my unit, etc.and the HOA fee only covered maintenance of the common facilities (minimal). It seems to get very fuzzy around here, however. I own a townhouse and legally I own the unit and the lot, however, our HOA operates more like a condo; they do the exterior maintenance and carry the fire, flood & wind insurance (all paid throuh our HOA fees, of course) I just carry a condo insurance which covers my personal property and improvements and my liability. I think you will find every community is unique and you will have to review carefully when comparing one to another. I think a lot of the fuzziness is due to the beach environment. Insurances are very expensive and we can get better rates as a group, plus it ensures that everyone is covered in the event of a disaster. With townhouses you can be SOL if your neighbor let his insurance lapse. A lot of properties are second homes or rental properties, so having the HOA do maintenance is helpful.
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