HOA's in Sarasota (Fort Lauderdale, Naples, Osprey: short sale, condominium, how much)

[jamblu]

After getting out of a bad board and corrupt property managers in Fort Lauderdale, I'm thinking about purchasing a condo in Osprey. I'm very shy about trusting HOA's again. Are they policed better in Sarasota? Are people generally ethical and more honest? I don't know if my situation was the norm or just a bad fluke. I spoke to one person I saw at the building but unfortunately this was a sitting board member and told me the building is fine and healthy with reserves. Does anyone know of the Blackburn Harbor Condos or the Argus property management company?

[imagardener]

When we were house hunting (in Naples) we called property managers and asked questions. Amazingly they told us about lawsuits, upcoming maintenance scheduled (sometimes major $$ stuff) and other behind the scenes issues that realtors didn't know about and if they did wouldn't bring up. All 3 HOA's had big issues which is why we didn't end up buying in Naples.

Ask about pets (allowed/not allowed), check out sound proofing--very important when you have neighbors on 2 sides and one overhead in a condo (once we had an overhead neighbor with tile! and a dog, clickety-clack all day above). These are probably 2 of the biggest areas that will affect you but there are others such as parking (where do guests park when you have a dinner party). Barking dogs are the stuff of property managers nightmares, people who go to work never hear their dog barking during the day.

[Sunshine Rules]

While I cannot comment on the particulars of that condo association, I can give you info on Argus Management Co. Argus is one of the larger property management companies in our area and they handle a large number of both condo and HOA associations.

They have a website: www.argusmgmt.com , and if you look at the very top of the page you will see a tab for community documents. Click on that link and the next screen will ask you to select the condo or HOA association you want documents on. You'll usually find all of the main documents, such as bylaws, rules & regulations. Some boards allow the budget info to be posted, many do not. However, you can ask and receive the budgets, your agent should be able to procure them for you or you can contact Argus directly.

Regarding this condo association, available on line you will find:
Articles of Incorporation
Declaration of Condominium
Bylaws
Amendments
Sales Application form
Lease Application form


For buyers of condos, the budget information is very important. The budget shows you the financial health (or lack thereof) of the condo association, the reserves for future big ticket maintenance items (VERY important info for buyers) and it also shows you things such as how much is being spent on routine maintenance.

You should also ask for a copy of the Question & Answer Sheet, which is typically one page. The main question of importance there is whether the association has any on going or pending lawsuits involving more than $100k.

Per the FAR and FAR-BAR contracts that we Realtors normally use, the condo addendum to the contract does require the seller provide the buyer with the condo docs mentioned above within a specific time period, the buyer then has 3 days to review them and accept or reject & cancel the contract. However, it makes more sense to get and review those BEFORE you write an offer and get involved in contracts, make deposits, etc. If you are looking at a bank REO or a short sale, the buyer is usually responsible for obtaining the condo docs on their own time and expense (some associations require payment for the docs).


If you can obtain them, I would also ask for the last 3 to 6 months worth of minutes from the association board meetings. Those will give you a lot of insight into what issues the board is dealing with for that condo complex. Another source of information is to see if the association has a newsletter they put out for residents of the condo complex and, if they have one, get the current and recent back issues of it (some associations have them on line).

[jamblu]

Thank you for the great points and responses! I will do and check into these issues.