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Buying a condominium is like buying a single-family home, but there are some differences.
When you buy a condo, we'll want to review the governing documents for the
community, assess the sales history of the neighborhood, confirm the percentage
of occupied rental properties on site, and also look at the overall health of the
community. We know that sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo, but these factors are
important when buying condominiums because common area and homeowners groups impact
the value of your potential new home.
With single-family homes, it's sometimes a challenge to find a “comp,”
or a comparable home in the area for appraisal. The good news is that with condos,
there's often a whole lot of comps right outside the front door. In addition
to getting comps in your own community, we'll also look outside the community
to verify that the neighborhood's pricing and value are stable and comparable
with the broader area.
We'll also verify whether the condominium construction is complete. It's when
the project is finished that we can best assess the ultimate value of the property.
Some lending programs are not available for condominiums, and some allowable loan-to-value
ratios could be different in a loan for a condo. Because of this, there might be
additional forms or information we need from you before we provide the loan.