Investment Property Experts

Questions to Ask Before Buying a (investment residential properties) Duplex Condo

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By Roselind Hejl

 Condominium is a form of ownership of real estate. In this type of ownership the owner has individual title to the air space inside the unit, plus an undivided interest in the buildings and land.

Condominium ownership is guided by a set of declarations that are written at the time of creation of the development. This document outlines how the condo will be governed and maintained. The Texas Real Estate Commission contract allows the buyer to receive a copy of the condo documents, and have a certain period of time to review them. The buyer may decline the contract without penalty if he is not satisfied, after reading the documents.

If you are considering a duplex condo, here are seven questions to ask during your document review period:

1. Condominiums usually have an elected board of directors who take charge of scheduling maintenance, paying common bills, and handling any disputes that arise. Of course, in a duplex condo there are only two owners. This creates some special questions on how the governing board will be structured. Will there be a representative from each unit on the board? Check to be sure this is written in the condo documents.

2. Usually, duplex condo owners do not want to incur the expense of a management company. They often handle any common area repairs, insurance and landscaping between themselves. It is important to check whether the declaration requires a third party manager, or allows management be handled by the two owners.

3. How will the two parties resolve a disagreement? In a large condo project, the board may be able to look at how a particular issue has been handled in the past. Or, it may take a vote on a rule interpretation. However, in a two party association, previous decisions may have been made according to the preferences of the two owners. This may not give you as much guidance as you need to handle a difficult issue. Do the condo declarations say how a voting deadlock will be handled?

4. Will there be dues collected for a common budget? In small, two-unit condos, it is possible that there will not be a common budget for the project. Each owner may be required to handle all maintenance of the portion of the building and land that he occupies or uses. If this is the case, how will major structural repairs be handled, should they arise?

5. If dues are collected for a common budget, are you clear on how repairs and maintenance will be divided between the individual owners and the common budget? It may be that the common budget covers all exterior parts of the building, decks, pools, sidewalks, and driveways of both units. Or, the individual owners may be responsible for certain kinds of exterior maintenance of their units. Find out how these responsibilities are divided!

6. Have you considered the possibility that you and the other owner may have very different views on maintenance of the building and grounds? What about differences in temperament and lifestyle? One may be fastidious about painting and upkeep, and the other may let his unit get into bad shape.

7. Does the condo declaration provide for a way, such as mediation or arbitration, to resolve difficult issues that cannot be settled between the two owners?

If you do not feel comfortable analyzing the condo documents yourself, hire a real estate attorney to review them with you before proceeding with your purchase. Do not look to the seller, Realtors, home inspector, lender, or well meaning friends to interpret condo documents. This is not their field of expertise! Ask a lot of questions before proceeding with your purchase. A clear understanding of your obligations and potential problems in the ownership of a two-unit condo will lead to a more satisfying purchase.

Roselind Hejl is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker United in Austin, Texas. Her website - http://www.weloveaustin.com - offers homes for sale, market trends, buyer and seller guides. Austin Texas Real Estate Guide

Top Ten Ways to Write an Effective Real Estate Letter
By Lanard Perry

 Here’s a tongue in cheek take on writing an effective real estate letter. Actually, it’s truer for me than I care to admit. If followed to a tee you’ll become as good at writing letters as the that guy willing to sell you a bundle of prewritten letters with promises that they’ll save you time.

Imagine that prewritten letters saving you time. The next thing you’ll hear is that they can help you make money.

So, if you’re ready here we go.

1. Grab an aspirin and a glass of water. You’re going to need it. Blank screens cause “white blindness” and generate temple throbbing headaches - easily a two aspirin headache as far a headaches go.

2. Fix a sandwich while you’re in the kitchen getting a glass of water for the aspirin. You’re going to be parked at your computer writing a letter for a while. Chances are you’re going to get a little lunchy, so you might as well fix a snack before you get started.

3. Don’t forget to turn on the tv before you settle in at your desk. That way you can avoid the distraction of having to get up later to turn it on. Plus, you’re going to want…make that need… a small break after about an hour or so of writing, so you might as well set things up before you now.

4. Next, make sure that you have the tv remote near hand. Your favorite tv show will come on while you’re writing that filler pogram, and you know you’re not going to want get up and walk the six feet to the tv set to change the channel when it comes on.

5. Spend a few minutes getting your desk organized. Even though you’re writing the letter on your computer the best way to start anything is with an organized work space. So, go ahead and organize your work area before you get started.

6. Actually, you’re a little hungry now. So, you might as well eat that sandwich you fixed now so that you don’t have to worry about accidently putting your elbow in it. Wash it down with the glass of water that you got to take the aspirin with and take the dishes to the kitchen. Again, you want to make sure that your work space is uncrowded with unnecessary things like dishes.

7. Oops, you forgot to call “John, Mary, Sue…whoever…somebody.” Whover it is you need to call them now. There’s nothing as effective as breaking a letter writing groov than a 5 minute call that turns into a half hour. Call now and you can avoid an interruption later.

8. Okay, now it’s time to get serious again. Go back to your computer and turn it. Open up a blank document next and you’re finally ready to actually start writing.

9. Next, decide on what it is you want to say. Think hard…think real hard. You’re a naturally guifted talker and can sell ice cream in a snowstorm, but can you write a good letter? Thoughts not flowing? Mybe you need another snack to get the creative juices flowing.

Ah what the heck. Letter writing isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be…it’s just as easy to go online and buy some prewritten real estate letters. Then, spend a few minutes personalizing them wiith your personal information; name, address, phone number and that sort of thing and print and mail them. And oh, by the way…this is the tenth and final way to write effective real estate letters.

Click Farming Expired Listings to learn how to average 1 or more listings a week and Real Estate Marketing Talk for more about prewritten real estate lead generating letters.

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Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm and is filed under realestate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.