Free Condo
Yesterday I performed an inspection on a condominium in Rogers Park that was being offered to my client for FREE. I immediately thought the offer was too good to be true. Low and behold, I was absolutely right.
The seller owned one of the three condominiums in the building. The person who owned the other two had never attended a board meeting, met an assessment, or paid for repairs. Every time a common area repair came up, the seller of the condominium had to fund it himself.
Although the seller had paid off his mortgage, he was willing to give the condominium away for free. “Frankly, I’ve had enough”, he admitted to me, and after my inspection, it was crystal clear as to why he was fed up. The common areas were completely shot. Both the garage and the building’s roofs were holed and leaking, the back porch was falling down, literally, and the plumbing system was spewing sewage at each floor.
The idea of taking ownership of this condominium became less and less appealing as the inspection ensued. I discovered more than $200,000.00 in repairs in the common areas and the buyer realized that with only a third ownership, he could not force the owner of the other two units to make repairs. The buyer will turn down the offer.
For anybody who doesn’t get the common areas inspected, this story should be a lesson. The common areas almost always are the lynch pin of the deal and common area damage can definitely deflate your pockets. When purchasing condominiums be sure to hire a home inspector that evaluates all common areas and gives budget figures for repairs.