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There are several things that a buyer should review when looking at Seattle condos for sale. These include the disclosure statement, laws and regulations, minutes of HOA meetings, contingency funds, parking and amenities. Potential buyers should also watch out for leaky condos, since it rains so much of the year in this part of the country. It may be helpful to have a real estate professional help decipher all the documents and inspect the condos before purchasing. Seattle new condos are different than pre-existing condos.

In either case, people who are purchasing Seattle condos should know exactly what they are buying, not merely what the developers are advertising. New condo developers are required by law to give buyers a copy of the disclosure statement, which is much more official than the brochures and other advertisements. Condominiums have rule and regulations for their residents, and they will very from one development to the next. Different Seattle condos will have different by-laws and regulations. Reading these will help buyers decide if particular Seattle condos for sale are right for them. Some Seattle condominiums, for example, may have limits on how the condo owners can rent out their units. While people own all the space inside individual Seattle condos, the common areas of the development will be owned by a home owners' association, or HOA.

By paying fees to the HOA, condo owners jointly own the common grounds. The HOA usually holds monthly meetings, and understanding these can help potential buyers better understand the community. Contacting the HOA to ask for a copy of the minutes of their meetings in the last two years is a good idea. These will give an inside look into how the condos are run, as well as any problems the HOA has had to deal with. There might be problems with car theft or vandalism, for example. The home owners' associations for Seattle condos are also required to keep a contingency fund for large expenditures like roof repairs. It is a good idea to ask how much the HOA has in its contingency fund before deciding to purchase a condo.

The amount in this fund should be reasonable; if not, condo owners might be hit by unexpected fees later on. Parking and amenities are two features that can make living in Seattle condos better than living in detached homes for some people. It is important to find out how the parking is allocated among the owners, and how residents are guaranteed the use of parking. Some Seattle condos have their own recreation center, pool, Jacuzzi, gym, Internet café and other types of amenities. Things like pools need to be kept up, which results in higher maintenance fees. Potential buyers should decide if these features are important enough to pay extra for the Seattle condos that have them. Leaky Seattle condos make for a very sad and wet investment. Issues of leaky and water damaged Seattle condos cause a lot of strife for buyers. This problem might be revealed in the minutes of the HOA meetings, or buyers can hire a professional inspector to check the condos out before buying them.