First investment condo; HOA considering construction lawsuit

First investment condo; HOA considering construction lawsuit

Bellevue, WA · Member since 2022 · 3 posts · 4 votes

I finally made the decision on purchasing my first investment property for a mid term rental in Seattle near the top hospitals. It seemed to be exactly what I wanted, but after my offer was accepted and the person I hired for the resale certificate was reviewing HOA documents, we learned there were some construction defects detected in the early months, and the latest unit impacted just this past month. Primarily, the water barrier materials were not installed correctly in some areas (It's Seattle!!) and the pooling water was compromising windows, decks, draining, etc. There is a question at how widespread the problems MIGHT be and I'm trying to assess my risk in a potential assessment in the near future. The HOA claims all issues have been addressed and corrected; however, a claim (lawsuit?) was filed with King County Courts with a trial date for one year. Even though the HOA says things are ok now, and finally provided me with the Building Envelope Report, the lawyer seems to be painting a potentially bleak picture. Being my first time, I'm unsure how to sift through all of this information and make an informed decision. Obviously no one can really tell me if there will be any more problems, but we all know it's quite possible. Do I bail? Do I ask for a lower price to cover some potential expenses? Does this normally occur when buying a condo? Help!

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Realtor · Bellevue, WA · Member since 2019 · 882 posts · 1k+ votes
2y

@Kristine Thompson, if the association has healthy reserves, and proper insurance, and you have documentation in writing that HOA addressed the issue, you should be good.

If no propert documentaiton that issue is addressed, contact HOA in writing and ask them to provide more documents/photos that issue got fixed

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  • Investor · CO · Member since 2016 · 757 posts · 1k+ votes
    2y

    @Kristine Thompson

    Tough call. 

    How do the HOA's reserve look like? Can they absorb a litigation and another capital intensive project on top of scheduled R&M?

    Personally, I'm done with HOAs. They can be a great entry point into REI, but learned the hard way assessments are part of life and need to budgeted for in your estimates.

  • Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
    2y

    @Kristine Thompson

    I was on the developers end of a lawsuit like this and it dragged on for about five years. HOA spent tens of millions because their attorney and some residents had a vendetta against contractor and owner

    Without getting into details, I don’t think either party ended up winning. Both sides spent millions and I think only ones that won were the attorneys.

    7e investments53 Reviews
  • Real Estate Agent · WA · Member since 2021 · 254 posts · 173 votes
    2y

    First

    Fire your realtor. They should've known this before - they have access to HOA and resale certificates.

  • Realtor · Bellevue, WA · Member since 2019 · 882 posts · 1k+ votes
    2y

    @Kristine Thompson, if the association has healthy reserves, and proper insurance, and you have documentation in writing that HOA addressed the issue, you should be good.

    If no propert documentaiton that issue is addressed, contact HOA in writing and ask them to provide more documents/photos that issue got fixed

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