Why Can't You See The Condo Docs before You Submit an Offer? - Buying a condominium real estate tips

In this video, Arlington real estate agent and Realtor Matt Leighton talks about the process of submitting an offer on a condominium for sale and when you should expect to see the condo documents. Subscribe for more videos: ****** Find Matt here: ****** ****** ****** ****** ****** Condominiums and townhouses both have copious amounts of documents that detail a wide variety of items, bylaws, budgets, and current events that are going on in the community. Why can't you see these documents before you submit an offer on a condo or townhouse? The short answer is that it's expensive and the condo docs are not readily available. Condo docs can cost upwards of $300 and can sometimes take two weeks to receive. They can be expedited for a quicker time frame, but they are usually not ordered until there is a ratified contract in place. Reason being is that the seller does not want to come out-of-pocket for an expense if there is not some sort of written offer in place first. The fear is that the seller would order the condo docs, no offer would appear, and after 90 days (check with your local jurisdiction) those documents would expire. Then the seller would have to order an updated version and have to pay another amount (usually not the full price, but still an expense). In most cases, the listing agent is probably not hiding anything. If there's an intricate question, the listing agent may know the answer, the seller may know, or the listing agent can reach out to the condo management company to hunt down the answer. The listing agent's goal is to sell the condo and potentially do such a good job that you want that same agent to sell your condo once you're ready to sell. So there's not really a motivation to hide information. Potentially it could happen, however, the real reason is most likely for monetary purposes. Video location: Gateway Park - Rosslyn, Virginia ****** (map) All inquiries: ****** Matt Leighton - Arlington VA Real Estate Agent Matt [at] Orange Line Condo dot com Century 21 Redwood Realty 1934 Wilson Blvd Arlington, VA 22201 ******

How's it going everyone? Matt Leighton, welcome back to another video. In this video, we're going to talk about why you don't get to see the condo docs until you submit and go under contract on your offer. I'm here in Rosslyn, Virginia, I have the Rosslyn Holiday Market behind us. Live music. Hopefully, you can hear me alright. Open bar over there. Not open bar for payment, but there's literally an open bar. There's heat lamps, bonfire, marshmallows, beer, lots of cool stuff going on. So when you're purchasing a condo, why don't you get to see the condo docs before you submit and go under contract on your offer? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Is the listing agent trying to hide something? Well, think about it this way: Condo docs are expensive. They are anywhere from $200 - $300 and they expire after a certain number of days. So unless there's a contract in place, that's money out of the seller's pocket that they're not sure they're actually going to get back. So why would they spend that money if they don't know that a contract is coming? So that's kind of the mindset behind why condo docs aren't fully available until you go under contract. Now, can you still get information beforehand? Absolutely. A lot of times, listing agents will have inside information and if they don't know, they can ask the condo management company. And sometimes they will even go ahead and order those condo docs for you with the hopes that the condo goes under contract in the next 90 days. 90 days is usually the the time period - check with your local jurisdiction - 90 days is usually the time period of when those documents expire. Now, if I was a purchaser, I would want to see or at least have the option to see the condo docs beforehand because I am a little paranoid sometimes. For those of you that know me...And I would think that the listing agent is hiding something. But, honestly the listing agent is trying to sell that condo. And they know that if they were to hide something and the contingency would pass, you would just back out as a buyer under the home inspection or under other terms. It's not going to be a win-win in the end. And the agent is really shooting themselves in the foot. Hopefully they lose their license if they do something unethical. They're probably not hiding anything. They just don't want their seller to spend $300 without you going under contract first. When you submit the offer, that's when they're going to order the condo docs because condo docs can take up to two weeks to receive. This isn't something that someone is just holding on to. This is something that has to be collected first. Of course, if you do put a rush on the condo docs, they can get there within two, maybe three business days so they can be expedited. But there's a process. It costs a lot of money. And it takes a couple days and maybe even a couple weeks. So that's why they're not readily available for you to peruse at your leisure. Alright, that's all I got for you today. Hopefully, that cleared up the question on why I can't see the condo docs until I go under contract. Maybe it should be the other way around. A lot of times if you are nice to the listing agent, you might be able to get the documents beforehand. When I'm the listing agent and I know a contract is coming, I will order them. Sometimes, they're not going to be available for you. But as an agent, you know I'm not special, a lot of other agents will do everything they can do get your questions answered fully. Thanks for watching. Until next time, create a productive day. Take care.