Buying a Condo? Set Realistic Expectations

By Julie Adamen

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(Note: I was asked to write an article addressing these issues for New England Condominium magazine. Managers may find it helpful in understanding certain homeowner misunderstandings, or may find it a useful addition to the Welcome Packets or newsletters of their communities – Julie)

According to a recent poll, conducted jointly by Gallup and Community Associations Institute, 75 percent of homeowners in condominium or homeowners associations are “very” or “extremely” satisfied with their community. If the poll numbers are correct, then American condominiums are chock-full of happy homeowners. Frankly, I do not doubt those numbers. From my many years in the community association industry, most homeowners with whom I have contact are happy, and they are happy because their community association has combined three elements that are important to today’s busy people:

Simplicity of Ownership: For the individual owner, this translates to “less to take care of.” People are over-burdened, and many have opted for condos and HOAs because they don’t want, or don’t have time, to mow the lawn, paint the house, worry about roof repairs, or what have you.

Special Amenities: In a single-family home setting, many people could not afford the amenities—including pools, gyms, golf courses, or clubhouse—offered by a condominium or would not have the ability to maintain them.

Investment Value: Owners want their property to not only retain value, but also to increase in value, and in a condominium they look to their community association to achieve this goal on their behalf.

The bad news in the poll numbers cited above is that 25% of people who reside in a community association are not happy or have become disillusioned and/or disappointed. The cause for the downturn in their outlook? Their expectations of community association living did not match the reality of the experience. Regardless of whether those expectations are based in reality or not, unmet expectations can lead to much unhappiness. It is my opinion that this is where the trouble starts for dissatisfied owners.

So what are the trouble spots of community living, which may—or may not—live up to an owner’s expectations? And are there ways to mitigate those unmet expectations and the unhappiness that often follows?

A Litany of Expectations, Misunderstandings, and Complaints

All Communities Are the Same

The truth is that each and every community has its own personality. Some associations are like a Golden Retriever: Easygoing, occasionally excitable, and prone to curling up on a comfy sofa. Other communities are more like our collective image of a pit bull: Abnormally aggressive with a tendency to bite anyone or anything that comes too close. If you are more of the Golden Retriever type, finding yourself in a pit bull community can be unnerving and annoying. If you are more the pit bull type, the lack of action and raw emotion in a Retriever community will frustrate you.

Tip: Research the community before you decide to buy. If there is a club on site, have lunch or dinner at the clubhouse, play golf on the course, and by all means talk to existing owners (hopefully they won’t be that dissatisfied 25 percent!). A wealth of information is available to you, and you’ll be a much happier homeowner if you are surrounded by people who are like-minded.

Neighbors Are Better at Governance than Politicians

If you buy a condominium, it’s best to go in with the clear understanding that neighbors are volunteering to administer the community as a part-time job, and they may or may not have had prior experience in either business or politics. A board member or new owner who lacks experience can lead to some rather serious misunderstandings. To the homeowner who elects to take an informal approach to problem-solving, this fact may come as a surprise. What could be better, in this homeowner’s worldview, than being able to knock on the door of a (board member) neighbor to discuss golf scores and, in the course of the conversation, bring up a complaint about the way the landscapers mow the lawn? Since that board member—your neighbor—has a vested interest, the informal owner is certain, he or she will surely welcome your comments and take the steps to make sure the lawn is mowed correctly and to your satisfaction. For the board member, a homeowner making a direct appeal is a relatively common scenario. But this dynamic can lead to serious dissatisfaction because the board member neighbor may not agree with the homeowner’s views, may not appreciate being disturbed at home about a normal complaint, and in fact may think the lawn looks just fine and the homeowner is a crank.

Tip: A board or committee member neighbor may want to be friends and to socialize, but knocking on his or her door to complain will likely limit positive social interaction. Likewise, discussing a board member’s performance with another gossipy neighbor is likely to undercut social interactions. Keep politics and complaints to proper channels, respect volunteer time, and let neighbors be neighbors.

Your Neighbors Will Think Just Like You

The fact is that the same neighbor who got your lawn mowed may also be charged with legislating good taste in your community. Those neighbors—board or committee members—will be informing you through notices from management or other avenues that you absolutely cannot install pink flamingoes on your front lawn. Why not, you ask? They are unobtrusive, can be seen only by one neighbor who doesn’t care, and were a gift from your Aunt Byrd! The answer is that if the board or architectural committee allows you to have pink flamingoes, what’s to keep the next folks from wanting plastic gorillas? The bottom line is that these types of issues must be handled with the big picture in mind. They cannot be managed effectively on a case-by-case basis over a long period of time because taking that approach means not only bad precedents get set, but they get set in cement. Boards and committees must legislate from the macro-, not micro-, perspective.

Tip: BEFORE you buy in to a community, evaluate if the association will allow you to do or have the things that are important to you, including washing your car in the driveway, parking your RV nearby, or displaying your favorite pink flamingoes. It is vital to understand the restrictions before you purchase, because the restrictions can be stringent, and changing them can be incredibly difficult and very time-consuming. To head off problems at the outset, association administration (board and management) should make certain that all new owners receive a welcome packet that outlines not only community amenities but also community restrictions.

The Association Is a Small Democracy

Associations are republics, not democracies. The people who volunteer to serve as board members work for the good of the association as a whole and base their efforts on solid input and reasoned judgment under reasonable time constraints. This means that boards must make some decisions that will be unpopular with some segment of the community. If you expect a representative government (i.e., one that puts everything up to a vote), then you find community living seriously frustrating.

Tip: If you are in a community association and are frustrated with the republic, I urge you to volunteer for the next board position that becomes available. Serving in this capacity will help you understand the issues attached to the macro-administration of the community. Because board membership usually makes a republic-believer out of non-believers, boards and managers are best served by encouraging participation.

Community Associations Are Small, So They Can Quickly Integrate New Ideas and Methods of Governance

As a rule, it’s wise to understand that community members like what they have and want to maintain the look and feel of their community. Making changes to what is perceived as valued comes very, very slowly. The slow, careful approach to change reflects the fact that boards and committees continually balance the appropriate, reasoned management of their community with the inherent politics of the community. For example, the board and many owners may understand that a community’s paint scheme is terribly dated and tired. They may have been informed by several real estate agents who live in the community that home sales would be more brisk if the community received a new, updated paint scheme. But while the task of painting is simple, the politics of changing the paint scheme is not. To make a change, in all likelihood the board will be faced with sending out a survey, forming an ad hoc advisory committee, holding a town meeting(s), and sending out mailers in abundance on this subject. What in the business world would take a month can take several months—or even years—in a homeowners or condominium association.

As is true in any other organization that is nonprofit, administered by volunteers, and chock-full of politics, decisions in a condominium association can take a long time. And community associations cannot be judged on their “productivity” as if they were a for-profit business.

Tip: There is value in the slow rate of change in the community association environment. It allows some owners time to adjust, and it can stop a misguided idea from being implemented. Owners should take a breath and be ready for incremental change over time.

Community Associations and Their Operational Costs Are Static

Associations are dynamic, and their policies change, sometimes for the better and occasionally for the worse, in the opinion of some owners. The paint color you loved so much when you bought your condominium will change over time to reflect new standards and tastes. And those hideous bushes around the parking area ultimately will be replaced by newer, more attractive ones. But just as these things are not static, neither will your condo fee remain fixed.

No matter what anyone, including the developer, tells you, your condo fees will increase over time to align with rising costs, and this is a good thing. Association dues are like death and taxes: they catch up eventually. Communities that maintain artificially low dues over long periods of time suffer not only in terms of quality-of-life issues for their owners, but also in terms of declining property values as the under-funded community falls into disrepair.

Tip: Life in a community is enhanced if it is understood that the environment will change and dues will go up, albeit slowly. These facts should be viewed as benefits because they indicate that the board is fulfilling its fiduciary duty to the community to preserve, protect, maintain, and enhance the value of that community.

Board Members, Association Volunteers, and Staff Are Incompetent

This expectation is the exception rather than the rule. Homeowners should, in fact, expect competence and dedication from the people who manage their community.

Over the years, it has been my experience that new owners in a community association often assume those “in charge”—the board, committee members, and management—have no clue about what they are doing. Those assumptions are often made on little information, but seldom do those new owners change their minds, even when they are presented with evidence to the contrary. In virtually every case, the valuable volunteers and paid staff who manage our communities are almost always serious, dedicated, and doing the best they can under the difficult circumstances of having politics mixed with friendships and neighbors.

Tip:  Expect the best will and intent from your community administration—-board and staff alike—and you will probably receive it. A good way to get the real bottom line on competence is to review the community’s maintenance and reserve status and the value of the homes or units. High marks in those areas often point to continual competence in administration.

There Will Be a “Rogue Board”

The “rogue board” is a myth. Everyone has heard a horror story about the “condo-zealot” aspect of community associations, and in my 20 years in the industry I have encountered what could be characterized as individual condo-zealots. On the occasion the zealot was a board member, and a politically powerful one, it led to some bad decisions being made by that board. But I have never personally witnessed boards running out of control and illegally forcing the feeble from their homes for $75 in unpaid dues. That type of occurrence, though great fodder for the evening news, is almost unheard of.

More common is the case that board members are characterized as zealots or incompetents by what I would term “rogue homeowners.” Typically, these homeowners have their own agenda and they will do, say, email or write anything to accomplish their goal. They act with vigor and impunity, leaving the board and management to ride out the storm. This scenario is, by far, the most destructive interaction in community associations, and the actions of the rogue homeowner(s) leave everyone with a bitter taste in their mouth. Even more destructive is that negative interactions typically lead to a lack of willing volunteers for the next time around. This situation occurs far more often than the infamous rogue board.

Tip:  Take what you hear about community associations on the evening news with a heavy dose of skepticism. Zealot homeowners often turn to the press for free publicity to create even more pressure for the passage of their agenda, and our sensationalistic, 24/7 news cycle is more than happy to oblige.

The Value of the Home I Purchased in a Community Association Is Guaranteed to Increase

As any property owner knows, property values can increase, decline, or stagnate. The change in a unit’s value is relative to the real estate market in general and not the unit’s location in a particular community. A well-run community association will meet market expectations in a good real estate market. On the flip side, a poorly run community association can have a negative effect on property values even in the best real estate market.

The well-run community association is a condominium owner’s greatest
and most realistic expectation. Judge a community not on whether the lawn was poorly mowed one week last July, but on the rising value of your real estate.

Tip:  Future community association owners must do their homework. For community living to be a successful experience, it’s important to be an informed buyer. Take the time to understand the unspoken contract between owners and board members, which can be summarized as:

I expect that the board in my community association is doing its best with limited time and resources to bring forth and maintain the type of community in which I purchased. I expect to be governed by neighbors in the community because they volunteered for their positions, as I will in the future. I expect those volunteers to govern the community as a whole and not on some micro-level to quiet a squeaky wheel, even if that means no yard art for my home. I expect the board to operate from the information they have at hand, and to obtain more information from qualified experts to make decisions on my behalf. And I expect my community to be dynamic: boards and staff change, and with them so do managerial methods.

With that understanding in place, the process usually works out.

Set High but Realistic Expectations

High expectations are a good thing in the community association environment. Despite what I have outlined above, some of which may be inaccurately viewed as negative, I have and always have had high—but realistic—expectations for community associations.

Do I think a solution exists that will fully satisfy the unsatisfied 25 percent? No. But I do believe that if industry leaders—including board members, managers, volunteers, and our professional organizations—banded together, we could bridge the gap between expectation and reality that troubles many owners. This is and will always need to be an ongoing outreach program that should be implemented and encouraged nationwide.

A successful condominium ownership experience starts with each and every owner. Make your community better by taking the time to better understand it. Make your community better by helping other owners understand your community. Being a better neighbor, after all, starts at home. This philosophy aligns with the basic tenet of community associations: simplicity of ownership, amenities or investment value is what attracts buyers to community associations in the first place.

This article was originally written by Julie Adamen for and published by New England Condominium magazine. 
Contact Julie Adamen at