The answer is–maybe you did!

Many 55+ Active Adult communities in the state of Pennsylvania were/are developed as condominiums.  Even though you may be buying a single-family home that is detached and you have your own little yard and driveway, you may only own the inside walls of your home while you own an ‘interest’ in everything else as part of the condo regime.  In fact, your roof and exterior walls might be owned by the condo association and you are granted the ‘right’ to use your driveway, mulch bed, and rear deck as ‘limited common elements’.

Now why are these communities developed that way?  Turns out that in Pennsylvania, a developer can exclude his community from local subdivision and zoning ordinances by adopting a condo regime.  By doing that, the developer can, in effect, create his own zoning–one that allows for much smaller lots, more density, private streets, etc.

Now, why is any of this important to you as a buyer? We have found out that in ‘shopping’ these communities, the salespeople are pretty evasive about the issue and it made us start to wonder what was going on.  Here is one conversation:Question: ‘If I bought here, would I own my own unit?  Answer: ‘Yes, you own your own unit’, Q: ‘Ok, but would I own it as a condo or fee simple?’ (note: fee simple means you own the underlying ground); A: ‘Yes, you would have exclusive use of your home’.  You get the idea–our takeaway is that they are avoiding the issue–why?

If I was arguing against me now, I would say that its fully disclosed in the documents and a buyer would be able to read all those documents before buying.  That’s  true and I have read through reams of documents before writing this little blog.  I think those documents are very difficult to understand and may require the help of a lawyer to completely understand what you are signing up for in becoming a condominium owner.

OK, so get to the point!  I am not saying that there is anything wrong with owning a condo.  I am not saying that there is anything illegal about any of this.  I am saying Buyer Beware–many of these new communities are fresh and new and its easy to forget that when they get to be 10-15 years old, they are going to require a lot of reinvestment to replace roofs, repair roads, etc.  That is part of why getting an appraisal on your condominium home is more difficult than a fee-simple home.  the appraiser has to not only look at your four walls and grounds versus other comparables, but he also has to look at the financial viability of the condo association and its reserves to meet its future needs and that could negatively impact the value of your condominium home at a time when you need to sell and developer of that once-new community is long gone.

Note: Penn National has been developed according to the subdivision and zoning standards developed by Guilford Township.  All homesites are developed for fee-simple ownership.  The current minimum lot frontage is 80 feet wide.