Owning a condo can be great! But you need to study your paperwork before closing.  Questions that needs answers are:

1. How many units are in the development.  More units have more owners to share the fees of lawn care, maintenance, etc. 

How many of these owners are owner-occupants, and how many units are leased? Generally, the greater number of owner-occupants, the more owners take an interest in the property.  Also, a large number of renters, may mean less favorable financing possibilities.

2. How much money is in the reserve account and when was it last tapped for repairs?

3.  Is the board currently voting on any assessments (this is a one time emergency fee to pay for an unforeseen expense). 

Is the board voting on raising the monthly association fee?

4.  What do condo association fees cover? Water, lawn care, trash pickup, pool, tennis courts, club house, insurance on exterior, exterior maintenance?

5.  What the condo association insurance cover?  How much more insurance will you need for your contents in your unit?

6. Ask for a copy of the past 5 years of budgets.  Look for fee fluctuations and assessments.

7.  Try to get last year's association meeting minutes. They may indicate when repair issues were discussed.

8.  Get the name, phone number and contact of the property management company.  They can be a source of information. 

Also, get the name of the association president and their phone number for information.