From condo renter to condo owner: Is this in the rental agreement?
For prospective tenants who want to be owners, know your options
I had no immediate desire to leave the apartment rental I’d been living in for eight years. But after a huge blowout with new tenants, I knew it was time for me to leave. I was tired of the property manager, and she was tired of me. I scrambled around for 30 days trying to find some place close to my old apartment for around the same rental rate. I was delighted to find a condo rental within walking distance. The same Realtor who found my apartment was able to help me find this place, and I knew he wouldn’t steer me wrong.
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I was in such a hurry to leave that I breezed through the lease, saw it looked OK and immediately signed. I packed my boxes and beelined for the doorway. Shortly after I moved in, there were a couple of things that needed to be fixed. I called the landlord like I always do, requesting maintenance and repairs.
“We’ve got to get you more handy so you can buy the unit!” my landlord said.
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I smiled. She seemed delightful. Although I had no interest in owning property, I liked the idea of her wanting me to stick around. I didn’t know what a condo board was, how a condo association operated or much else to do with homeownership. She seemed like she could help ease me from renter to owner—until she didn’t. And nothing in my lease required her to do so either.
Recommended Read: “Investment condo or real-life ‘Money Pit’: Why real estate investors should beware of condo restrictions”
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Without condo bylaws, renters don’t know what they’re getting into. While condo association members, including my landlord, know exactly who are owners and who aren’t, along with bylaw language and Rules and Regulations, a tenant can only work from whatever is in the lease. And because the landlord can have their own set of rules regardless of what the association does, this can be rather complicated.