November 3, 2026 · Kelsey Earl - Utah Realtor

Buying into an association has gotten so much safer this year.

It used to be that the second you went under contract, all the scrutiny pointed at you. Your income, your credit, your money. The association sent its financials over, you got a copy, and that was more or less where it ended. Now the association gets looked at too. As part of getting the loan approved, the project review wants the date of the last professional inspection and what that inspection actually found. Known deficiencies, and when they’re getting fixed. Whether the deferred maintenance has a funding plan and a schedule, not just good intentions. Special assessments, current and planned, with the amounts and the purpose. Whether there’s been a reserve study in the past 3 years and what is genuinely sitting in that account. Unresolved critical repairs, and the project doesn’t qualify. That’s the teeth in it. Is it a guarantee you’ll never see an assessment? No — nothing is. But somebody now has to open the books and write the answers down while you still have the option to walk away. That is a completely different thing from finding out in year 3. (Worth knowing: this is condo and co-op project review. A detached house in a regular HOA subdivision is a different process.) Have you bought into an association recently and gone through this? Tell me what they asked you for. I want to know how it’s actually going out there. Kelsey June Earl · Keller Williams South Valley🌟