We review association documents and resale certificates for clients on a regular basis. Every week we post stats and something fun or interesting.

This week it is Hillside House with 13 residential units in the Queen Anne part of Seattle.

• • Average Sale Price – ~$613 per sq.ft. (based on two sales over the last year)
  • Currently For Sale:
    • Unit 502 (listed at $783,200 or ~$614 / sq.ft.)
    • View All Units Available at Hillside House On Our Site
  • Average Monthly Assessment – $0.34 per sq.ft. (so if your condo is 1,000 sq.ft you’d be paying ~$340/month).
  • Move-in Fee – yes, $200
  • Pets – yes (subject to “typical” guidelines and restrictions)
  • Rental cap – no
  • EQ insurance – no
  • Reserve funding – 60% (at least 70% is generally recommended)
  • Risk of special assessment – low

Fun facts – Hillside House is a small and fairly laid back community. The building was built in the 70s and is still operating under original set of documents with a few amendments. A major exterior renovation project was completed within the last few years (paid for with a half a million dollar special assessment) and according to the most recently available reserve study, the majority of building components have quite a few years of remaining useful life.

Fun fact (or maybe a helpful tip!) – when one purchases a condominium unit, it typically “comes with parking”. Parking spaces and storage units in newer associations are assigned to individual owners through the governing documents. If one owner sells a parking space to another owner, a Declaration Amendment to re-assign that space is generally recorded. For older associations (70s-80s), the approach is often different as is the case with Hillside House. Parking spaces there are separate pieces of real estate, each with its own parcel number under King County. What does that mean to a buyer (or a current unit owner)? Those separate parcel numbers must be included on the deed (or have their own deeds) and buyers and current owners should keep in mind that they have two separate property tax accounts and bills to pay to King County. Updating condo account only does not automatically update the parking space account and we all know that unpaid taxes means penalties, late fees, interest, and an eventual foreclosure.

Want us to help you review a resale cert?
Have an interesting fact to share about your association?
Need help buying or selling? We are here for you!

And of course a fancy disclosure has to follow because attorneys tell us it is a good idea – all information contained herein is based on third party records, is not guaranteed, and is subject to change. We simply review, tell you what we read in someone else’s docs, and hope whatever they have is / was correct at that time.