Identify the legal structure first
Marketing language can blur different forms of ownership. A detached house may be part of a subdivision association, or it may be a site condominium governed by a master deed. A condominium unit can include limited common elements such as a garage, balcony, driveway, or yard area. The legal documents, not the home's appearance or listing label, define the owner's interest and obligations.
Ask the agent, title professional, and association for the recorded declaration or master deed and all amendments. Compare the legal description with the title commitment and the property being shown. Michigan's Condominium Buyer's Handbook explains that a site condominium uses condominium ownership for a development of detached homes even though it may look like a conventional subdivision.
Assemble a complete review package
Request the full document package, not just the current dues figure or a short rules summary. Michigan law requires a condominium association to keep current copies of the master deed, amendments, and other condominium documents available at reasonable hours to co-owners, prospective purchasers, and prospective mortgagees. What is available for a non-condominium HOA can depend on its governing documents and other law, so request the package early and track any missing items.
- Recorded master deed, declaration, covenants, conditions, restrictions, plats, exhibits, and every amendment.
- Articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules, regulations, architectural standards, and enforcement procedures.
- Current operating budget, recent financial statements, reserve information or study if one exists, and delinquency information that may be disclosed.
- Current dues schedule, transfer or initiation charges, special-assessment notices, and any approved or proposed fee changes.
- Master insurance certificate and available coverage summary, including deductibles and owner coverage responsibilities.
- Recent board and owner meeting minutes, notices of significant projects, and disclosed litigation or claims.
- Status information for the unit or property, including unpaid balances, violations, approvals, or alteration responsibilities when available.
Read maintenance responsibility line by line
Two associations with similar dues can allocate very different responsibilities. Determine who maintains and pays for roofs, siding, windows, doors, decks, driveways, landscaping, trees, drainage, private roads, utilities, sewer or septic components, snow removal, and damage to common elements. Then compare that allocation with the property's condition and the association's finances.
Pay special attention to limited common elements and owner-installed improvements. A patio, finished lower level, charger, fence, deck, or window may have been approved for use but still be the unit owner's maintenance and insurance responsibility. Confirm whether prior approvals transfer and whether any open violation or repair obligation follows the property.
Look beyond the monthly dues
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes that association dues are usually paid directly to the association and are generally separate from the mortgage-servicer payment. Add them explicitly to the housing budget along with taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance. Ask for a written list of included and excluded services.
A low current fee may still accompany higher long-term costs. Review the budget, reserve funding, recent projects, insurance deductibles, owner delinquencies, and the age and condition of major shared components. Distinguish an approved special assessment from one that is proposed, discussed, or merely foreseeable.
- Check the due date, payment frequency, late charges, and recent fee history.
- Identify approved assessments, their remaining installments, and which party must pay under the purchase agreement.
- Ask how large insurance deductibles or uninsured losses may be allocated.
- Review whether the budget appears to include routine maintenance and planned capital work.
- Keep room in the budget for owner-maintained items even when exterior work is partly shared.
Review restrictions against your actual plans
Compare the rules with how you intend to use the property. Read the recorded restrictions and current rules for leasing, short-term rentals, pets, parking, commercial vehicles, exterior changes, fences, landscaping, signs, satellite equipment, solar panels, generators, electric-vehicle charging, noise, home businesses, and use of common amenities.
Ask what approval is required before a change, how long review normally takes, and whether the current condition received written approval. Use the governing documents and a written association response in place of a neighbor's practice or an informal statement. If a restriction affects a material purchase decision, have a Michigan attorney interpret the document and applicable law.
Coordinate lender and insurance review early
For a condominium, loan approval can depend on more than the buyer's finances and the unit appraisal. Depending on the loan program and project, the lender may review the association's insurance, financial health, owner occupancy or use, critical repairs, litigation, and other project characteristics. Fannie Mae identifies unresolved critical repairs, inadequate insurance, and significant pending litigation among project-level concerns under its requirements. Other investors and insurers have their own standards.
Send requested documents to the lender and insurer as soon as the contract permits. Approval of a new loan or policy depends on the current borrower, unit, building, association, and underwriting requirements, even when other units have financed before. Ask how the master and individual policies work together. Confirm which deductibles, loss assessments, improvements, personal property, and liability coverage require attention.
Use recorded and association records together
The Washtenaw County Register of Deeds provides public access to recorded land records. Recorded master deeds, declarations, amendments, easements, restrictions, and plats can help confirm what legally affects the parcel or unit. Association records add current operational information such as budgets, minutes, rules, projects, and account status. Review both sets because they answer different questions.
Searches can be affected by legal descriptions, document indexing, recording dates, and later amendments. A title professional or attorney should resolve questions about record priority, enforceability, ownership, liens, or what will be insured; county staff and online search tools provide records, not legal opinions about a transaction.
Keep property inspection separate
A visible defect matters even when the association is responsible for it. Inspect the unit and accessible common or limited-common areas, then learn which party must assess, repair, or fund the issue. Water intrusion, roofs, balconies, foundations, grading, private roads, drainage, mechanical systems, and deferred common-element work can affect a buyer.
Use the Diligence Checklist to organize inspections and records. Address flood, wetland, septic, well, easement, boundary, permit, or basement-water questions through the relevant public records and professionals.
Questions to resolve before the review deadline
- What exactly is owned, and which areas are common or limited common elements?
- Which documents and amendments govern, and is anything requested still missing?
- What do dues cover, and what must the owner maintain or insure directly?
- Are fee changes, assessments, major projects, insurance changes, litigation, or violations approved, pending, or only discussed?
- Do the rules permit the buyer's intended occupancy, leasing, pets, parking, and alterations?
- Has the lender completed any required project review, and has the insurer reviewed the master policy?
- Which legal, title, accounting, engineering, inspection, or tax questions remain outside the real-estate agent's role?
Use the deadline deliberately
The purchase agreement determines whether there is an association-document review period, how notice must be delivered, and what options are available. Calendar the deadline as soon as the offer is accepted, request the complete package immediately, and document what you received.
Base the decision on the source documents. Have qualified advisors interpret financing, coverage, title, condition, tax, engineering, and legal issues before the review period expires.