Selling a Condo in Texas

A Texas condominium is not a house with a different name. You own a unit, and you share the common elements under a declaration. The association can restrict transfers, levy assessments and, in some projects, hold a right of first refusal. The statute that organizes the resale is Property Code Chapter 82.

What you must hand the buyer

Section 82.157 says that a unit owner, other than the declarant, who intends to sell must furnish the purchaser, before executing a contract or conveying the unit, a current copy of the declaration, the bylaws, any association rules, and a resale certificate. The certificate must have been prepared no earlier than three months before it is delivered. The association issues it. It covers the budget, unpaid assessments, capital spending approved for the next 12 months, reserves, judgments, pending suits, insurance, known violations, and the association's right of first refusal if one exists. TREC publishes the certificate as Form 32-5.

The association has until the 10th day after a written request to furnish the certificate. The statute says the seller is not liable to the buyer for wrong information the association put in the certificate. If the association misses the 10 days, the owner may give a sworn affidavit instead, and the owner and purchaser may agree in writing to waive the certificate. Do not waive it casually. The certificate is how a buyer learns the association is in a lawsuit or that a special assessment is already approved.

The buyer's right to walk away

Section 82.156 lets a purchaser who did not receive the declaration, bylaws and rules before signing cancel the contract before the sixth day after receiving them, unless the contract itself acknowledges receipt in underlined or bold print and recommends reading them. A purchaser who did not receive the resale certificate before signing may cancel before the sixth day after receiving the certificate or signing a waiver, whichever comes first. The seller may not require the purchaser to close until the declaration, bylaws and rules have been given.

The resale contract is TREC No. 30-17, not the one-to-four-family house form. If the buyer has not received the certificate, the contract's certificate paragraph lets the buyer terminate within 7 days after receiving it, and it says the buyer keeps the Section 82.156 rights as well. Those clocks are why condo deals die in the first week when the association is slow.

Dues, reserves and lawsuits change the price

A special assessment already voted, a thin reserve, or an unsatisfied judgment against the association is a cost the next owner inherits. Read those lines on the certificate before you agree to a price. Monthly dues are not a defect. A dues increase that is only rumored is not the same thing as one the budget already shows. Attach the budget and the balance sheet, which the certificate requires.

Insurance is split more often than house sellers expect. The association's policy may cover the building shell while the unit owner insures improvements inside the unit. The certificate asks whether the association provides insurance for unit owners and calls for a summary from the association's agent. The Texas Department of Insurance home guide is written for houses; use it as a prompt to read your own unit policy, not as the association's coverage.

A right of first refusal pauses the clock

TREC 30-17 says that if the documents show a right of refusal in favor of the association or a member, the effective date is amended to the date the buyer receives the association's certification that the seller complied and that the right was not exercised. Until that paper arrives, you do not have the closing timeline you think you have. Ask the manager, before you list or before you accept a cash price, whether the declaration contains that right and how many days it allows.

Financing a condo is stricter than financing a house

Some projects fail lender questionnaires because of investor concentration, reserves or pending litigation. That is a project problem, not a paint problem. A buyer who cannot get the loan cannot close, even when your unit is in good shape. Cash removes the questionnaire. It does not remove the certificate.

Selling the unit to Cash Home Advisors

You can sell the unit as-is, without repairs inside it. We pay all closing costs, and we can close in 7–14 days, subject to the association's certificate and any right of refusal the declaration actually contains. There is no agent commission. Asking is free and carries no obligation, and a real person calls you back. Order the certificate when you request a number, and read how a sale is put together. Condo buildings are common in Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth.

Condos outside those three cities are still reached from the Texas hub.