Understanding a condo before you buy

A condo is a building split into lots. Each lot has an owner, and all shared parts (roof, facade, lift, hall, stairs, risers) belong to all owners in proportion to their shares. The condo rules set what's private, what's shared, and how collective life runs.

When you buy a lot, you buy two inseparable things: your flat and a share of the building. You can't decouple them. If the condo votes tomorrow to redo the roof for €120,000, your share comes due whether you wanted it or not.

That's why we treat the condo as a hidden investment inside your purchase. You don't buy it separately, but you inherit it in full. Better know what you're walking into.

The seller or the agent must hand these over before the compromis. If they drag their feet, push. If they refuse, that's a signal on its own.

AGM minutes often run 20 to 40 pages. You don't have time for all of it. Quick method: first, quorum and attendance. An AGM where only 30 % of shares show up is a disengaged condo, where decisions struggle to pass.

Next, look at votes against. If every major resolution passes by a hair with a hostile minority, blocking is coming. Recent legal challenges to minutes are a red flag.

Then the works. Voted and budgeted works fall on you if you sign after the vote. Discussed but not voted works will come back. Voted works funded from the reserve, check if the reserve covers them or if a top-up call is coming.

Finally, the any-other-business section. That's where you often learn about a recurring leak, a litigious neighbour, or a plan to sell off common space.

Running charges pay for maintenance, cleaning, common-area electricity, the lift, the managing agent, insurance. Budget €25 to €35 per m² per year for a standard condo without services. €40 to €60 with lift, concierge, collective heating. Above €80, you're in high-end (pool, concierge, security).

Exceptional charges are the big works. They land as calls for funds, sometimes heavily. Ask for the last three years of exceptional calls. If the condo has called €8,000 of exceptional per lot in two years, it's catching up on backlog.

Watch for an unpaid-to-called ratio above 10 %. Beyond that, the condo runs on fumes and any breakdown becomes a crisis. The managing agent must give you that number, it's in the pre-dated statement.

Since the ALUR law, the reserve fund is mandatory for condos over 5 years old. It must equal at least 5 % of the annual budget, ideally 10 to 15 % to absorb big works without pain. An empty fund means a condo about to ask you for cash the moment the boiler fails.

The long-term works plan projects everything to do over 10 years, with working cost estimates. Ask for it, read it. If a full roof replacement is planned in 3 years for €250,000, you know what's coming.

A condo claiming it has no long-term plan while being over 15 years old is breaking the law. Not fatal, but it means nobody's really steering long-term maintenance.

The managing agent is the condo's executive. They call AGMs, execute votes, manage the bank account, pay contractors, collect charges. Either professional (paid firm) or voluntary (an elected owner). Both can work.

To judge an agent, check regular AGMs (one per year minimum), respect of legal notice periods, recovery rate on unpaid charges, clarity of calls for funds, and budget transparency. An agent who replies within 48 hours is a good agent.

Professional agent fees sit between €180 and €350 per main lot per year, excluding special services. Above €400, it's expensive and worth renegotiating at renewal.

Works voted at AGM are legally due from owners pro rata their shares. Basic rule: whoever owns at the time of the call pays. If you sign after the vote but before the call, it's on you, unless the compromis says otherwise.

It's negotiable. Insert a clause in the promesse transferring voted-but-uncalled works to the seller, or adjust the price accordingly. The notary drafts this cleanly.

Upcoming works not yet voted are a grey zone. If they're in the long-term plan and imminent, fold them into your negotiation. If only discussed, at least keep a mental reserve.

Some signals justify either walking or negotiating hard. An empty reserve fund despite an old building. An unpaid rate above 15 %. Several ongoing legal cases, especially against the agent. No AGM held in over a year. A blank or incoherent maintenance log.

Add an old condo rulebook never updated, repeated exceptional calls, or a managing agent changing every year. Each signal alone isn't fatal, but stacked up, you're buying a problem, not a flat.