12 Questions to Ask When Buying Condos in Long Beach, California

Questions to Ask Yourself When Buying Condos in Long Beach

This a good list of 12 questions to ask when buying condos in Long Beach, California or any beach city in Southern California.

1. Location – drive by the area and ask yourself “can I see myself living here?” Drive around the block. If you have time, go in the morning and in the evening.

2. Does the Long Beach condo have a spacious balcony?

   If you read online that it has a balcony, please confirm it when you are taking a tour.
   

3. Does the condo have inside laundry in the unit? If it says “community”, then laundry is usually coin operated in a room in the building

4. Parking. How many parking spaces does it say the properties for your unit? During the home inspection time frame of your purchase contract, you need to verify the parking. Some condo buildings have no parking. In those situations, residents find parking at local lots and some hotels have special parking areas.

5. How long has the condo been on the market for sale? If it is too long, it could mean it is overpriced or there is an issue. Ask your Long Beach Realtor® Jay Valento to do some research for you.

6. Look for the words Land Lease in the property details.  If it says “yes”, you will be paying an additional fee.  It may be monthly, quarterly or yearly.  It means that the developer of the community is still collecting a fee for each condo in the community.  There are a few of these for Long Beach condos and Huntington Beach condos.
   
7. What does the property status say? 
   
   Active means it is currently for sale. 
   Backup offers means that the seller will take a backup offer in case the current offer that they accepted falls out of escrow. 
   Pending means that both buyer and seller have accepted the terms and it is in escrow.  Sold means that the property has closed escrow and the buyer bought the property.
   
8. Is the Long Beach condominium community FHA Approved for Financing?
   Having a Long Beach condo FHA Approved is an important designation for any condominium community. This status indicates that the development meets certain criteria set out by the Federal Housing Administration, and it gives prospective buyers the assurance that they can use FHA financing to buy units in the complex.
   
   In order to be FHA Approved, a condominium must pass a stringent review process that looks at such factors as financial viability, property maintenance, insurance rates, and more. This process assures buyers that their new home will be safe and well-maintained over time. The approval process can be affected by the number of owner-occupied units verse the number ones rented out.
   
9. Are there any restrictions of pets? Can I rent out the condo? Will the homeowner’s association allow for “AirBnB?” This is usually disclosed through the CC& Rs of the community. These documents are provided to you during the escrow time frame to review and approve or cancel the purchase based on your review.
   
   * Mostly likely no on AirBnb…fyi; there tends to be a minimum stay of 30 days or longer on most of the condos in Long Beach and other beach cities.
   
10. Are there any special assessments coming due soon? This could be new windows or roofing that the association doesn’t have the money to cover. And they may want each unit to share in the expense. This should be disclosed in the seller disclosure documents that you receive during escrow and/or be in the CC&Rs.
    
11. What is CC&Rs? This abbreviation stands for Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions. These are the rules and restrictions developed by the builder, developer or homeowner association that all owners should abide by.
    
12. How many days do you have to review seller disclosures? In our California real estate purchase contracts, the default is 17 days after acceptance. This is a negotiable item in the purchase contract between the buyer and seller. I will go over all of the details in a Zoom buyer consultation or in person so you can make good decisions.

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12 Questions to Ask Yourself When Buying Long Beach Condos

By Jay Valento

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