Buying a Richmond VA condo comes with a completely different set of risk factors than buying a home in Richmond does. From financing to underwriting to appraising, the additional layers of risk inherent in a condo purchase must be understood in order to make an informed decision. While many of the same principles that you […]
Originally written February 2018 · updated June 2026.
Buying a condo in Richmond carries a completely different set of risks than buying a house does. Financing, underwriting, appraising — condos add layers that just aren’t there with a single-family home.
The usual rules still apply: superior location, smart design, quality construction, good selections. But the factors that actually move a condo’s value (and your future risk) are the subtle ones you can’t see with the naked eye. Here’s what to look for.
When you buy a condo, you’re buying your space and a little piece of everyone else’s. Every unit’s design eventually becomes a comparable sale your unit gets judged against. So don’t just tour the units that fit you — look at a sample across price points. If the whole project feels well-conceived from the entry-level unit on up, you can feel better about your decision.
Dues are the one number that will change. I’ve watched buyers cross a building off the list because the dues felt “too high,” and it’s flawed logic. An underfunded HOA doesn’t save you money — it just sends you a special assessment later (read: a surprise bill) for a repair that should have been funded all along. It costs a certain amount to run a building; expecting below-market dues to be the norm is naïve.
Flip it around: if two similar projects have radically different dues, the real question isn’t “why is one so expensive?” It’s “why is the other one so cheap?” Do some digging.
Most condo problems don’t come from the developer — they show up years later, from a mismanaged HOA. A good management company enforces the rules and actually understands condo finance. My litmus test: if the manager can’t answer “what does it mean to be warrantable?”, you don’t have a good manager. Same goes for a self-managed HOA run by a board that doesn’t understand condo finance. Be wary.
Be skeptical of any lender who says “yeah, we can do that” before asking very specific questions. A few times a year I get pulled into a last-minute panic because the other side’s buyer got a loan denial three days before closing — from a lender who didn’t understand condo finance.
Every lender needs a Condo Review Questionnaire completed by the HOA. If a lender makes promises before seeing that form, they’re not a condo lender. But if, the moment they hear “condo,” your lender says “tell me which projects you’re looking at so I can talk to the HOA” — you’ve probably got a good one.
This is the big one: in today’s mortgage world, being financeable matters more than being marketable. When the market shifted in 2007, condo projects everywhere got scrutinized — often unfairly, thanks to the sins of Florida, Arizona, and California. That scrutiny never fully went away; condo underwriting is simply more demanding than single-family, and it bites hardest on projects that have struggled to hit 50% sold.
Fannie, Freddie, and FHA weigh roughly 20 extra factors on a condo loan — and any one of them can sink it. The percentage of rentals, the amount of commercial space, how much is sitting in the reserve budget: any of those can trigger a denial. (Want the deep version? Read Warrantability.)
Bottom line: condos reward expertise more than any other kind of real estate. The variables are endless and MLS data barely hints at them. Condos are our specialty — let us help you read the building before you buy it.
Rick
