Articles
Plain-English guides to condo and HOA document risk
Every article on this page is written for buyers and owners reading the actual documents an association is required to disclose at sale — the reserve study, the budget, the insurance summary, the meeting minutes, the resale or estoppel certificate. We focus on Florida, Texas, and Arizona because the regulatory landscapes diverge most sharply there, but the principles in the national guides apply anywhere in the country.
Most readers start with the pillar guides below — long-form references that link out to the supporting articles for each state and topic. If you're short on time, the condo buying checklist and the 5-question risk quiz are the fastest path to a structured read of any property.
Pillar guides
Pillar guide
The Complete Texas Condo and HOA Guide (2026)
Texas Property Code Chapters 82 and 209, the 2023–2025 legislative wave, voluntary reserves, coastal insurance exposure, and what every buyer must verify before closing.
Pillar guide
The Complete Condo Master Insurance Guide (2026)
How master policies are structured, how percentage deductibles create owner exposure, what your HO-6 needs to cover, and what to verify before you close — across Florida, Texas, and Arizona.
Pillar guide
The Complete Arizona Condo and HOA Guide (2026)
Arizona's condo and HOA market is shaped by voluntary reserves, master-planned community economics, and a reformed foreclosure threshold. The complete 2026 reference for buyers, owners, and advisors.
Pillar guide
The Post-Surfside Florida Condo Law Guide (2026)
From the 2021 Champlain Towers collapse through four years of legislative reform, this is the complete guide to Florida condo law as it operates in 2026 — for buyers, owners, and boards.
Pillar guide
The Complete Condo Buying Checklist (2026)
A four-phase due diligence framework — pre-offer through post-closing — covering documents, fees, reserves, insurance, lender requirements, and governance risk.
All articles
May 30, 2026 · texas · governance-risk
The Complete Texas Condo and HOA Guide (2026)
Texas Property Code Chapters 82 and 209, the 2023–2025 legislative wave, voluntary reserves, coastal insurance exposure, and what every buyer must verify before closing.
May 30, 2026 · insurance-risk
The Complete Condo Master Insurance Guide (2026)
How master policies are structured, how percentage deductibles create owner exposure, what your HO-6 needs to cover, and what to verify before you close — across Florida, Texas, and Arizona.
May 30, 2026 · arizona · governance-risk
The Complete Arizona Condo and HOA Guide (2026)
Arizona's condo and HOA market is shaped by voluntary reserves, master-planned community economics, and a reformed foreclosure threshold. The complete 2026 reference for buyers, owners, and advisors.
May 29, 2026 · buyer-due-diligence
Resort Condo Due Diligence: Management Contracts, Rental Pools, Financing
Resort and hotel condos carry risks that live in the management contract and rental pool agreement — not the declaration. Learn how to evaluate both documents before you close.
May 29, 2026 · arizona · buyer-due-diligence
Arizona Condo Resale Disclosure Checklist (ARS 33-1806)
Arizona's condo resale disclosure law is among the loosest in the Sun Belt. Here is exactly what ARS 33-1806 and ARS 33-1260 require — and what they permit associations to omit.
May 29, 2026 · buyer-due-diligence
55+ Community Buyer Guide: HOA Docs, HOPA, and Reserve Risk
Buying into a 55+ community requires a distinct document review. Verify HOPA compliance, amenity-heavy reserve obligations, and resale restrictions that standard HOA due diligence typically misses.
May 28, 2026 · florida · condo-document-review
What Is a Condo Estoppel Certificate? A Buyer's Guide
The estoppel certificate is the one document an association is legally required to provide before closing. Understand what it says, what it omits, and how to read each line before you sign.
May 22, 2026 · arizona · hoa-fee-analysis
Phoenix and Scottsdale Condo Market 2026: HOA Fees and Reserve Gaps
Phoenix and Scottsdale's condo market has cooled from its 2022 peak. Understand how to check HOA fee adequacy, voluntary reserve status, and the disclosure gap in Arizona's condo law.
May 21, 2026 · insurance-risk
Insurance Certificate Red Flags: What to Question in the Master Policy
The master policy certificate is one of the most consequential documents in a condo resale package. Understand what each section discloses, which gaps signal underinsurance, and what to raise with your attorney.
May 15, 2026 · governance-risk
Cross-Referencing Budgets with Meeting Minutes: An Analytical Technique
Reading the operating budget against meeting minutes from the same fiscal period surfaces deferred repairs, contested expenditures, and unresolved governance issues. Here is how to execute the analysis.
May 14, 2026 · special-assessments
Special Assessment Warning Signs: Reading the Documents Before It Lands
Most special assessments do not arrive without warning. The signals appear in reserve studies, budgets, and meeting minutes months before the vote. Understand what to read and what to respond to.
May 8, 2026 · insurance-risk
Condo Insurance Rates in Florida, Texas, and Arizona: 2026 Update
Insurance is now the dominant operating-cost driver in many condo associations across Florida and Texas. Understand what the 2026 market looks like in each state and what it means for your dues.
May 7, 2026 · insurance-risk
Hurricane Readiness for Florida and Texas Condo Associations
Rising premiums, percentage-based wind deductibles, and loss-assessment exposure define the insurance landscape for coastal associations. Identify what boards need to verify in the master policy before storm season.
April 30, 2026 · reserve-studies
Reserve Fund Rules in Florida, Texas, and Arizona: A State-by-State Comparison
Florida mandates reserve studies and prohibits waivers for structural items. Texas and Arizona require neither. Identify what each state requires of boards and how the same disclosure language means different things across state lines.
April 23, 2026 · arizona · governance-risk
Arizona HOA Foreclosure Reform: What SB 1494 Changes for Boards
Arizona's SB 1494 raised the foreclosure threshold to $10,000 or 18 months of delinquency. Understand what changed for board collection procedures, what remains unchanged, and how to manage delinquency risk.
April 16, 2026 · texas · governance-risk
Texas Condo and HOA Law Changes: SB 711, HB 614, and What Boards Must Do
Four bills from the 88th and 89th Texas Legislatures changed fining procedures, lien filing requirements, fee caps, and transparency obligations. Identify what changed, what boards must implement, and what the deadlines are.
April 9, 2026 · florida · reserve-studies
Florida Condo Safety Laws 2025: What Each Law Now Requires of Boards
From SB 4-D in 2022 through HB 913 in 2025, Florida rewrote structural safety and reserve funding obligations for condo associations. Identify what each law requires boards to fund, inspect, and disclose.
April 2, 2026
Legal Pitfalls for Condo Boards: Procedural Failures to Identify and Fix
Improper fines, flawed assessment notices, reserve fund misuse, and conflicts of interest create legal exposure for boards and due-diligence signals for buyers. Identify the patterns and the remedies.
March 26, 2026
Condo Association Fees in 2026: What Is High, What Is Adequate, and Why It Matters
HOA and condo fees vary dramatically across the country. The right question is not whether your fee is high — it is whether it is adequate. Here is how to evaluate it against the reserve study and budget.
March 19, 2026
Reading HOA Meeting Minutes: How Boards Surface Problems Early
Board meeting minutes record what an association is debating before decisions are formalized — deferred repairs, insurance struggles, assessments in formation. Identify the leading indicators before they become votes.
March 12, 2026
How to Read a Reserve Study: What the Funding Numbers Actually Mean
Reserve studies are dense engineering-financial documents. This guide identifies the five sections boards must act on, what percent-funded thresholds mean in practice, and how to spot a study that understates risk.
March 5, 2026 · florida · reserve-studies
The Post-Surfside Florida Condo Law Guide (2026)
From the 2021 Champlain Towers collapse through four years of legislative reform, this is the complete guide to Florida condo law as it operates in 2026 — for buyers, owners, and boards.
February 26, 2026
What to Look for in Condo Documents: A Buyer's Complete Guide
A resale package contains roughly a dozen documents. Learn what each one discloses, what most buyers overlook, and which sections to read closely before you close.
February 25, 2026 · governance-risk
Master-Planned Community Due Diligence: Mapping Every Layer
Multi-layered master and sub-associations are common in Texas and Arizona. Learn how to map who governs what, which fees apply to your unit, and which restrictions run with the land.
February 22, 2026 · florida · insurance-risk
Hurricane Deductibles and Loss Assessments: Evaluate Your HO-6 Exposure
Master-policy hurricane deductibles can pass through to you as loss assessments. Understand how percentage deductibles work, how to calculate your real exposure, and what your HO-6 needs to actually cover.
February 20, 2026
The Complete Condo Buying Checklist (2026)
A four-phase due diligence framework — pre-offer through post-closing — covering documents, fees, reserves, insurance, lender requirements, and governance risk.
February 19, 2026 · texas · hoa-document-review
Texas HOA Resale Certificate: What to Verify Before Closing
Section 207.003 of the Texas Property Code defines what a resale certificate must contain. Review this checklist of what to verify — and what the certificate legally omits — before you close.
February 15, 2026 · florida · reserve-studies
Milestone Inspection Buyer Guide: Reading the Report Before You Close
Understand what a Florida Milestone Inspection report discloses, what follow-up questions to ask the engineer, and how to evaluate the special assessment risk the findings imply.
February 12, 2026 · florida · reserve-studies
Florida SIRS Explained: What Boards Must Fund and Disclose
The Structural Integrity Reserve Study is now mandatory for most Florida condo buildings. Understand what a SIRS must include, how it affects reserve funding requirements, and what boards must disclose to owners.