Buy a condominium without maintenance reserves

Dear Sir or Madam, dear readers of this forum -

We are considering buying a 3-room apartment in Berlin.

Here is some information about our situation:

- It is an apartment building.

- All apartments are being sold.

- A new administration is being appointed.

- A new owners’ association is being formed.

- There apparently are no maintenance reserves; these will only be paid in with the new owners’ association.

- The building was constructed in 1993 and makes a good impression both inside and outside.

Now to my question.

Is it too risky to buy an apartment in a building without reserves?

Perhaps someone of you has a good tip. We have hardly found anything on the internet about this situation.

Thanks in advance.

Best regards from Berlin.

Eugen

Comrades, a remote evaluation without further information is difficult to make... Happy Easter. P.S.: if the KP is attractive, it is easier to justify than if it is already 40% above market value and the building fabric is questionable and no one, for example, can find the original construction service description.

That depends on many factors. I will try to list a few without any claim to completeness:

1. What does the expert you were with say (maintenance backlog, urgent repairs, insulation, roof, etc.)?

2. Are they all individual buyers, or is someone or an organization buying multiple apartments -> then importantly: What is the intended voting ratio for decisions in the owners' assembly (co-ownership shares vs. one vote per apartment or per owner) -> this can determine whether one or two owners can impose expensive changes on you.

3. Do you have, besides the purchase price (own contribution) and possible renovation costs, a certain reserve for potential emergency repairs?

Sylvia

Hello,

who is the seller and why were no reserves formed? Are there any proofs of maintenance carried out? I do not mean painting but expensive things like heating, roof, facade, windows, etc. pp.

I bought a Fiat in my younger years. It was so beautifully red and sleek. Unfortunately, after the purchase, the flaws began and it was a bottomless pit.

Otherwise, I agree with the others, if you get outvoted after the purchase, I would let it be.

In the end, it is a question of the purchase price ...

Also: When I buy a single-family house, I also buy without reserve.

Thank you for the many opinions!



- We will look at the apartment again next week with an expert. As we have learned, this is very rarely done with ETW. Since good apartments in Berlin in a good location are often reserved within 1-2 days or people simply do not consider it important to take an inspector.

- I assume that these are individual buyers. But unfortunately, we do not know for sure. The issue with the voting ratio is indeed an important matter. It is also a question of how quickly all the apartments will be sold. Only then can the first reserves be formed. Even after that, it will take a couple of years to build a nice cushion.

- For renovation costs, we have about 10,000 euros extra. The price for the apartment would still be within our budget with these extra costs. It probably won't be enough for major repairs. Well, we do not intend to bear repair costs for the entire building (approx. 560 m² with 25 apartments).


- I will ask the real estate agent next week why no reserves have been built up. I had assumed that it is always the case that when all apartments in the building are sold and a new community is formed, no reserves are present.

Maybe we’ll know more next week. Thanks again to everyone and happy Easter!