When to bring in your condo attorney
Getting your condo attorney involved as soon as possible, rather than as an afterthought, can help you avoid costly mistakes. In a conversion, the decisions that are hardest to undo are the ones made first.
Before you sign the purchase contract
How a property was used before you owned it shapes its eligibility path and whether the 5% conversion fee applies. Proving that history often calls for an affidavit from the prior owner. Before closing, a seller has every reason to provide one, and it can be made part of the deal. Afterward, the seller has moved on and may be hard to reach.
That affidavit is evidence, and it will be read closely. What it needs to establish depends on the property, which is why it should be drafted by the attorney who will rely on it.
Before you apply for permits
Permitting usually feels like the architect's territory. But the kind of permits a project applies for can affect the whole conversion, including whether the 5% fee applies. It is a short conversation to have with your attorney before the application goes in, and a difficult one to have after.
While the building is under way
Most of the legal work, including the offering statement, the declaration and bylaws, and the plat and plans, can run alongside design and construction. Started early, the approvals are ready when the units are. Started late, finished units wait.
Why not handle it yourself
Much of what a conversion requires is public, and the forms are not hard to find. The risk is in the judgment calls: which path a property fits, what a document must say, and what order things have to happen in.
A filing can look complete and still fail on the point that matters. By the time that is clear, the chance to fix it cheaply has usually passed.
Where it goes wrong
- Closing without a prior-use affidavit from the seller.
- Choosing a permit strategy without asking what it does to the conversion.
- Preparing key documents without an attorney, then needing them to hold up.