The coastal condominium: the building, not only the kitchen.

Thin reserves. Open litigation. Deferred work on the one part of a beach building that always needs it, which is the face turned toward the water. And an assessment voted before you arrived that never appeared in the listing.

A kitchen is renovated in six weeks. The building's finances are the actual purchase.

Reserve study, litigation disclosure, insurance, two years of minutes, and the rental cap if you intend to be here only part of the year. [VERIFY current HOA documents.]

The minutes are the document most buyers skip and the one that tells you the most. Boards discuss an expensive problem for a year before it becomes your assessment.

When you want the location without the lot. No roof, no bluff, no gardener, and the ability to leave in October and come back in June having arranged nothing.

It is the wrong product when you want control. In a building, the decisions that move your money are made by people you did not choose.