What is a NYC condo questionnaire?
By: Joe Zappa
Tags: New York Real Estate, New York City, Real Estate, Condos

1117 Hoe Avenue

A lender sends a NYC condo questionnaire to the condo development team when a potential new resident applies for a mortgage. The questionnaire allows the lender to ensure a building meets its requirements for a loan. The lender can in turn then consider providing the loan to the condo buyer.

Someone associated with the condo fills out the questionnaire. This is often the condo building’s managing agent. The borrower cannot fill it out directly.

The questionnaire qualifies the building’s buyers for loans guaranteed by federal mortgage companies such as Fannie Mae.

Here is a sample preamble to a condo questionnaire made available by Fannie Mae:

“This form has been sent to you on behalf of an individual seeking mortgage financing to purchase or refinance a unit in this project. The mortgage lender needs this information to determine the eligibility of the project for mortgage financing purposes. Complete and return this form by (enter date) to the lender listed below. Questions about this form should be directed to the lender contact.”

What is in a condo questionnaire?

A condo questionnaire asks about basic project, project completion, financial, ownership, and insurance information. Check out the sample questionnaire at the bottom of this post for an example.

Basic project information includes facts such as the project’s legal name and details about the homeowner association. The questionnaire also asks whether the building contains features and constraints such as supportive care for seniors and resale or deed restrictions.

Project completion refers to project status concerns such as whether the project is 100% complete and how many of the units have been sold and closed. Financial questions touch on whether the mortgagee has to cover unpaid common expenses and if the HOA is facing ongoing litigation.

Ownership information covers non-residential condo use and whether any condo residents own multiple units.

Lastly, the insurance and financial controls section asks about liabilities and HOA finance protections. For example, the bank wants to know if the building is in a flood zone and if “appropriate access controls are in place” for each HOA account.

Why does the NYC condo questionnaire matter for condo buyers?

The condo building development team will get the questionnaire signed. When this happens, you become eligible for a loan. Getting the questionnaire approved also means Fannie Mae or a similar organization will guarantee the loan. This comes with benefits for the condo buyer.

If the questionnaire is approved and the condo price is below the conforming loan limit, which is $822,375 for NYC condos in 2021, the condo will be eligible for a lower Annual Percentage Rating. This comes with lower fees and interest payments for the home buyer.

In many cases, condo sales teams will work with a few banks, or lenders. Therefore, it is possible, even likely, that when you ask for a loan, your bank will have an existing relationship with the condo development team. In this case, your bank may already have received a questionnaire from your condo developer. If your bank is new to the condo building, the bank will send a questionnaire to the developer.

The bottom line: This is an important document, but it’s the condo developer’s responsibility to get it signed, not yours. That said, you will need the questionnaire approved to get a favorable loan.

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Why might a condo fail the questionnaire test?

A number of condo features can lead Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac not to back your loan. This will discourage lenders from doing business with you. The non-exhaustive list of no-go condo features for Fannie Mae & co. includes:

The condo building project is not 100% complete

The property is also a hotel

The property is an investment security

How to find condos that meet all your requirements

If you are in the market for a NYC condo, you likely want to find one that will get you a loan backed by insurers like Fannie Mae. But it can be hard to identify all the condo options and find out all the relevant details about them.

Marketproof New Development provides the most comprehensive information anywhere on new NYC condos. It even shows you finished condos available for sale that developers are not publicizing, aka shadow inventory.

But even more essential for the NYC condo questionnaire, Marketproof gives you the inside scoop on condo buildings. It tells you about the sale prices of other apartments in the building and how many have been sold. It also tells you how many are listed, under contract, and available but not listed.

All this information, unavailable anywhere else at this scale, will help you make the right condo purchase.

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By using Marketproof New Development, you will be able to search both publicly listed properties and unlisted off-market properties not available on popular listing sites. Marketproof can increase the inventory you see by 9–10x what you may see on other sites.

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Sample condo questionnaire

Link to a sample condo questionnaire:

https://blocksandlots.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Condo-questionnaire-example.pdf

Top photo courtesy of 1117 Hoe Avenue.