Owing to the HOA and common ownership of the buildings and grounds, buying a condo or townhouse requires a few additional steps beyond those usually needed for a single-family home. The following ten tips and traps will help you to make sure you cover all the critical bases when you evaluate such a property:

1. Look at several communities in your price range and average their monthly HOA fees to get an estimate of what your cost will be. Then make sure your mortgage lender adds in this estimate when he or she preapproves you for a mortgage.

2. Ask your agent to provide from the MLS a list of similar properties that have sold in the last thirty days; note how long they’ve been on the market and the difference between listing price and sales price. This gives you a starting point in deciding what to offer.

3. Find out how many properties in the development are owneroccupied, rented, and unsold. If rental units top 30 percent, find out why and whether the trend of rental units is increasing. When over 40 percent of the units in a development are rentals, financing becomes more difficult.

4. Get a copy of the bylaws, CC&Rs, and recent rule changes. Before you make an offer, you want to know if you can live with the current rules.