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Posted by on in Condo Newz

 

 

Buying a condo today—whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or a real estate pro—comes with some new twists. Since early 2022, after a condo collapse in Florida sparked safety concerns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have tightened condo mortgage rules. As of February 25, 2025, these updates, plus specific “Project Review Processes,” are reshaping how loans work. Here’s the scoop.
 

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FINCEN Logo 320x213HOA boards will no longer have to provide personal information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.  This week, Scott Bessent, the new Secretary of Treasury in the Trump Administration, announced the Treasury Department will not enforce the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) against U.S citizens and domestic companies.  This ruling includes domestic homeowner association boards.   The Treasury Department announced it will now draft an emergency ruling stating only foreign companies will be subject to the Corporate Transparency Act.



According to the Department of Treasure website on March 2, 2025, “the Treasury Department this week that, with respect to the Corporate Transparency Act, not only will it not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing regulatory deadlines, but it will further not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners after the forthcoming rule changes take effect either. The Treasury Department will further be issuing a proposed rulemaking that will narrow the scope of the rule to foreign reporting companies only. Treasury takes this step in the interest of supporting hard-working American taxpayers and small businesses and ensuring that the rule is appropriately tailored to advance the public interest.”

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Posted by on in Condo Newz

Published Date 7/7/2023

 

Big news hit the housing market this Wednesday July 5th! Heavy hitters of the housing world, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, unrolled some fresh updates. They're putting a sharper focus on their condominium and co-operative project standards policies. Why? To help bolster the safety of properties in desperate need of repairs and special assessments.

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Posted by on in Condo Newz
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A new appreciation of “home” was created during the COVID lockdown over the past few years.  Buyers and sellers became inspired to seek out comfortable, multi-purpose living environments they could work and play in while enjoying the comforts of their own familiar home environment.  As a result, not only seniors, but many new homeowners of all ages have moved into residential planned communities which offer recreational pleasures while providing a sense of safety, purpose and community.
 
Golfing, tennis, boating, fishing, fitness centers, equestrian activities, green spaces, dog parks, learning and hobby centers and classes, and community pools and spas are just some of the many recreational and stress-relieving amenities and activities planned communities offer to homeowners.  Active lifestyle seniors have known about this desirable homeownership opportunity for decades.  But with the isolation over the past few years, people of all ages have now seen the value of planned community living.
 
When companionship is needed, community with other homeowners in their community is readily available.  Yet a planned community can also offer a feeling of privacy and a quiet work environment that a homeowner can “reach and withdraw into” as needed when owning a property in a residential planned community.
 
An interesting additional layer of planned community living is the master planned community.  A master planned community is often defined as a mixed-use development that offers single family homes, condos, and townhomes as well as schools, businesses, apartments, and other commercial properties, while offering access to extensive, varied recreational, entertaining amenities.
 
Other convenient benefits of the planned community lifestyle include HOA management, less congested roads, better security and shared decision-making, maintenance costs, and responsibilities.  For example, gated communities help regulate who can come in and out of a community while reducing traffic moving within the community parameters, making the community streets less busy and more quiet and safe than ungated single family neighborhoods.  Exterior, common area and amenity maintenance is cared for by a homeowner association.  And governance and dispute resolution are set by covenants, rules and shared values that each homeowner consents to follow upon purchasing in the planned community or development.
 
The planned community lifestyle that was once thought to be the active seniors’ “blueprint for retirement,” has now become “destination home” for many at all ages and stages of life.
 
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