M.S. from Palm Beach County, Florida writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
An investment company owns a majority of units in our condo building, and wants to convert it to 100% rental. They keep making us offers. Are we obligated to move, or can we stay here?
Mister Condo replies:
M.S., I doubt that you are OBLIGATED to sell or move regardless of how many units are owned by the investment company. However, if they made you the RIGHT offer, I think you would be wise to take it unless you truly love your unit and wouldn’t mind seeing the association become largely occupied by renters. There are two basic types of rentals. If your association by-laws only allow for 12 month and longer tenants, then you might have some very fine neighbors even though renters tend to come and go. However, if the investment company plans on offering short-term rentals and the governing documents allow it, you could see your condo start to behave more like a hotel or AirBnB with folks coming and going all the time. The problem with short-term renters is they have no vested interest in the long-term success of the property. They tend to be hard on amenities and can actually cost the association more in maintenance and upkeep expenses. Without knowing all of the details, it is hard to offer you advice but I would say if you get an offer that you are satisfied with, I would consider taking it and purchasing in another association that has rental caps (limiting the percentage of units that can be rented) and definitely one that does not allow short-term rentals. That would likely prevent you from finding yourself in this same predicament again. All the best!