Buying a Philly Condo? Read the Resale Certificate First

What should I check before buying a condo in Philly?

Read the resale certificate before you get attached to the unit. It's the one document that tells you what the building actually costs to live in, and in Pennsylvania it also gives you a way out: you can cancel the Agreement of Sale for up to five days after you receive it. The unit you toured is the easy part. The association's budget, reserves, special assessments, and any lawsuit it's tangled in decide whether you can finance it and what you'll pay after you move in.

Most Philly buyers shopping in Center City, Old City, Washington Square West, or Northern Liberties end up looking at condos at some point, and plenty of them have only ever bought (or rented) a row home. With a row home, you inspect the house. With a condo, you're also buying a share of a building and a seat in a small business you don't run. That's what the resale certificate is for.

What the resale certificate is, and when you get it

Under Pennsylvania's Uniform Condominium Act (68 Pa.C.S. §3407), a seller reselling a condo has to give the buyer the declaration, the bylaws, the rules and regulations, and a certificate from the association. The association has ten days from the owner's request to produce it. On the standard PA Agreement of Sale, this is the condo paragraph, and it's why your agent asks the listing side for the package as soon as you're under contract.

Here's the part that surprises people: the contract stays voidable by the buyer until you receive those documents and for five days after, or until settlement, whichever comes first. That window is separate from your home inspection contingency. It's short, and it starts when the package lands, so read it the week it arrives, not the week before closing.

The five lines to read first

The certificate covers a long list of items. You don't need to master all of them in five days. These are the ones that change decisions:

1. Monthly fee and anything past due. Confirm the current fee and whether the seller owes the association anything. Unpaid balances get settled at closing, and you don't want them following the unit to you.

2. Special assessments and proposed capital expenditures. This is where a new roof, façade work, or an elevator replacement shows up before it shows up on your bill. Ask who pays an assessment that's approved but not yet collected. That's a negotiation point, not a fixed rule.

3. Reserves. The certificate has to state the reserves for capital expenditures. A building with low fees and thin reserves isn't cheap; it's deferring a bill to whoever owns the unit when the bill comes due.

4. The budget and the latest financials. Look for an operating deficit, a big jump in insurance, or a line that's been underfunded for years. Rising fees aren't automatically a red flag. Fees that never rise in an old building can be.

5. Judgments and pending lawsuits. This one can stop your mortgage, which is why it gets its own section below.

A sixth item matters for owner-occupants who might rent later: any restraint on transfer or leasing rules. If you think you'll rent the unit out in a few years, check the rules now, not after you move.

Why litigation and big repairs can kill the loan

Lenders review the building, not just you. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide (current version dated August 5, 2026) treats a condo project as ineligible if the association is a party to pending litigation, with exceptions for minor cases like disputes the insurer is defending, collection actions against owners, or claims under 10% of funded reserves. It also treats a project as ineligible if it needs critical repairs that affect safety or structural soundness, including unfunded repairs over $10,000 per unit that should be done within 12 months, and lenders have to document the purpose and status of every special assessment.

In plain English: a building with a lawsuit or a big unfunded repair can be perfectly livable and still be hard to finance with a conventional loan. That's a problem for you now and again when you sell, because your future buyer will hit the same wall. What we tell condo buyers is to get the certificate to your lender the day you receive it, not just to your agent. If the loan is going to fail on the building, you want to know inside the five-day window, while walking away is still clean.

If you're still lining up financing, our post on what actually happens when you get pre-approved in Philly covers what your lender looks at on your side of the file.

What it costs, and what doesn't change

The act lets the association charge a reasonable fee to prepare the certificate, plus a capital improvement fee if the declaration allows one, and no other resale or transfer fees. There's no fixed dollar cap in the statute, so ask early who pays it and whether a capital contribution is due at closing. Those add to the usual costs; Philly's 4.578% combined transfer tax applies to condos the same as row homes, and our breakdown of what Philly buyers pay at closing walks through the rest. Treat any figures here as ranges and verify them for your specific building.

One more thing the certificate doesn't do: replace your inspection. It tells you what the association knows and plans. It doesn't tell you what's going on inside your unit's walls, windows, or HVAC. Keep the inspection, and if you want the full order of events after your offer is accepted, here's what happens between offer accepted and closing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to cancel after getting condo documents in Pennsylvania?

Five days. Under the Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act, the Agreement of Sale is voidable by the buyer until the resale certificate, declaration, bylaws, and rules are delivered and for five days afterward, or until settlement if that comes first.

What is a condo resale certificate in PA?

It's a statement from the condo association, required on resales under 68 Pa.C.S. §3407, covering the monthly fee, amounts past due, special assessments, proposed capital expenditures, reserves, the budget and financials, insurance, pending lawsuits, and any leasing or transfer restrictions.

How long does the association have to provide the resale certificate?

Ten days after the unit owner requests it. Your agent will usually ask the listing side to request it as soon as the Agreement of Sale is signed.

Can I get a mortgage on a condo with pending litigation?

Often not with a conventional loan. Fannie Mae treats a project as ineligible when the association is a party to pending litigation, unless the case qualifies as minor, such as insurer-defended claims or collection actions. Ask your lender to review the certificate right away.

Who pays a special assessment when a Philly condo sells?

It depends on the timing and the Agreement of Sale. Assessments already due are typically settled by the seller at closing; approved future assessments are negotiable. Read the certificate first so you know what's coming.

If you're starting to compare condos against row homes, our buying with KG page lays out how we walk buyers through it, documents included.