HOA Documents to Review Before Buying a New Construction Home

The HOA fee is only one line in a stack of documents that shapes life in your new community. Here is what to read and what to look for before you sign.

Most buyers ask about the monthly fee and move on. That number matters, but it tells you almost nothing about what the association actually does, how decisions get made, or whether your neighbors are footing the bill for a special assessment three years from now. The real answers live in the HOA documents to review before buying, a set of papers most buyers skim or skip entirely.

If you're buying new construction in a planned community or a condominium association anywhere in South Central Pennsylvania, these documents come with the package. Reading them now, before you sign, is how you avoid surprises later.

Key Takeaways

• The declaration (or covenants) controls what you can do with your home and lot, from fence height to the color you paint your front door.
• The bylaws explain how the association operates, how the board gets elected, and how owners vote on decisions.
• Rules and regulations cover daily life: parking, pets, trash, and whether you're allowed to rent out your home.
• The budget and reserve study show whether the association is saving enough for future repairs or relying on special assessments to cover shortfalls.
• Your monthly fee pays for specific things, and it's just as important to know what it doesn't cover.
• In a new community, the builder typically controls the HOA board early on and hands control to homeowners as the community sells out.
• Pennsylvania law separates planned communities and condominiums into two different statutes, and buyers of new units from a builder generally receive a public offering statement.
• Asking a few direct questions before you buy tells you more than any sales conversation will.

The Declaration: What You Can and Cannot Do With Your Home

The declaration, sometimes called the covenants, is the foundational document of the association. It's recorded against the property, which means it runs with the land and applies to you no matter who owned the home before you.

This is where you'll find the restrictions that actually affect how your property looks and functions. Fence materials and height. Whether you can put up a shed, and where. Approved exterior paint colors. Rules about satellite dishes, landscaping changes, and additions. Some declarations are detailed down to mailbox style. Others leave more room for individual choice.

Read the declaration before you fall in love with a lot. If you're planning a fence for the dog or a shed for the mower, confirm it's allowed before you assume it is.

The Bylaws: How the Association Is Run

If the declaration tells you what you can't do, the bylaws tell you how the association itself operates. This document covers board elections, how often meetings happen, quorum requirements, and how voting works on association matters.

Bylaws matter more than most buyers expect. They determine whether you'll have a real voice in decisions or whether a small group of owners effectively runs things. They also set the process for amending the declaration itself, which is worth knowing if you ever want to push for a rule change down the road.

The Rules and Regulations: Daily Life in the Community

Separate from the declaration and bylaws, most associations maintain a set of rules and regulations that cover the day-to-day stuff. Parking on the street. Pet limits and leash requirements. Trash and recycling pickup. Whether owners can rent their homes, and under what terms.

These rules tend to change more often than the declaration or bylaws, since they don't usually require the same formal amendment process. Ask whether the current rules and regulations are the most recent version, and ask how often they get updated.

What to Look for in HOA Documents: The Budget and Reserves

This is the section buyers skip most often, and it's the one that affects your wallet the most.

The association's budget shows what the current fee actually pays for; landscaping contracts, insurance, management fees, utilities for common areas. Compare that against the reserve study, which should show how much money the association has set aside for big-ticket future repairs: roof replacement on a clubhouse, repaving a private street, replacing a pool.

An association with thin reserves isn't necessarily a red flag, but it does raise the odds of a special assessment landing in homeowners' mailboxes when something major needs repair and the reserve fund comes up short. Ask how the reserve amount was calculated and when it was last updated. A reserve study that's five or ten years old tells you less than you think it does.

What the Fee Covers, and What It Doesn't

HOA fees generally cover some combination of lawn care, snow removal, trash service, common area maintenance, and shared amenities like a clubhouse or pool. In communities built around low-maintenance living, that can mean real time saved every weekend.

What the fee typically does not cover matters just as much: interior home maintenance, your own driveway or walkway in most cases, and anything specific to your unit that falls outside the common elements. The declaration and the association's operating documents will spell out exactly where that line sits. Don't assume; read the document and ask directly if something isn't clear.

In a New Community: How Control Shifts From Builder to Homeowners

In a brand-new community, the builder typically controls the HOA board in the early phases. This is standard and expected. It lets the builder manage construction, common area development, and the transition process while homes are still being sold.

As the community sells out and more homeowners move in, control shifts to a homeowner-elected board. The declaration and bylaws should spell out how and when that transition happens, including the threshold of homes sold or the timeline that triggers it. Understanding where a community sits in that process, early builder control versus homeowner-run, gives you a sense of how much influence you'll have and how soon.

Pennsylvania Law: What Governs Your HOA

Pennsylvania handles planned communities and condominiums under two separate statutes.

Planned communities, which cover most single-family and townhome HOA communities, fall under the Uniform Planned Community Act, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5101 et seq., as published by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.

Condominiums fall under the Uniform Condominium Act, 68 Pa.C.S. § 3101 et seq. That statute includes a chapter specifically dedicated to purchaser protections, covering disclosure requirements like the public offering statement (§ 3402), purchaser rights (§ 3406), escrow of deposits (§ 3408), and labeling of promotional materials (§ 3413), among other provisions.

When you buy a new home directly from a builder in most planned community or condominium settings in Pennsylvania, you generally receive a public offering statement as part of that purchase. This is a disclosure document, and its purpose under the statutes is to give buyers information about the community and the association before they commit. We're not able to walk through every specific disclosure requirement or timeline here, since that detail depends on the statute and the structure of the specific community. If you have questions about what you're entitled to receive and when, a real estate attorney familiar with Pennsylvania HOA law is the right resource.

Questions to Ask Before You Sign

A short list of direct questions will tell you more than the documents alone:

• How has the HOA fee changed over the past three to five years?
• Are there any special assessments planned or under discussion right now?
• Who handles exterior maintenance, and what exactly does that include?
• When did control of the board transfer, or when is it expected to?
• How recently was the reserve study updated?

Ask these out loud, to the builder's sales team, the current HOA management company, or both. Direct answers now save confusion later.

Know What You're Buying Into

A new home search usually centers on the floor plan, the lot, the finishes. The HOA documents don't get the same attention, but they shape your daily life and your long-term costs just as much as any of those choices.

Reading the declaration, the bylaws, the rules, and the budget before you sign is how you know exactly what you're buying into, not just the home, but the community around it.

At Garman Builders, we build homes across South Central Pennsylvania designed around the way people actually live, including townhome and 55+ communities where low-maintenance living and shared amenities are part of the appeal. If you have questions about a specific community's HOA structure or where it sits in the transition from builder to homeowner control, our team is glad to walk through it with you directly. Explore our communities or contact us to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an HOA declaration?
The declaration, also called the covenants, is the recorded legal document that establishes the association and sets restrictions on what owners can do with their home and lot, including things like fencing, exterior colors, and approved structures.

Are HOA reserves required by law in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania's community association statutes address reserve-related disclosures as part of the broader framework for planned communities and condominiums. Specific reserve funding requirements depend on the association's own governing documents, so review the budget and reserve study directly.

What is a public offering statement?
Under the Uniform Condominium Act, a public offering statement is a disclosure document provided to purchasers that includes information about the community and the association. Planned communities are addressed under a separate statute, the Uniform Planned Community Act.

When does control of a new community's HOA transfer to homeowners?
Control typically shifts from the builder to a homeowner-elected board as the community sells out, following the timeline or sales threshold outlined in the declaration and bylaws for that specific community.

What's the difference between the bylaws and the rules and regulations?
The bylaws govern how the association itself operates, including board elections and voting. The rules and regulations cover day-to-day matters like parking, pets, and trash, and they're typically easier for the board to update over time.