Free PDF guide
Townhome Buyer's Association Guide: Who Owns Your Roof?
Two townhomes can carry completely different risk depending on one line in the HOA documents — here's how to find it.
What's inside
- ✓The one document request that determines your entire risk profile — governing docs showing whether your HOA owns your exterior or you do
- ✓A side-by-side of Structure A (fee-simple, lower risk) versus Structure B (common-interest, condo-level risk) and how to tell which applies
- ✓A lighter, amenity-scoped HOA review process for buyers who own their own exterior individually
3 key takeaways
Does "townhome" tell you anything about who owns the roof?
No — it describes a building shape, not an ownership structure. Check the governing documents' maintenance responsibility section to find out.
What should you assume if the documents are unclear?
Treat it as the higher-risk case (HOA owns the exterior) until proven otherwise. Guessing wrong in the other direction is the expensive mistake.
If you own your exterior individually, does the HOA's finances still matter?
Yes, but only for what it actually owns — shared amenities, common-area landscaping, a pool or clubhouse. A weak reserve for a community pool is a real but bounded risk, not a structural one.
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