Buying a condominium in Texas uses a different promulgated contract than buying a house, adds a document called the resale certificate that the owners' association must produce within 10 days of a written request, and gives the buyer a cancellation right that runs from the day that certificate arrives rather than from the day the contract is signed. Miss the sequence and you lose protections you did not know you had.
Most of what goes wrong in a Texas condo purchase is not a surprise about the unit. It is a surprise about the building — a special assessment nobody mentioned, a reserve balance that will not cover a roof, litigation the seller did not disclose. The resale certificate is the document that surfaces all of it, and the schedule around it is the part buyers routinely get wrong. Knowing what is different about buying a condo in Texas is a mechanical matter rather than a judgment call, and it is the first conversation The Agency Dallas has with a buyer looking at any high-rise.
Which contract do I sign for a condo?
Not the one you would sign for a house. The Texas Real Estate Commission promulgates a separate form: the Residential Condominium Contract (Resale), TREC No. 30-17, effective January 3, 2025. It is structurally similar to the One to Four Family contract but adds the condominium-specific paragraphs, including the resale certificate mechanics.
Two related forms come up:
- TREC Form 32-5, Condominium Resale Certificate, effective November 25, 2024 — the form the association completes.
- TREC No. 36-11, Addendum for Property Subject to Mandatory Membership in a Property Owners Association — which TREC states plainly is not for use with condominiums. If you see it attached to a condo contract, something has been done by habit rather than on purpose.
Which law governs the building?
The Texas Uniform Condominium Act, Chapter 82 of the Texas Property Code, governs condominiums whose declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 1994. Buildings declared before that date fall under the older Chapter 81 regime unless the owners voted to opt in.
This is not trivia. Chapter 82 is where the resale certificate requirement, the cancellation right, and the association's disclosure obligations live. A 1970s Turtle Creek building and a 2018 tower can be operating under materially different rules, and the first question about any older building is which chapter applies.
What is the resale certificate, and what has to be in it?
It is the association's disclosure about the building's financial and legal condition. Under §82.157, the reselling owner must deliver the declaration, bylaws, rules and the certificate before the contract is executed or the unit conveyed, and the certificate must be dated no earlier than three months before delivery. The association has to furnish it within 10 days of a written request, and may charge no more than $375 for it.
What it must contain — read every line of this, because each item is a question someone learned to ask the hard way:
- Any right of first refusal or other restraint on transfer
- The periodic assessment amount, and any unpaid assessments owed by the seller
- Other unpaid fees the seller owes
- Capital expenditures approved for the next 12 months
- Reserve amounts, including reserves designated for a specific project
- Unsatisfied judgments against the association
- Pending lawsuits against the association
- Insurance coverage provided for unit owners
- The board's knowledge of any violation of the declaration, bylaws or rules affecting the unit or its limited common elements
- Notices of health or building code violations
- Remaining leasehold term and renewal terms, if the land is leased
- The managing agent's name, address and phone
- The current operating budget and balance sheet
- All transfer-related fees — what they are, who is paid, how much
The three bolded clusters are where the money is. Approved capital expenditures plus reserve balances plus pending litigation tell you whether a special assessment is coming, which is the single largest unbudgeted risk in condominium ownership.
What is the cancellation right nobody mentions?
Under §82.156, if you have not received the resale certificate before you sign the contract, you may cancel — and the clock runs from delivery, not from signing. The buyer may cancel before the sixth day after receiving the certificate, or before executing a waiver, whichever comes first. Notice must be hand-delivered or sent certified mail, return receipt requested. The refund comes back without penalty.
Two practical consequences:
- Do not waive it casually. A waiver presented at signing is sometimes handed over as a formality. It is not.
- Do not let the certificate sit. The window is short and it starts the moment the document lands in your inbox. Read it that week, with someone who knows what a thin reserve looks like.
If the association blows the 10-day deadline, the seller may substitute a sworn affidavit in place of the certificate. That is a legal cure, not an informational one — you still do not have the numbers, and it is worth asking why.
What else does a condo buyer carry that a house buyer does not?
- Two insurance policies, not one. The association's master policy covers the structure and common elements. Your HO-6, or walls-in, policy covers interior finishes, improvements, personal property, liability and loss of use. Texas does not require an HO-6 by statute, but lenders and bylaws routinely do, and Fannie Mae expects coverage sufficient to restore the unit's finishes.
- A building your lender has to approve. The building is underwritten alongside you. We break that down in what a condo lender will ask about the building.
- Monthly dues, permanently. Unlike an HOA fee on a house, high-rise dues fund staffed services — concierge, valet, security, the master insurance policy, the amenity level. They are a real and permanent line in the carrying cost.
Does a condo get the Texas homestead exemption?
Yes. Under Texas law a residence homestead may be a separate structure, a condominium, or a manufactured home, so a condo unit qualifies on the same basis as a house if it is your principal residence. You file with the county appraisal district — in Dallas County, with DCAD — and the exemption is never automatic.
For 2026 the school-tax homestead exemption is $140,000, following Senate Bill 4 of the 89th Legislature and the constitutional amendment Texas voters approved in November 2025, with an additional $60,000 for owners who are 65 or older or disabled.
What the sequence should look like
- Written request to the association for the resale certificate, the day you go under contract.
- Certificate delivered within 10 days.
- Read it inside the six-day window — budget, reserves, approved capital expenditures, litigation, then everything else.
- Order the HO-6 quote using the master policy's actual deductible, not a guess.
- Let the lender start its project review in parallel rather than after the inspection.
Run in that order, the condominium purchase is no harder than a house. Run out of order, the protections expire quietly. That sequencing is the whole of what is different about buying a condo in Texas, and it is what The Agency Dallas puts on a dated calendar the day a condo contract goes effective.
Looking at a specific building? The Bleu Ciel FAQ answers the building-level questions for the tower at 3130 N. Harwood, and what $1,095,000 buys there right now covers the two residences on the market.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the association have to produce a resale certificate in Texas?
Ten days from a written request, under Texas Property Code §82.157. The association may charge up to $375. The certificate must be dated no earlier than three months before it is delivered, so a stale one does not satisfy the requirement.
Can I cancel a Texas condo contract after I sign it?
If you did not receive the resale certificate before signing, yes — §82.156 lets you cancel before the sixth day after you receive it, or before you execute a waiver, whichever comes first. Notice must be hand-delivered or sent certified mail, return receipt requested, and the earnest money comes back without penalty.
Is the condo contract the same as the regular TREC contract?
No. Condominium resales use TREC No. 30-17, the Residential Condominium Contract (Resale), effective January 3, 2025. The property owners' association addendum, TREC No. 36-11, is expressly not for use with condominiums.
What is the single most important page of the resale certificate?
The one showing reserve balances next to approved capital expenditures for the next twelve months. A large planned expenditure against a thin reserve is how a special assessment arrives, and it is visible months before anyone votes on it.
Do I need condo insurance in Texas if the building has a master policy?
The master policy covers the structure and common elements, not your interior finishes, improvements or belongings. You carry an HO-6 walls-in policy for those. Texas does not mandate it by statute, but lenders and most bylaws require it.
Does a condominium qualify for the homestead exemption in Texas?
Yes, if it is your principal residence. A residence homestead may be a condominium under Texas law. File with your county appraisal district; in Dallas County that is DCAD, and the exemption must be applied for.
Sources: Texas Property Code Chapter 82 (Uniform Condominium Act), §82.156 and §82.157; Texas Real Estate Commission forms TREC No. 30-17 (effective 01/03/2025), TREC Form 32-5 (effective 11/25/2024) and TREC No. 36-11; Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts on residence homestead exemptions; Fannie Mae Selling Guide on HO-6 coverage requirements.
