Is It Harder to Sell a Home That Has an HOA?

Verrado carries 5.22 months of supply, meaning it would take about that long to sell every home currently listed at the current pace, and six months is generally considered balanced. What slows an HOA sale is paperwork and surprises, not the association itself, and Arizona law gives you a fixed set of documents and deadlines you can get ahead of before you list.

What an HOA sale actually requires in Arizona

A homeowners association is a formal legal entity created to maintain the common areas of a development and to enforce private deed restrictions. It is usually created when the development is built, and membership is mandatory. Verrado Community Association, Inc. is an Arizona nonprofit corporation incorporated as a homeowners association planned community in October 2002, and it exists to own, operate and maintain the common areas and community improvements within Verrado in Buckeye.

Arizona Revised Statutes § 33-1806 governs resale in a planned community. For planned communities with fewer than fifty units, the member must mail or deliver the required resale information to the purchaser or the purchaser's authorized agent within ten days after receipt of written notice of a pending sale. For planned communities with fifty or more units, the association must deliver it within ten days after receipt of a written notice of pending sale containing the name and address of the purchaser. The information may be furnished in paper or electronic format. Parallel resale disclosure duties for condominiums are set by A.R.S. § 33-1260.

The buyer concerns worth addressing before you list

Buyers resist an HOA when they cannot see what they are agreeing to. Arizona's resale statute tells you precisely what they are entitled to see, which means you can assemble it in advance rather than scrambling after you are under contract.

The resale package required by A.R.S. § 33-1806 includes a copy of the association's current operating budget and a copy of the most recent annual financial report of the association. It must state the total amount of money the association holds as reserves. If the statement is furnished by the association, it must say whether association records reflect any alterations or improvements to the unit that violate the declaration, and the association is not obligated to provide information on alterations or improvements that occurred more than six years before the proposed sale.

The statutory resale statement also includes an acknowledgment that the declaration, bylaws and rules of the association constitute a contract between the association and the purchaser, and that under Arizona law the association may foreclose on the property if assessments are not paid. That acknowledgment must include a signature line for the purchaser and be returned to the association within fourteen calendar days.

A buyer reading that language for the first time, three days before a closing, is a buyer who asks for an extension. A buyer who read it during the inspection period is a buyer who closes.

What a Verrado seller pays the association to produce the package

Under A.R.S. § 33-1806 the association may charge the member a fee of not more than an aggregate of $400 for preparing and delivering the resale disclosure report and related documents, covering resale disclosure, lien estoppel and any other services related to the transfer or use of the property. The association may charge a rush fee of not more than $100 if rush services must be performed within seventy-two hours after the request. If thirty days or more have passed since the date of the original disclosure report, the member may request an update, and the association may charge a document update fee of not more than $50.

These fees may be collected no earlier than the close of escrow, may be charged only once to a member for that transaction, and an association may not charge any other fee for resale disclosure, lien estoppel or other transfer-related services. The association may charge the same fee whether it furnishes the documents in paper or electronic format.

Order the package early. The $100 rush fee is avoidable, and the $50 update fee applies only after the original report ages past thirty days.

The assessment and lien issues that stall closings

Unpaid assessments are the HOA problem most likely to interfere with a sale. The association has a common expense lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit from the time the assessment becomes due, and recording the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of that lien. Common expense lien means the lien for assessments, authorized late-payment charges, reasonable collection fees and costs incurred by the HOA, and reasonable attorney fees and costs awarded by a court, under A.R.S. §§ 33-1802 and 33-1807. Member expenses are not enforceable as common expense liens, and the association's judgment lien for member expenses may not be foreclosed, taking effect only on conveyance of an interest in the real property.

Under A.R.S. § 33-1807, the HOA's common expense lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage on real estate if the owner has been and remains delinquent in the payment of assessments for a period of one year or in the amount of $1,200, whichever occurs first, as determined on the date the action is filed. Arizona Senate Bill 1494 (57th Legislature, 1st Regular Session) allows an HOA to foreclose a common expense lien if an assessment or a portion of an assessment is delinquent in the amount of $10,000 or more, rather than $1,200 or more. SB 1494 amends sections 33-1256 and 33-1807 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to condominiums and planned communities. Before filing a foreclosure action, the association's board of directors must exercise reasonable efforts to communicate with the member and offer a reasonable payment plan.

The HOA is required to furnish a statement to the lienholder, escrow agent, unit owner or designee setting forth the amount of unpaid assessments against the unit, under A.R.S. §§ 33-1256 and 33-1807. Request that statement before you list. If the number is not zero, you want to know the figure while you still have time to clear it, rather than discovering it in the escrow payoff.

Also settle any open violation question in advance. Because the resale statement must disclose whether association records reflect alterations or improvements that violate the declaration, an unpermitted patio cover or a non-conforming paint color becomes a contract issue at the worst possible moment. Resolve it with the association, or document the resolution, before a buyer reads about it.

Lender project rules that apply to attached units, not detached single family homes

Fannie Mae's project eligibility treats a project as having delinquent common expense assessments when more than 15% of the units are 60 days or more past due on HOA fees or common expense assessments, under Selling Guide Section B4-2.2-02, Full Review Process. Freddie Mac's Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide Section 5701.5 requires that no more than 15% of the total number of units in a condominium project be 60 or more days delinquent in the payment of their HOA assessments, and applies the same 15% limit to each special assessment. Projects in need of critical repairs, including material deficiencies and significant deferred maintenance, are ineligible under Fannie Mae Selling Guide Section B4-2.1-03, and projects subject to deed or resale restrictions that do not comply with Fannie Mae Selling Guide Sections B5-5.2-01 and B5-5.2-02 are ineligible.

For these standards a project means a condominium, housing cooperative, or any multi-family common interest ownership association with more than five attached units. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released updates to project eligibility standards for condominiums and housing cooperatives in July, with lender requirements taking effect in September.

If you own a detached single family home in Verrado, these project reviews are not your transaction. If you own an attached unit, the association's delinquency rate is part of your buyer's financing approval, and it is worth confirming where the association stands before you accept an offer that depends on conventional financing.

How to present the association in the listing

Lead with what the association actually owns and does. Verrado Community Association, Inc. is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the common property within the development of Verrado in Buckeye. Verrado is a master-planned community in the city of Buckeye, about 25 miles west of downtown Phoenix at the base of the White Tank Mountains. Victory at Verrado is the Active Adult 55+ community within Verrado.

Name the association by name, give the buyer the contact point, and attach the documents. The Verrado Community Association's mailing address is 4236 N Verrado Way, Suite A-201, Buckeye, AZ 85396.

Treat the whole package as marketing material rather than disclosure friction: the current operating budget, the most recent annual financial report, the reserve total, and the governing documents. A buyer who can read the budget and the reserve balance before writing an offer is not guessing about what the association costs or whether it is funded.

The Community Facilities District line on a Verrado tax bill

A Community Facilities District is a special taxing district that allows financing of the installation, operation and maintenance of public improvements such as roads, water and wastewater facilities, flood control and drainage projects benefiting a specified area. The Arizona Community Facilities District Act became effective in 1988 under Title 48 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, and Arizona communities including Scottsdale, Surprise, Peoria, Buckeye, Mesa and Goodyear have used CFDs to finance infrastructure for specific communities.

The Verrado Western Overlay CFD, a component unit of the city of Buckeye, was established June 19, 2001, is a political subdivision of the State of Arizona, and appears on the Maricopa County property tax statement as VERRADO WESTERN OVERLAY CFD. The Verrado District 1 CFD appears on the Maricopa County property tax statement as VERRADO DIST 1 CFD. The Buckeye City Council serves as the Board of Directors of the Verrado District 1 CFD, all district transactions are included in the city's financial statements, and the city has no liability for the debt.

CFD debt service is paid through an ad valorem property tax levy on properties within the district based on assessed valuation. The Maricopa County Assessor determines assessed value and the Maricopa County Treasurer collects the property tax. CFD bonds are the responsibility of property owners, so the duty to pay that debt shifts from developer to homeowner as a community develops, and CFD rates vary by year depending on the levy needed for debt service and operations and maintenance. CFDs appear under the Special District section of a Maricopa County property tax statement.

This is separate from the association assessment, and it belongs in your pre-listing conversation with a buyer. Pull the current tax statement, point to the Special District line, and let the buyer see the actual number for your parcel rather than a rumor about it.

Pricing when a buyer is comparing an HOA home against one without

Price to the comparable sales inside your own community first. New listings came on at a median asking price of $549K at $268 per square foot, with 59 properties newly listed. Homes under contract carried a median asking price of $490K at $267 per square foot, with 36 properties pending and a median of 28 days on market.

That gap between the median asking price on active listings and the $543,000 median sold price is the pricing discipline question. At 5.22 months of supply and 98.48% of asking price, a correctly priced Verrado home sells near its number, and an aspirationally priced one accumulates days on market against a 47 day median.

A buyer comparing an HOA home to a non-HOA home is running a total monthly cost comparison, which means the association assessment and the CFD levy both belong on the table from the first showing. Give them the figures for your parcel. A buyer who has to estimate those numbers will estimate them high.

Verrado sale prices and days on market are not published by subdivision, by price band, or by whether a home sits inside Victory at Verrado.

The Bottom Line

An HOA does not make a Verrado home harder to sell. What costs sellers money is a resale package ordered late, an unpaid assessment found in escrow, or a violation question that surfaces after the inspection period. Arizona's § 33-1806 timeline is ten days from written notice of a pending sale, the association's aggregate resale fee is capped at $400, and the statement of unpaid assessments is available to you before you ever list.

If you own in Verrado or the surrounding West Valley and want your association documents, assessment status and CFD line sorted out before your home goes on the market, reach out and we will build the pre-listing package together.

Written by Will McRorie, part of the Kristan Cole Network team.

Sources

Pages read on October 12, 2026.

• 33-1806 (azleg.gov)
• Freddie Mac: Freddie Mac Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide
• Fannie Mae: Media
• Senate Fact Sheet: SB1494
• S Ver of SB1246: Chapter 0162
• House Bill Summary: HB2609
• Community Facilities District (CFD) (buckeyeaz.gov)
• Verrado Western Overlay CFD (buckeyeaz.gov)
• Verrado District 1 CFD (buckeyeaz.gov)