Often half the price of a single-family home, or less, condos offer an affordable alternative to the American Dream for some 42 million Americans who live in them, according to the Alexander, VA-based Community Associations Institute.

Buying one, however, can be a lot like buying a share in a closely held, publicly-traded real estate holding company governed by an ever-changing regulatory system.

In some areas construction-defect litigation is rampant, sale disclosure issues troublesome, reams of new and confusing laws are often enacted and, face it, you've got to have a certain mental toughness to live in such close proximity with your neighbors.

One aspect of condos' notoriety, rule enforcement, was lampooned earlier this year in an episode of the X-Files television series featuring a Tibetan monster conjured up to punish condo residents who didn't follow the rules.

While you probably don't need a Pokemon to fight off rule-enforcing monsters when you buy a condo, you do need special help -- a combination real estate attorney-broker-emotional support group.

The Sacramento, CA-based Common Interest Consumer Project comes close. This non-profit education and research group aims to boost consumers' savvy about condominiums -- a type of housing that shelters up to 7.5 million Californians, or nearly one in four. More than 60 percent of those who buy condos are first-time home buyers.

One of the Project's efforts is a newly revised booklet called ''Caveat Emptor: Before You Buy that California Condo.''

It's a primer on the condo history, the rules and laws that govern it and the scores of problems that plague it. While specific to California, it does have implications for condo buyers everywhere.

"Each state has different regulations but it does have information for people outside California," says Frederick L. Pilot, the Project's president, who owns a condo in Novato, CA.

Often criticized as a loose cannon, Pilot insists he's trying to chip away at ignorance -- not the condo industry.

"I'm just trying to give them the full picture of the risk as well as the reward. The book doesn’t say 'Don't buy condos.' It's a wonderful affordable alternative, but they come with some inherent risks and concerns," Pilot says.

As such, a condo home is not always your castle.

Condominiums typically are high-density housing constructed as what's known as common interest developments (CIDs) -- you own everything in your unit, at least everything on your side of the walls. You are a shareholder in the remainder of the buildings, grounds and other facilities. As a shareholder you are a mandatory member of the CID's homeowners association, the organization responsible for the upkeep and care of buildings and grounds.

Condo homeowners collectively make decisions single-family home owners normally make themselves. Those decisions involve homeowner association budgets with hundreds of thousands of dollars to manage and the decisions are based on reams of rules, regulations and other operating guidelines not unlike those that regulate a business.

The task of actually keeping the association running often falls to a group of inexperienced volunteer home owners who comprise the association's board of directors.

"It's like being a stockholder in a closely held, publicly traded non-profit real estate holding corporation run by volunteers," Pilot said.

If you are considering a condo purchase, consider these tips:

Get to know the association, especially the board of directors, to determine how they manage the community. If they use a management company, do a background check on it with other association clients.

Broderick Perkins owns a one-bedroom condo in San Jose California and is a member of the board of directors of his homeowners association.

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Published: December 3, 1999

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.