Kelly Green Commons

A 1989 to 1995 building

The build window sits squarely inside the era question that matters most in this region.

Polybutylene supply piping was in wide residential use from the late 1970s until it stopped in the mid-1990s. A 1989 unit here may well have it and a 1995 one may not. Where it has been replaced, that is a documented selling point rather than a footnote.

At thirty years or so, the common elements have reached or passed a first full replacement cycle: roofs, drives, siding and any shared drainage, all of which are the association's rather than the owner's. That makes the reserve study the most consequential document in the transaction, ahead of the inspection of the unit.

Inside the unit, original furnaces, air conditioning and water heaters are beyond normal expectancy, and original double-glazed windows show seal failure as fogging between the panes.

Vaulted ceilings and decks, both with agendas

Two features recur in the descriptions here and each carries questions a general inspection may not raise.

A vaulted ceiling follows the pitch of the roof rather than sitting flat below it, which removes the attic above that room. That changes several things at once. Heat rises and collects out of reach, so the occupied part of the room runs cooler in winter and hotter in summer, and a single heating and cooling zone commonly cannot keep it even — ask how many zones serve the unit. Insulation sits in the rafter depth rather than in an attic, with a narrow ventilation channel above it that is easy to block, and where it is blocked or thin the result shows as ice damming at the eaves. And light fittings and smoke alarms up there are out of reach of a step ladder.

A deck of this era is on its second life or approaching it. The connection that fails is the ledger board where it attaches to the building and how that is flashed — which on an elevated deck has more serious consequences than on a ground-level one. Look at the posts where they meet the ground or a footing, and at the fasteners.

In a condominium, whether the deck is the owner's or the association's is a master deed question and it varies. That single answer decides who pays when one needs work, and it is among the items most often misassumed.

A very small association changes the arithmetic

In a condominium the roofs, facades, drives and shared systems belong to the association, and their age lands on its budget. In a very small building that principle stops being general and becomes arithmetic.

A roof replacement across a 200-unit community divides into a per-unit figure most owners can absorb. The same work in a building of a handful of units divides by a handful. There is almost no dilution — each owner carries a large fraction of every major expense, and a single significant repair can arrive as a special assessment of real size.

That cuts both ways and the good side is genuine. A small association is easier to run, easier to get a decision out of, and far less likely to be captured by an unresponsive board or an expensive management contract. Owners generally know one another and know the building. Reserves, where they exist, are simpler to understand.

But it makes the reserve study more consequential rather than less, and it makes the specific questions sharper. What are the major common elements, when is each due, and what is actually set aside? Is there professional management, or is it run by the owners? And has there been a special assessment — in a building this size, one is a much more likely event than in a large community.

The documents, in order

The reserve study comes first, ahead of the inspection of the unit itself, because whatever the association is responsible for, its age lands on the association's budget rather than the owner's.

The five-year assessment history comes second and is more informative than the current figure. A single-level unit assessment across five years against ageing common elements is a question rather than a reassurance — it can mean disciplined management or deferral, and the reserve study tells you which.

The master deed's division of responsibility comes third: which elements are general common, which are limited common and assigned to a particular unit, and which belong to the owner outright. In a downtown building that division commonly covers windows, balconies, the facade and any parking space, and it varies between associations.

Then the recent minutes, where a pending special assessment or a long-running dispute surfaces before it reaches a disclosure.

The west side, off Miller

Miller Road runs west from downtown Ann Arbor, and a position just west of Maple puts this community between the city's older west side and the newer development beyond it.

That is a short run to downtown and to the University of Michigan's central and medical campuses, without being inside a commercial district — which for many households is the better arrangement than a downtown address itself: proximity without the deliveries, the late activity and the market-day traffic.

Ann Arbor has fifteen historic districts, including the Old West Side. Whether a specific building falls within one is a parcel question the city answers, and it matters — inside a district, exterior work generally requires review before it proceeds, at the rear and to outbuildings as well as at the street, which in a condominium falls on the association and shapes what any renovation program can be.

The precision worth adding for any location described by proximity: measure the actual route on foot or by car at the hour you would use it, and note whether it crosses an arterial.

Schools

Ann Arbor Public Schools serves Kelly Green Commons. Specific school assignments are set by address.

Buying or selling here

The piping is the loose end here, and it closes with an inspector.