How does buying a home on a golf course in Scottsdale work?

Buying a home on a golf course in Scottsdale means buying a house or condominium on a lot beside a course, and then sorting out separately how the golf club, the homeowners association and the owner of the course each connect to it. Before we write an offer, I'll request the association documents and the recorded plat and declaration, and I'll ask the club for its membership terms in writing, because each one answers a different question about the home.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, helping people buy and sell luxury homes, with more than 20 years in real estate.

Some listings mark Golf Course Lot and some do not, so a home in a golf community can sit away from the course. Call me and I'll check where a lot sits.

Whether a golf membership comes with a golf course home in Scottsdale depends on the club and on the home, so the answer for one house does not carry over to the next. The listing may say nothing about it, so the first question on any course home is whether a membership is attached to the property, offered separately, or not available at all.

Then ask the club, in writing, whether a membership transfers with the sale, whether the buyer applies and needs approval, whether there is a waitlist and where a new buyer would stand on it, and what the club's current initiation and dues schedule is. I'm not quoting fees here because each club sets and changes its own, so rely on the club's written schedule.

If the club needs to approve you, that has to fit inside the contract timeline, so ask how long approval takes before you make an offer. Here's how buying a home in Arizona moves from offer to closing, so you can see where the club's answers need to land.

According to the National Golf Foundation's glossary, a private course restricts play to members and their guests, a daily fee course is privately owned but provides at least limited public access, and a municipal course is owned by a tax-supported entity such as a city or county and is open to the general public. The glossary does not define semi-private, so ask the club what the label means at that club and whether the course is open to non-members.

Equity and non-equity are terms each club defines for itself, so the club's own membership documents control. I'd ask the club, in writing, whether the membership is equity or non-equity, whether it carries a vote on club decisions, whether any part of the initiation payment comes back when you leave and how long that takes, and who pays dues while a resigned membership is being filled.

Also ask whether the club has any assessments planned or outstanding, and, if a membership is attached to the home you are buying, what happens to it when you sell.

The club and the homeowners association are separate organizations and each sends its own bill. The club charges dues and any club assessments under its membership documents. The association charges its assessments under the community's recorded declaration. A buyer can owe one, the other, or both, depending on the community and on whether the membership comes with the home.

From the club, I'd ask for:

• The membership documents, the club rules and the membership category the home qualifies for.
• The current written schedule of initiation payment, dues and any assessments.
• Waitlist status and the transfer or resale procedure.
• If the membership is equity, the club's written refund process and how long it takes.

From the association, the statutes spell out what you receive on a resale. For a planned community, A.R.S. 33-1806 says that where the community has fewer than 50 properties the owner delivers the documents within ten days after the purchaser's offer is accepted. At 50 or more, the owner gives the association written notice of the accepted offer and the association then has ten days to deliver. A.R.S. 33-1260 sets the same timing for condominiums.

The packet includes the current declaration and final plat, the bylaws and rules, the operating budget, the financial statements, the reserve study if there is one, minutes from the previous three open board meetings, current and approved special assessments, pending lawsuits, outstanding violations and a statement on whether the community is under declarant control. Those statutes cover the association, so the club's documents come from the club separately. Because the association packet arrives after your offer is accepted, ask the listing agent for the recorded declaration and the rules up front. Here's my post on HOA rules and regulations in Arizona and another on gated communities and HOAs in Scottsdale.

A lot beside a fairway can take golf balls, and I'd put two questions to the right people before the inspection period ends. Ask a licensed Arizona attorney who is responsible for damage or injury from a golf ball, and ask your insurance agent whether damage from a golf ball is covered under the policy you'd carry. Here's how the inspection period works in Arizona, and here's my post on homeowners insurance in DC Ranch.

Course maintenance is easier to judge in person. Visit the lot at different times of day, and ask the club when the course is mowed and irrigated and where the irrigation equipment sits in relation to the property line.

Setbacks, view easements and any easement for the course are whatever the recorded plat and the recorded declaration say, which can differ from what a listing description says. Request both, and ask the title company for a copy of every recorded document that affects the lot. Call me and I'll help you request them and go through the sections that apply to your lot.

Start by finding out who owns the course parcel. According to the Maricopa County Assessor's website, you can search for a parcel by parcel number, by address or by the owner's name. The title company can also show you the recorded deed for the course land. Then ask the seller, through the listing agent, and the club whether they know of any plan to sell or change the course.

Whether a course can be closed or redeveloped depends on the recorded documents for that community and that parcel, so I'd read the recorded declaration and any recorded restrictions on the course land before you make an offer. Look for wording about what the course land may be used for and whether anyone is required to keep operating a golf course.

According to ABC15, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in favor of two Ahwatukee homeowners whose deed restrictions kept the Ahwatukee Lakes course land a golf course, and the order requires the owner to restore it. Fox 10 reported on September 20, 2019 that the court upheld a 2018 ruling requiring the owner to "restore it back to a golf course and only a golf course." That is a Phoenix case about one course, but it shows why the recorded declaration for the course land you are looking at is worth reading before you make an offer.

Those documents are legal instruments, so ask a licensed Arizona attorney what they mean for the home you are considering. I'll request the recorded documents with you and mark the sections to take to the attorney.

A condominium on a course follows A.R.S. 33-1260 for the association packet, and a house in a planned community follows A.R.S. 33-1806. The ten-day timing is the same. The condominium list also includes the association's insurance certificates showing coverage limits and deductibles, so read those closely, along with the reserve study, the minutes and any pending lawsuits.

The club questions are the same for either. Ask whether the membership is attached to the unit, what the club's written fee schedule is, and what the transfer process looks like. The club confirms whether a unit qualifies for a membership category, so get that answer from the club.

• Assuming a membership comes with the home. Ask the club in writing, and ask the listing agent which membership category, if any, the seller holds.
• Waiting for the HOA packet to ask about the club. The packet arrives after the offer is accepted and does not cover the club.
• Relying on the listing description for the position of the lot. Check the recorded plat and the lot itself.
• Assuming the course will always be there. Read the recorded declaration for the course land and ask an attorney what it allows.
• Skipping the questions about golf balls. Put them to an attorney and to your insurance agent while the inspection period is running.

Send me the address or the community you're looking at. I'll go through the association documents, the recorded plat and declaration and the club's written membership terms with you before we write an offer. Get in touch or call me at (480) 203-6605. If you'd like to start with the market, here's my page on Scottsdale.