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Santa Rosa Condos and Townhomes: HOAs, FHA Approval and Buildings

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Santa Rosa’s condos and townhomes are spread across the city rather than concentrated in one district: association-maintained homes in Oakmont’s sub-associations, condominium clusters such as those on Woodlake Drive in Bennett Valley, and complexes near downtown and the SMART line. What separates one from another is less the floor plan than the homeowners association behind it: its budget and reserves, its insurance, whether lenders will finance it, and what it allows you to do with the unit.

Inside city limits, city rules, Santa Rosa Water and the city’s transfer tax apply; a few Santa Rosa mailing addresses are in unincorporated county areas, so confirm the parcel’s jurisdiction. This page explains how to read a Santa Rosa association’s documents, how FHA, VA and conventional approval works, what California’s balcony inspection law means for older complexes, and how insurance and rental rules affect value. Current listings and the market report appear with this page.

Santa Rosa condos for sale

Santa Rosa market report

Where Santa Rosa’s attached homes are

Neighborhood names in Santa Rosa are informal and overlap, so treat these as starting points and confirm each complex’s address, association and jurisdiction.

Downtown and the rail corridor. The Santa Rosa Downtown SMART station is at 7 4th Street and the Santa Rosa North station at 1500 Guerneville Road, near Coddingtown. Condos within walking distance of either can appeal to buyers who commute by train, which runs south through Marin to Larkspur Landing and its Golden Gate Ferry connection.
Bennett Valley. On the city side, condominium parcels cluster around the golf course, most of them on Woodlake Drive. Our Bennett Valley guide covers the city and county sides of the valley.
Oakmont. The Oakmont Village Association counts more than 3,200 homes, with association-maintained homes located in 36 sub-associations that may provide exterior services. A buyer there can belong to two associations at once. See our Oakmont guide for its occupancy rules and fees.
Fountaingrove. If you are considering an attached home in the hills north of downtown, read our Fountaingrove guide first; it covers the area’s associations, post-2017 rebuild permits and fire zones.
Rincon Valley and the east side. Attached homes here sit within mostly single-family areas, so compare each complex with nearby detached homes; see our Rincon Valley guide.

Condo, townhome or PUD: what you actually own

The word on the listing describes the look. The recorded documents describe what you own, and that drives insurance, financing and repairs.

Type	What you own	What the association usually covers	Typical owner’s policy
Condominium	The airspace of your unit plus a shared interest in the common areas	Building structure, roofs, exteriors and common areas under a master policy	An HO-6 policy for interiors, contents and liability
Townhome in a planned development (PUD)	Your lot and the structure on it, plus membership in the association	Common areas; sometimes roofs, exteriors or landscaping by the CC&Rs	Often a full dwelling policy, depending on the CC&Rs
Attached home in an age-qualified or master-planned community	Usually a lot, with a sub-association for exterior maintenance	As defined by both associations’ documents	Confirm with the CC&Rs and an insurance agent

Ask for the condominium plan or subdivision map and the CC&Rs early. Two townhomes that look alike can carry very different insurance obligations.

The HOA documents a seller must provide

Under Civil Code section 4525, the seller of a unit in a California common interest development must give the buyer, as soon as practicable before transfer of title or signing the sales contract:

all governing documents (CC&Rs, bylaws, rules), and a statement if the association is not incorporated;
the association’s most recent annual budget report and related documents;
a statement of current regular and special assessments and fees, and any unpaid amounts, fines or penalties on the unit;
any approved assessment changes that are not yet due;
notices of unresolved violations, and any construction defect notices the association has sent members;
a statement describing any rental prohibition;
on request, board minutes from the previous 12 months; and
the most recent balcony, deck and stairway inspection report under section 5551.

What to read first

The annual budget report (Civil Code section 5300) is the best single document. It must include the operating budget, a reserve summary and funding plan, any deferred major repairs, any special assessments the board expects (with amount and timing), outstanding association loans, and a summary of the property, liability, earthquake, flood and fidelity insurance with limits and deductibles. For condominiums it must also state on a separate page whether the project is FHA-approved and VA-approved.

Civil Code section 5605 limits what a board can do without a member vote: regular assessments can rise no more than 20% over the prior year, and special assessments are capped at 5% of budgeted gross expenses in a year. Larger increases need member approval, so read the minutes for any vote that is coming. Our guide to how HOAs work covers the basics.

Financing: FHA, VA and conventional approval

A condo loan depends on the project as well as the borrower. Each program reviews the association differently.

FHA

HUD keeps a searchable list of FHA-approved condominium projects that you or your lender can search by city, ZIP code, project name or status (approved, expired, rejected or withdrawn). If a project is not approved, FHA allows single-unit approval in some cases: the project must be complete, have at least five units and stay within FHA’s concentration limits (10% FHA-insured units in projects of ten or more units, or two units in smaller projects). The lender submits HUD’s single-unit approval questionnaire with the case number request.

VA

VA approves condominium projects separately from FHA. The association’s annual budget report must say whether the project is VA-approved, so check it before a veteran buyer writes an offer.

Conventional (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)

Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide (topic B4-2.1-03, August 5, 2026) makes a project ineligible if it needs critical repairs that affect safety, structural integrity or habitability, including unfunded repairs over $10,000 per unit due within 12 months or a failed mandatory safety inspection, or if the association is named in pending litigation, with limited exceptions. Commercial space above 35% of the project, one owner holding too many units, and hotel-like or short-term rental operations can also disqualify a project. A balcony report that calls for major repairs can therefore stop conventional financing until the work is funded or done.

A cash buyer can still purchase in an ineligible project, but the next buyer will face the same problem, which affects resale value.

Balconies, decks and stairways: the SB 326 inspections

Civil Code section 5551, added by SB 326, requires condominium associations with buildings of three or more attached units to inspect a statistically significant sample of wood-supported balconies, decks, stairways, walkways and railings with a walking surface more than six feet above the ground, along with their waterproofing, at least once every nine years. The statute set January 1, 2025 for the first inspection, and buildings with permit applications submitted on or after January 1, 2020 must be inspected within six years of the certificate of occupancy.

A licensed structural or civil engineer or an architect must do the inspection.
The report goes to the board and into the reserve study.
If an element poses an immediate threat to safety, the inspector must report it to the association at once and to the local code enforcement agency within 15 days, and the association must restrict access until repairs are approved.

For an older Santa Rosa complex, this report and the reserve study together tell you whether a special assessment is coming. Ask for both before you remove your investigation contingency.

Insurance after the fires

Insurance can change what a condo costs to own. Read the master policy summary in the budget report for the deductible, earthquake and flood coverage and any gaps, then get an HO-6 quote that includes loss assessment coverage for your share of a master policy deductible or uninsured loss.

Check the fire zone for the specific address. CAL FIRE released its Local Responsibility Area fire hazard severity zone maps for cities in four phases between February 10 and March 24, 2025, rating land Moderate, High or Very High; the Sonoma County cities’ maps, Santa Rosa’s included, came out on February 24, 2025. You can look up a parcel in the state’s online viewer. Our guide to fire hazard severity zones in the North Bay explains what each zone means for disclosures and insurance, and getting homeowners insurance during escrow covers timing.

City rules: transfer tax, utilities and renting a condo

Transfer tax. Sonoma County charges $0.55 per $500 of value ($1.10 per $1,000), and Santa Rosa adds $2.00 per $1,000 under City Code section 3-20.020, for $3.10 per $1,000 in all. On a $500,000 condo that is $1,550. In Diamond’s North Bay markets the seller customarily pays, but it is negotiable and local custom varies.
Water and sewer. Santa Rosa Water serves more than 53,000 water accounts and more than 49,000 sewer accounts. Wastewater goes to the regional Laguna Treatment Plant. Associations often pay water for common landscaping and sometimes for the units, which shows up in dues.
Renting it out. Under Civil Code section 4741, an association cannot prohibit or unreasonably restrict long-term rentals, but it can ban rentals of 30 days or less. A condo owned by an individual can be exempt from AB 1482’s rent cap if the tenant receives the statutory written notice; our AB 1482 guide explains the conditions. City short-term rental rules are a separate question from the HOA’s: Santa Rosa requires a permit for stays of less than 30 days, allows hosted rentals in the owner’s home and is not accepting new applications for non-hosted rentals, as our Santa Rosa guide explains.

Selling a condo in Santa Rosa

Buyers and their lenders will ask for the association’s documents early, so order the HOA resale package as soon as you list. Know whether your project is FHA- or VA-approved, because approval widens the pool of buyers, and find out whether the balcony inspection and reserve study call for work that could make the project ineligible for conventional loans.

Price from recent sales in the same complex or comparable complexes, adjusted for dues, special assessments and the unit’s position in the building, rather than from citywide medians. Start with a home valuation and we will pull the association details buyers will look at.

Questions people ask

How do I find FHA-approved condos in Santa Rosa?

Search HUD’s FHA condominium list by city or ZIP code and check the project’s status. If the project is not approved, ask an FHA lender whether single-unit approval is possible.

What HOA documents should I get before I buy?

The seller must provide the governing documents, the annual budget report, the assessment statement, notices of violations and defects, any rental restriction, the latest balcony inspection report and, on request, 12 months of board minutes.

Can a Santa Rosa HOA stop me from renting my condo?

Not for long-term rentals. Since January 1, 2021, Civil Code section 4741 bars associations from prohibiting or unreasonably restricting leasing, but an association may prohibit rentals of 30 days or less.

How much can HOA dues go up?

Without a member vote, a board can raise regular assessments by up to 20% a year and levy special assessments of up to 5% of budgeted gross expenses. Larger increases need member approval.

What is a SB 326 balcony inspection?

A periodic engineering inspection of wood-supported balconies, decks, stairs and walkways more than six feet above ground in condo buildings with three or more units, required at least every nine years.

Why can’t I get a conventional loan on a condo I like?

Usually because of the project: critical repairs, pending litigation against the association, too much commercial space, one owner holding too many units or hotel-style rentals. Your lender will tell you which test failed.

What is the transfer tax on a Santa Rosa condo?

$3.10 per $1,000 of value in total: $1.10 to Sonoma County and $2.00 to the City of Santa Rosa. Who pays is negotiable.

Do I need earthquake insurance on a condo?

It is optional, but check whether the master policy covers earthquake and what its deductible is, since a large uncovered loss can lead to a special assessment.

Looking for a Santa Rosa condo or townhome? We read the association documents with you before you commit. Start with our Sonoma County buyer services, or see the Santa Rosa real estate guide for the wider city.

Sources & notes

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.