Limitations & Field Conditions Statement Template & Example

Unit observation was by sample rather than full survey, at a target of 15 of 132 units, agreed in writing with Northbank Capital on 20 February 2026. That target was set against the tiered minimum in Fannie Mae Form 4099 for a property of 51 to 300 units — 10 percent of all units, which is fourteen here, with every unit vacant longer than 90 days and every down unit additional to that count. This engagement is not a Fannie Mae loan and Form 4099 does not bind it; the four down units reported by management were counted within the fifteen rather than in addition to them, which is the one respect in which the sample is smaller than that scope would produce, and it is recorded here for that reason. No specialist consultants were engaged; roofing, mechanical, electrical and structural observations are those of a generalist assessor, and where a specialist evaluation is warranted this report recommends one rather than substituting an opinion for it. No invasive or destructive testing was performed, no materials were sampled, and no calculations of structural capacity were made. No environmental assessment of any kind is included, and nothing in this report should be read as one. Accessibility observations are visual and non-specialist, and constitute neither a compliance survey nor a certification.

Clubhouse low-slope roof: not accessed. No ladder of adequate length is kept on site, the maintenance manager confirmed none was available on the day, and there is no interior roof hatch. Approximately one third of the roof area was observed from the second-storey east window of building 1, from which the field membrane appeared intact with no ponding visible in the area seen. The remaining two thirds were not observed by any means. The reserve schedule carries this roof at full replacement in year four rather than at recoating as a result; observation of the full area by lift or drone would settle it and could reduce the reserve figure by approximately $43,000.

Residential roofs: all eleven were observed from ground level and from a ladder placed at the eave. None was walked. The pitch is approximately 4:12 and the shingles are brittle and cupping, so walking them would have risked damage to the roof and to the assessor. Valleys and flashings at buildings 3 and 7 were observed from the ladder at close range; field areas at the ridges of all buildings were observed from the ground with binoculars.

Units: 15 units were requested for observation and 15 were made available, but not the 15 requested. The rent roll was provided on the morning of the visit rather than in advance, so selection could not be prepared beforehand; units were selected on site with the property manager, distributed across unit type, building and floor as far as the list allowed, but not by a random draw prepared in advance. Management reported four units down for turnover and no others; all four were made available, were observed, and are included in the count. Two units originally selected were not entered — one because the resident declined access at the door, one because a dog was loose in the unit — and two alternates of the same type in the same buildings were substituted. All residents had been notified of the inspection by management.

Mechanical spaces: all four mechanical rooms were opened by the maintenance manager and observed. The electrical service equipment room at building 6 was observed; the meter bank enclosures were not opened, as opening them is utility work.

Approximately three inches of snow remained on the northern half of the site at the time of the visit, from a storm on 2 March 2026. The following were not observable as a result: the northern parking area and its striping, approximately 40 percent of the site's asphalt surface; the walkways serving buildings 9 through 11; and the landscaped areas and site drainage north of the clubhouse. Drive aisles had been ploughed and were observed. Roofs were observable, as the pitched shingle roofs had shed the snow and the areas of the clubhouse roof seen from building 1 were clear. Aerial and street-level imagery of the property was reviewed before the visit and again afterwards; the most recent aerial available is dated April 2025, and the paving condition it shows is consistent with what was observed on the ploughed drive aisles. The maintenance manager was interviewed specifically about the snow-covered areas: he reported that the northern parking area was included in the circa 2011 overlay, that it has not been sealed or striped since, and that no drainage complaints have arisen there. The paving quantity in the reserve schedule is therefore based on the measured site area and the observed condition of comparable ploughed surfaces, and carries the northern area at the same treatment as the areas observed. If the northern surface is materially worse than the areas seen, that line is understated.

Requested from the client on 20 February 2026 and not provided: days-vacant report, move-out report, roof and mechanical warranties, open building department permits, and any prior condition report. The rent roll was requested for delivery in advance and was provided on the morning of the visit. The consequence is specific rather than administrative: without days-vacant and move-out reports, unit selection could not be weighted toward long-vacant units, which are where deferred condition typically concentrates. The sample is therefore weighted toward occupied units and the four down units offered by management. Without warranties, no roof or equipment is credited with remaining warranty coverage anywhere in this report. Without building department records, no statement is made about open permits or unpermitted work, and none should be inferred. The property manager reported that a condition report was prepared for the current owner's 2019 acquisition but could not locate it; nothing in this report relies on it.

This assessment is a visual, non-invasive walk-through. Structural framing, insulation within closed assemblies, below-grade utilities, the interiors of mechanical and electrical equipment, and any component concealed by finishes, stored goods or landscaping were not observed. No finishes were removed, no equipment was dismantled, and no excavation was performed. Where loose or already-detached trim permitted observation of concealed framing without removing anything — as at the exterior stair stringers — that observation is identified as such in the body of the report, and its extent is stated. Conditions may exist that a visual assessment of this kind cannot detect, and their absence from this report is not evidence of their absence from the property.

Three limitations materially affect conclusions in this report, and each is resolved in the conservative direction. First, the unobserved clubhouse roof: carried at full replacement in year four rather than recoating in year eight, a difference of approximately $43,000 in the reserve schedule. Full observation would settle it. Second, the painted-over electrical panel labels: no panel replacement is carried on either schedule, and the immediate repairs schedule declines to price the exposure at all, because the panel type — and therefore the work — is unknown. That is the honest treatment and it is deliberately not converted into a range here: a number attached to an unidentified panel would be invented, and a reader would carry it forward as though it had been derived. An electrician's identification across a sample of buildings would settle the question at nominal cost, and only then can it be priced. Third, the snow-covered northern parking area: carried at the same treatment as the observed areas, which is the less conservative of the available choices and is identified here for that reason. A return visit after the thaw would settle it, and given the size of the paving line — $401,200 — that visit is worth the client's consideration before closing.