Help Please! Buying condo in CA & totally lost-I miss NY!

I'm a native New Yorker and I just moved to southern California. I'm in contract to buy a condo. Nobody uses real estate lawyers for sales here. I'm sorting through the condo bylaws and financials and have discovered the following: -Major fighting between condo board and management company they hired; accusations of lack of transparency; owners also fighting with board. -Reserve fund is at 28%,... [more]

I'm a native New Yorker and I just moved to southern California. I'm in contract to buy a condo. Nobody uses real estate lawyers for sales here. I'm sorting through the condo bylaws and financials and have discovered the following: -Major fighting between condo board and management company they hired; accusations of lack of transparency; owners also fighting with board. -Reserve fund is at 28%, and "special assessments will be needed to perform recommended reserve work." -Maintenance/HOA fees raised in 2007 by 24%; raised again in 2008 by another 8%. -This 200-unit condo somehow managed to spend $14,565 in "legal and administrative fees" for the month of May 2009 alone. Anyway, all this makes me nervous and I'm thinking of rescinding my offer, but some people say it's just standard condo bulls#*t. Any advice? Aside from all this, I really love the condo and was able to negotiate a good price. Do I run or not? [less]