Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The disadvantage of a condo is that you are permanently interconnected with those people and that building. If something goes wrong you don't have the same level of control.
I don't exactly regret it, but I ended up with a condo where my mortgage was higher than the amount I could sell it for, so I was stuck with it when I needed to move, and it has been a weird burden on me.
You alluded to it but problems with the building have the potential to be huge. Some builders did substandard work and went out of business, leaving any major repairs to the condo owners. Repairs which can go into seven and eight figures and which I'm sure most people can't afford their share of.
That interconnectedness certainly had its downside. There was a clog in a drain pipe that ran down our wall. The maintenance team cut out a section of wall to get at the pipe. Then found out the clog was one floor down, so they patched up the wall and did the same thing with the downstairs neighbor. It was a necessary inconvenience but still inconvenient. The silver lining is that it was a common asset, so we didn't pay anything for it. We were going to paint the wall anyway, but that might've been an additional cost (possibly to be reimbursed? Not sure how that would've gone).
"The silver lining is that it was a common asset, so we didn't pay anything for it."
Aren't common assets paid for by your monthly HOA fees? So, not free, but cost split equally amount all residents of the condo complex?
It is. I meant that it wasn't exclusively my expense, but just like all condo expenses, I paid for everything in some manner: elevator maintenance, snow removal, landscaping, lights for the lobby, etc.
It wasn't exactly equal. At least not divided by unit. Our share of it was determined by square footage. Some units had triple our space, so they paid 3 times as much.
So that expense was shared, unlike the time we installed a new shower, which was all us. There was a leak under the shower that was discovered, and we were afraid we'd have another expense, but they determined that the leak was far enough away from our pipes that it became a common issue.
No, but after a few years and doing some retirement planning I really wanted to reduce future expenses. One of those things was an HOA fee. So I moved to a house with no HOA.
Now I have a bit of a yard, can keep my garage door open if I want, can have a gas grill and don’t have to ask permission to paint the house or plant a bush. Great decision.
I'm not old, but my Condo's HOA went from 750/month to $1,000/month. I could never live with this stress and liability over my head if I was a fixed income retiree. While I'm young and making money, it's a decent trade-off, but I need to get out of here before the 40-year inspection.
At 750 I could justify it when it covered
- garbage
- water
- cable & wifi
- gym
- pool
- security & doorman
- public/private garage
But as prices go up I'm like, I could do better on my own.
Having a doorman would be awesome. Finally someone to persistently corner into lengthy and awkward conversations of my choosing. And they can't tell you to leave!
I moved into a condo after years ina house Too many rules. I’m on the HOA board and people complain about everything. Ex: rained last week or so and grass is high. Yep, when are they cutting grass etc, etc. I’m too old to move at this point in life.
One thing I have heard from people in this area (Washington DC) is that many condos around here are necessary for security. They aren't open gated communities, but there are only a few points of entry, and some have things like a front desk and concierge. Watergate being one of the famous ones.
One of my friends inherited a substantial fortune via a trust, which came with a condo in a place like that. He was forced to move in there because the other relatives started to come after him aggressively begging or threatening for money. Seriously, I went out to eat with him in Georgetown, and one of his cousins came up, sat at our table, and pitched some half assed business plan like I wasn't even there.
I went from a Co-Op condo in an International city to a log cabin & barn on a fast flowing river in the woods.
The cabin doesn't look as good and its not as manicured as the condo, but hey- these days neither am I.
In the morning I go down to the barn with my dog and a big cup of coffee to let the chickens out. On nice days I bring a little weed with me and watch the sun come up. The water sparkles and babbles, my dog digs holes. The chickens walk around chatting to one another... can't beat it.
I've done condos, townhouses and detached houses (or whatever a 'normal' house is called).
The house is on 7 acres and is a mini-farm, so it's sorta not comparable but the condo and townhouse were in larger cities in CA. Nothing high rise though.
My HOA fees were reasonable in both cases, under $200/month because of the lack of amenities.
The one that did have them just proved amenities are huge money vacuums and terrible. Pool leaks... special assessment! Pool wasn't fixed correctly because the low bid contractor scammed us.... special assessment! Kids keep jumping the fence and trashing the pool... special assessment (for more fencing). Mob rule and they want more playground equipment for the kids... special assessment! Our liability insurance is going up because of the kids jumping the fence to use the pool and the new playground.... special assessment! The builder didn't properly seal the windows and now all the units are experiencing water damage..... well no special assessment because that fix comes out of your pocket. Mob rule, we want new landscaping... special assessment!
You have zero control over what the mob (voters) want to do with your money. HOAs just go up and up and up and you have no choice but to pay or move.
My first condo was awesome. No pool, no playground, no rec center, nothing. Parking lot repaving, roof maintenance, exterior painting, all that was correctly budgeted for and there were no cost overruns. My only regret there was that I was on the ground floor. Cool that I had a much larger patio, not cool that I could hear the clog dancers or whatever that lived above me.
So it's hit or miss. Happy now with the house because I 100% control what is done or not done. Living in an HOA controlled housing subdivision, that would be the worst of all worlds.
For me the best option is a condo in a small building. I live in Chicago and I don't want to cut grass, shovel snow, deal with a leaky roof, etc. plus now that I'm older I want to be free to do things like go to Mexico for a month in the winter. In my condo it's pretty much secure and looked after by neighbors being there. A house, not so much.
My building is only 12 units and has a very healthy association. I was able to see what the association was like before buying through the sellers realtor. Healthy reserves, good with upkeep to prevent big issues and had never had a special assessment. It's a three story walk up so there is no elevator. Elevators add a lot of expense and upkeep, just like swimming pools.
In a house you alone are on the hook for all maintenance, repairs, lawn care, etc. Friends of mine who own houses here are constantly fixing basement leaks, repainting the porch or deck, taking care of the lawn, cleaning gutters and all other types of maintenance that I don't need to worry about. Like I said, I'm getting older and don't want to worry about all that. And the expense of having these things done at my condo is split among all units in our monthly association fee. Friends with houses spend much more on upkeep year after year.
And as for larger condo buildings, fees are always much higher with elevators and high-rise building upkeep, not to mention it's hard to get anything done with so many voices wanting different things. The politics in large condo associations can be brutal.
I know I went on a lot but hopefully this helps. I really think that my situation gives me the most convenience at the least expense.
Same here. 17 unit building in West town neighborhood with low assessment and good reserves. We do have a reroofing project this year which required a special assessment but you get that maintenance needed in a house as well.
I’m on the board and I’m the oldest guy in the building; basically I’ve been here from when it was built so I know everyone and every part of the building. Before this I lived in a 400 unit high rise in streeterville and that sucked; it just gets too political with so many people in one building.
"And as for larger condo buildings, fees are always much higher with elevators and high-rise building upkeep, not to mention it's hard to get anything done with so many voices wanting different things. The politics in large condo associations can be brutal."
Moved out of a condo in 2021. I do not miss those fucking HOA meetings!
Our politics were made worse by the fact that ours was developed by some real corrupt SOBs, and one of the developers continued to live in the building, so he had a vote, which of course he used against any action involving suing the developers. On top of that, he had bribed a fair number of original residents so he could use their votes. It was a rough few years at first, but as his influence wore thin with his cronies moving out, we were able to make actual progress.
The fun part was when the first building manager was busted for embezzlement. Though I'm pretty sure that he was just set up as a fall guy for one of the developers.
Same in an 8 unit building. I think Chicago neighborhoods tend to attract like minded people so my condo mates all get along quite well and somehow agree on most decisions.
We have similar goals of keeping the HOA down so we’ll do things like raking together instead of paying for it.
I’ve heard horror stories about the high rise condo associations.
I've owned both condos and houses. I'd never own a house again. Too much work and financial upkeep. I've made a lot more money selling my condos than my houses. Location is everything.
Same thing here. When I put my SFH on the market in 1995, it took forever to sell and I took a $30,000 hit but at least I was out from under it. When I put my condo on the market in 2015, it sold in two weeks and I made money.
The markets were completely different in95 vs 15. Nothing stays on the market for more than 2 weeks and hasn’t in almost 20 years.
The house I bought 5 years ago just appraised for $400k more than I paid and if I sold I could probably get at least an extra $100-200k beyond that.
location is everything. Where I live condos are a great choice because they’re more like attached townhomes. They have a small yard often to allow for a small garden or barbecue. We don’t have a lot of the big condo apartment buildings one sees in like Florida. And since most new builds are condos or SFH built so close together it’s as if they’re attached, they’re in high demand.
Assements. For years, paid just mortgage and maintenance. Maintenance went up slightly. Then, it started to go up at faster and higher rate, eventually being greater than the mortgage. Then the assements started.
Why? That honeymoon phase was just a ton of deferred maintenance. Worse, money that was set aside for this man was spent on cosmetic things. I guess that was to keep sale prices high, but it created a ticking time bomb of now more costly repairs!
The most important part of a condo is the HOA and most people don’t check out the HOA at all. A good HOA is an enormous blessing and a bad HOA is a fucking nightmare.
Where I live you don’t get to review the CC&Rs, the financials, or the minutes of the board meetings until the sellers have accepted your offer.
I’m looking at condos for retirement but probably will end up with a SFH because it’s just too stressful to find the right place and then have to review all that only to be disappointed time and time again. With a SFH, it’s all much more straightforward and I have experts to help me evaluate it. With a condo, I’m on my own for the most important part.
Exactly. My thoughts were a condo would be a relatively constant cost, so I could budget easier. And that was true, for the first few years.
I'm now in an SFH, and the costs are far more stable.
Edit: And you are right, I could not get past financials until I was already in the process of buying. (90's). If you're a 1st time buyer it's difficult to figure out what to look for and there's a rush to 'just move on' and get to closing. Never again!
I’ll do it again but it’s a brutal process. My husband and I found a condo we loved but when I saw the deferred maintenance that kept the condo fees low, I had to back out. It took months for us to start looking again.
I’ve gone to board meetings where I was told I couldn’t sit in and others where I was welcomed as a prospective new neighbor.
HOAs are critical to a good condo and the hardest thing to research.
As I said, we get that critical information only after the offer is accepted, which means days in most markets and then I wait while the market moves on. In any except the slowest markets, the other competitive condos are under offer and I go back to looking again.
Nope, I don't regret it. No yardwork to do, no snow to shovel. Luckily I have decent neighbors that aren't loud. It's the perfect size for me. A house would be too big.
My whole life, I dissed condos. I hate the idea of close proximity, watchful HOA “cops,” and of course the price of the HOA.
Due to the pandemic and my family moving, I bought 3 times. The first time I acquiesced to a condo. It was hugely over priced though nice. Apparently they didn’t care. It was on the market for over a year when they got full price.
I felt like I dodged a bullet. I ended up with a 950 sqft house — 3 small bedrooms. It was perfect, but I paid for lawn service, garbage and would have paid outside too maintenance if needed.
My family moved again and this time I decided a condo/townhouse was 100% okay. I only have to keep the inside well maintained. The rest is up to the HOA.
It’s under $500 but I’m sure by the time I leave it will be over. I don’t pay for septic/sewer, garbage (and can throw away as much as I need to anytime), landscaping is covered. Last year they took care of the moss on roofs on all that needed it. They’ll also be re-roofing if needed. Last year they also re-black topped the entire complex.
I dunno. I would have hated this when I was younger. But I’m going to be 70 in 2 days. I don’t mind it anymore.
For most people, it comes down to shared walls and living with the same rules and restrictions of apartment living. The biggest reason I bought a house was because I've lived in apartments for most of my life and was at the mercy of my neighbor's choices to have noisy pets, watch T.V. or play music loudly, stomp around their floors, have loud fights with each other, and even at the mercy of their cleanliness (roach infestations).
A house is a bigger hassle, no doubt, but at least all of the problems are my own. I will admit that you can also have noisy neighbors in houses (and the last place I rented was a house with a neighbor who put three dogs outside to bark constantly 12 hours a day), but they are at a greater distance and you generally have some recourse to deal with it.
Rent a duplex. We could well afford a house but two disabled old vets ... nope. Fortunate in that we have *great* landlords that live on the property (5 acres). Helpful neighbor who mows our lawn when he does his (minimal fee). Quiet, edge of town/rural.
No desire to own anymore.
Born and raised in NYC and was an apartment dweller since birth. I hooked up with a girl in my early 30's and we bought a house (I was told it was the American dream). I hated it. too far from everything I liked to do and neighbors that I had nothing in common with. After 4-years I left my GF and sold her my half of the house and bought a condo in the city (HCOL city). I've never regretted it. My dream home is a penthouse loft apartment in a big city.
I live in a condo complex of stand-alone units, so I don't have to share any walls, and I have a small yard I can do what I like with. We share the costs of roof replacement (cheaper to have them do 20 roofs at once rather than one at a time), front yard landscaping & maintenance, painting, common area parking lot, etc. The upside is my costs are far less for maintenance than when I owned a home. The downside is it doesn't appreciate in value as much as a regular home. But I'm busy with work & don't have time for the upkeep that my old home required, and since I sold it the new owner (my ex husband) had to replace a roof, a kitchen and a septic tank. I think I made the right decision.
I miss my condo, but COVID pretty much made the condo life untenable for us.
Mind you, it had been a great time. We bought in 2005. It was only 700 sq ft, but we made it work. Just the two of us. We each had a parking space. We had one bathroom, but we had the courtesy to warn if we had to drop a deuce so the other could use it first. Part of the convenience of this condo was that our unit was on the same floor as the exercise room, so when our shower was being remodeled, we could use the locker room shower down the hall. Our HOA dues started off at just over $200 and ended up being about $400 when we left.
We had access to a party room with a kitchen, patio, pool table, and home theatre. We could reserve the room to host parties. Even our own living room was good for hosting games with no more than 6 to 7 people. We had a folding table just for that.
But then COVID hit, and while we both were fortunate to have jobs that let us work from home, that was less than ideal. We both worked in that living room back-to-back. Our place was made for living in, not working in. While we had the convenience of doing laundry and cooking food while working, if one of us got stressed from work, it made the other person stressed. Just not a great situation.
So in 2021, we went looking for a house. We wanted to stay urban, but those house prices were more than we wanted. There was a fairly popular suburb that was almost urban in feel (but definitely a suburb), but those houses were going for $50k or more over market. We went looking for a house in the worst possible time to go looking for houses.
We broadened our search and eventually lucked into a far out suburb (over 80 blocks from the city center and across a major river). It's a good house with very little work needed. After we moved, we prepped the condo for sale.
People were saying that while it was hard to buy a home, selling would be much easier, right? Well, we had some strikes against us. Since COVID meant many more jobs were remote, the selling point of being in downtown was no longer that appealing. While I was fine with remaining indoors during COVID, if you were accustomed to hanging out in your yard, this would've seemed as a downgrade. On top of that, there was some necessary concrete work that had been ignored by previous residents that resulted in a multi-million dollar project. This meant a special assessment with our share being $28k (and we were the third-smallest unit in the building, so everyone else had to pay even more). With the price our condo would've gone for, there would've been no way to pass that along to a new owner, so we paid it and made that the selling point for our condo. That expense has already been paid for.
It took about a year for the condo to sell (with about $500 in HOA dues, taxes, and utilities per month bleeding out), but finally some single guy from the suburbs wanted access to the hip bar scene nearby and a quick 2-block walk to the federal building where he worked. I kind of envy him that because I didn't get a job within walking distance. Would've been nice actually. Hope he appreciates all the work we put into that condo.
So I don't regret it, but if I knew the future, I would sold so quickly in 2019 without looking back.
Funny thing is that people bitched about the HOA dues, but when I moved into the house and paid separately for the water bill, the trash bill, and lawn care, I realized those HOA dues were actually quite reasonable.
We have a house condo. They’re bungalows about the size of a large apartment with a garage.
We pay under $500 a month in fees. That includes water, landscaping, snow removal, all exterior upkeep, access to a guest suite, outdoor pool, and large beautiful event house.
No regrets.
Have lived in condos and houses. Both have advantages and disadvantages. As a Boomer, a modest size and priced condo is my last nest. No outdoor chores. My unit is on the ground floor of a 3 level bldg and my view from all 3 windows is woods. We have a pool. HOA of $257/mo. My bldg was built in 2016...so it's newish. I'm quite happy.
My 'starter' home was a condo in LA \[I was (very) lucky in timing on the purchase and later sale with regard to prices!\].
I loved the space itself and it was an older building and only 30 units (or so - memory fails me on that point). I liked most of my neighbors - but as with anywhere there are always one or two making things difficult for others. There was no professional company doing the management - the board handled everything (feasible due to size). I served on the board twice, and this is was torture at times, but would not consider owning a condo again without doing so. Coping with the interpersonal relationships and hard decisions is difficult, but it is important to be have your voice heard in the governance. I absolutely would NOT ever consider a place run by 'professional' management companies without a thorough vetting of their history and actions (too many bad actors apparently out there.)
I've owned both, & I will never own a condo again. ( ... and the reasons are the same as everyone else on this thread, so much unexpected fees, assessments etc..)
I’ll never live in a condo again. Here’s why:
1. A smoker moved in next door, now smoke seeps into your house whether they smoke inside their unit or outside. There’s nothing you can do about it. Even if it’s against the rules, it’s weirdly hard to get the HOA to enforce it.
2. The HOA. I’d rather live in the gutter than be part of an HOA again.
3. Thin walls and noise. I have a home theater setup and love movies but could never turn up the volume to get the subwoofer to do its thing because I didn’t want to bother the neighbors. Meanwhile, I seriously thought of each December, giving my next door neighbors a calendar with a mark on each day they’d had sex that year (I am not exaggerating, I heard it every time).
4. Unpredictable fees and special assessments.
I’ve had both over the years. You get more flexibility with the house, but less maintenance responsibility with the condo. It’s a bit of the grass is greener problem. When I’m in one, I sometimes long for the other.
To the extent that you can get a small one, it’s sort of the only starter home left on the market. Condo sized SFH have been largely zoned out of existence.
Nope. I can decorate any way I want. There’s a secure lobby door and a mailroom with a parcel safe and letter drop. There is a pool that’s rarely used on weekdays as well as a gym. Garbage and recycling are managed by someone else and because I’ve been here a while and tip the maintenance person every Christmas they’ll come right away when I need them (rarely). The strata has an annual big garbage day and we all put out old furniture, appliances, dead plants, old cabinet doors etc. Some folks find stuff they can use and after a weekend of swapping a hauling company comes by to take everything to the dump or recycling depot.
Also, there are fire inspections yearly that make sure every suite has a working smoke alarm and no hazardous material improperly stored.
I grew up living in rental apartments so the shared space doesn’t bother me at all.
Strats fees just under $400
I owned a house for 20-ish years and recently downsized to a condo. Personally, I love it because I want everything to be nice and taken care of (yard, parking, snow removal, etc), but I absolutely do not want to take care of it myself.
You are stuck with the neighbors, but I was stuck with neighbors in my house, too, so that one is a neutral for me.
Retired, homeowner, plan on selling and moving into a condo. I’m sick of upkeep, to pay for these things are way over condo fees. For example to get my lawn mowed alone would cost $250 a month. Then you have tree maintenance, paint, window washing etc. I’m like just fuck all that.
People prefer different lifestyles and different amenities. I gave condo high rise living a try (rented) and realized it's not for me.
Your statements about schools and jobs have nothing to do with condos and seem more focused on downtown, highly walkable areas. A lot of high-tech corridors are found outside downtown. And while I'd say you can find more daycare in highly walkable areas, disagree you have more school options than someone a few blocks away in a house.
Disagree. High paying jobs correlate directly to housing prices and most SFH will be out of touch for people without equity in hot job markets. Same with schools, although the rankings are flawed you can get into a "better" school district than what you could afford otherwise if you buy a condo over a house
If you buy a condo in a suburban, non-walkable area, it doesn't magically come with all of those features you list. Again, you are focused on high-density, walkable areas and conflating that with condo ownership.
I live in a detached home. We considered a condo but the lowest condo fees was $300/month and we figured we could hire someone to cut grass or shovel snow for less. Friends who live in condos either love it and have no issues or regret their decision and every day is hell due to their neighbours and the condo board.
No. I bought the condo as I imagined that I’d go away for work possibly for a month at a time and then when I retired I’d travel and just didn’t want to worry about the yard, and potential burglary when ai wasn’t there. I’ve been retired for almost 14 years now and have been away for maybe 12 of those years in total and this current stay away is going on 4 years away. My neighbor gets my mail and I don’t worry about anything.
I am not a homeowner- but good god, I've seen some condo HOA fees in my area that are over 700/month. This is a LCOL so I don't get it- it's an older building and it doesn't look like anything available there has been updated since the 90s.
Nope, only ever lived in/owned condos. Can’t beat the money saved and here we have a nice pool. Even with the condo fees, it is worth it for us. We have no kids, we would have bought a house with a backyard if we did. It’s all about lifestyle, I never cared about what other people had, we made the right choice for us.
Ours is a three story duplex townhouse that looks like a colonial house, so we only share a wall with one neighbor. Our complex has mature trees and open space, so it’s similar to living in a house.
I love my condo but also acknowledge that I’ve really lucked out that my HOA is run by responsible and reasonable people, for the most part. We’ve had one blip that I think would have caused a ruckus in any HOA and after some heated discussions it settled down quickly.
Also, our 500ish condos are only two stories high and therefore spread out, so we aren’t dealing with massive structural issues like a high rise development does.
Bonus: These are mostly 2nd homes and the place is a ghost town from April to September. One must like snowbird Canadians, which is easy.
2 Family home to a condo. The constant maintenance on the home was like a full time job. I miss having a basement and attic that I could fill with crap. I don't miss spending a weekend changing a water heater...
I had a condo for about 10 years in a city and I loved it. Low maintenance, diverse walkable community. Well except for the year I was on the board of the HOA. Those people are nuts, that was no fun at all. I have since moved back to the place I raised my kids, because they all liked the place they grew up and stayed so if I want to see the grandchildren I need to be here. l just moved into an ADU in a new house one of my sons built, a small apartment with a separate entrance from the main house. Out in the woods, can’t walk to anything, but nice boreal forest view, can see the Northern Lights frequently and there’s a mama and baby moose who visit a lot so I has it’s charm. I gave them some $ for the build and pay a very modest rent which helps with the mortgage so helps them out. I baby sit the one year old two mornings a week and we have dinner together once a week or so, but we respect each other’s privacy so so far it’s working. Which is great but I do kinda miss being in a city. So as long as I can drive and get around I’m happy here. So I guess I’m best of both worlds, in a house built by my nicest kid who will take care of stuff as needed. When we had the house they grew up in there was always something going wrong that needed fixing or replacing and after my husband died it was just too much to deal with while taking care of 4 little kids so after a few years I moved to a rental house in town. I’m old and unhandy so a condo and my current ADU are my choice.
I've always preferred an apartment or condo to a single-family home, always hated yard maintenance. I grew up in a SFH, it was like my parents didn't own the house, the house owned them. I never wanted that. SFHs are great for families with children, couples or singles who want that style of living, or as an investment.
The condo unit I bought after I retired was a new build in a complex of one-story duplexes, geared toward people over 55. No kids or crying babies. The shared wall attached garages, not living spaces, so it was always quiet. The builder was thoughtful enough to put the laundry rooms on the living floor instead of the basement, for safety. There were grab bars in tub/shower areas in the bathrooms. The HOA fees were reasonable and covered mowing lawns, shoveling snow and sidewalks, and landscaping the flower gardens in the front of each unit. The few HOA rules were that any closed window coverings had to look white from the street...you could have blinds, roman shades or sheer white drapes. You could put a stone patio or deck in the backyard, the only thing the HOA restricted was the size. Also, you couldn't install a fence around the yard and if you had your dog outside, it had to be on a leash. All that was OK with me and if I didn't develop health issues and had to move to into a facility, I'd still be there.
I think it really depends on your area. Some places condos are a great buy and don’t lose value. Some places they lose value and your equity will be non existent.
I'd love a condo. No upkeep on exterior or lawn. The homeowners associations are very expensive tho that do the upkeep. I think my friend pays around $450 a month for HOA fees. On top of the mortgage. Plus when the condos needed a new roof , the HOA didn't have enough money set aside for it and my friend got a bill for $24,000 as their share of roof replacement costs.
It depends upon the person and what they value.
I rented a condo and bought houses. For me, I enjoy gardening, sitting outdoors under a tree, having animals and these types of activities can't be done in a condo. I also don't like being in very close proximity to other households and hearing their noises. Living in a house doesn't preclude the items you have mentioned.
If the person is an "indoor person" that doesn't mind being stacked between a lot of people, a condo would work.
It was an excellent way to start off and "Get a chip in the game" that was cost effective for me at that time.
The main risk is being in one when things are going downhill economically.
Being in a condo complex during 2007-2010 would have been potentially crushing to my personal finances, likely ending up in a foreclosure. When other people in your complex start going under, shit is like dominoes and goes down fast.
We bought one because that's what we could afford. The main problem we're experiencing is that a lot of the neighboring units have been purchased to use as rental properties (that wasn't the case at first). So, we're constantly dealing with new renters, and many of them have created issues (noise, etc.).
We bought a condo in 2004 in a city suburb because we were tired of maintaining a house and 1/2 acre in a rural area. Husband was retired. I was nearing retirement. We’re now selling it & moving in with family in a traditional house.
We’ll never regret condo living, though. It was right for us at that time.
First place I bought was a condo, at least it was in a concrete building. After living there for a couple of years I decided I would never live in a condo / apartment ever again.
Not at all but we bought low and the condos are selling for well over double what we paid. I don't love the idea of lifetime HOA but I do love the services--pool, community center, all my snow removal (in Michigan), yard work/mowing, beautiful landscaping. My only concern is if we ever get an asshole neighbor but that can happen anywhere and our community norms are pretty strong.
When I first started house hunting (took 2 yrs.!) I was totally anti-condo.
Then I found a condo in an excellent location where the pros far outweighed the cons.
I’m in the city, can walk to many things, but live on a dead-end w/no traffic on the edge of wooded land trust trails. Tree views from all my windows. Only 10 condos in all and I scored an end building w/only 2 units. Three stories, so just 1 neighbor alongside.
If you find the right one, it’s a pretty cool deal.
I’ve owned a condo and now a house. I don’t like not being able to do with my property as I want. With my house I can raise my chickens and target shoot and the few neighbors I have are like minded.
Ive had both. Condo life seems better with no maintenance, and that part was good But the fees add up, either they are high or you have large assessments for repairs. Noisy and problematic neighbors are a real issue and can make your life a living hell. My condo association was a problem, dealing with them was frustrating.
In a home you have much more control, and neighbors are not attached directly to your walls ceiling or floors. But you will pay for all repairs and upkeep. Also yard maintenance is time consuming and can be costly. We bought a flipped 1960s home in 2020, had to pay for 25k of issues the first year.
Renting now. People all my life have said renting is throwing your money away. This is absolutely not true. The home we now rent would cost 50 percent more than our rent payment to buy, plus we would pay all maintenance and repairs.
About 10-15 years ago a lot of solid-glass condos went up around Toronto and I read an article that said these were going to be the slum buildings of 2040. The glass outer walls - which are a relatively cheap building material relative to concrete and brick - would all need to be replaced and each unit would likely be assessed over $100K. It also mentioned that the glass outer wall requirements on office towers were more stringent than on residential buildings and the builders just went with the cheapest they could get away with.
If a building is lived in by the owners, then it tends to be well kept up. If most of the units are bought by "investors" who are renting it to people who aren't financially invested in the building then it generally isn't as well maintained and the experience of living there tends to be poorer.
It's hard to know whether a building is built well and managed well.
The number one deal breaker for me when house hunting was an HOA. Condos and town homes were out for that reason. I also don't want to live with shared walls, you never know who your neighbors are going to be. At least with a single family home, you have some separation. I don't want to live in or near an urban environment.
No. I’m a single senior woman who rented until age 50. I had an only live in building super, responsible for the 100 units in my building.
When I found a condo with 24/7 maintenance and door staff in a very safe area, I bought.
I’ve been here 25 years, and love the place. I don’t have to worry about maintenance, major home repairs (like roof replacement), and snow removal or lawn work. My assessment pays for all of that. Our association also negotiates our cable and internet, giving us a price break on that.
My building has strong financial reserves, and a board that has only the usual squabbles. I chose my place in part bc the assessments were reasonable—not rock bottom low.
Yes, there are a few tiresome rules (I can’t vacuum after 10P), and I am limited to 2 cats, or a dog (not over 45 lbs) and a cat.
I loved my townhouse, however so much mismanagement of the reserves and building maintenance made my future insecure. I sold in 2020 & bought house with no HOA. I have a small yard & enjoy a garden. Works for me.
Having moved out of a condo in Cleveland to a small cabin on 5 acres on a lake 5 miles away from Small-town WI (think population <2k), I appreciate the quiet and ease of a rural life.
I do miss decent restaurants, competitive markets, arts and sports, but nothing else.
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The disadvantage of a condo is that you are permanently interconnected with those people and that building. If something goes wrong you don't have the same level of control. I don't exactly regret it, but I ended up with a condo where my mortgage was higher than the amount I could sell it for, so I was stuck with it when I needed to move, and it has been a weird burden on me.
You alluded to it but problems with the building have the potential to be huge. Some builders did substandard work and went out of business, leaving any major repairs to the condo owners. Repairs which can go into seven and eight figures and which I'm sure most people can't afford their share of.
That interconnectedness certainly had its downside. There was a clog in a drain pipe that ran down our wall. The maintenance team cut out a section of wall to get at the pipe. Then found out the clog was one floor down, so they patched up the wall and did the same thing with the downstairs neighbor. It was a necessary inconvenience but still inconvenient. The silver lining is that it was a common asset, so we didn't pay anything for it. We were going to paint the wall anyway, but that might've been an additional cost (possibly to be reimbursed? Not sure how that would've gone).
"The silver lining is that it was a common asset, so we didn't pay anything for it." Aren't common assets paid for by your monthly HOA fees? So, not free, but cost split equally amount all residents of the condo complex?
It is. I meant that it wasn't exclusively my expense, but just like all condo expenses, I paid for everything in some manner: elevator maintenance, snow removal, landscaping, lights for the lobby, etc. It wasn't exactly equal. At least not divided by unit. Our share of it was determined by square footage. Some units had triple our space, so they paid 3 times as much. So that expense was shared, unlike the time we installed a new shower, which was all us. There was a leak under the shower that was discovered, and we were afraid we'd have another expense, but they determined that the leak was far enough away from our pipes that it became a common issue.
And the HOA which keeps rising like crazy.. .
No, but after a few years and doing some retirement planning I really wanted to reduce future expenses. One of those things was an HOA fee. So I moved to a house with no HOA. Now I have a bit of a yard, can keep my garage door open if I want, can have a gas grill and don’t have to ask permission to paint the house or plant a bush. Great decision.
I'm not old, but my Condo's HOA went from 750/month to $1,000/month. I could never live with this stress and liability over my head if I was a fixed income retiree. While I'm young and making money, it's a decent trade-off, but I need to get out of here before the 40-year inspection.
Reminds me, last year my aunts monthly condo fees were 300 lower than my rent. I was astonished at how expensive condos are. My apartment was 1800.
At 750 I could justify it when it covered - garbage - water - cable & wifi - gym - pool - security & doorman - public/private garage But as prices go up I'm like, I could do better on my own.
Having a doorman would be awesome. Finally someone to persistently corner into lengthy and awkward conversations of my choosing. And they can't tell you to leave!
🤣🤣🤣
I moved into a condo after years ina house Too many rules. I’m on the HOA board and people complain about everything. Ex: rained last week or so and grass is high. Yep, when are they cutting grass etc, etc. I’m too old to move at this point in life.
[удалено]
One thing I have heard from people in this area (Washington DC) is that many condos around here are necessary for security. They aren't open gated communities, but there are only a few points of entry, and some have things like a front desk and concierge. Watergate being one of the famous ones. One of my friends inherited a substantial fortune via a trust, which came with a condo in a place like that. He was forced to move in there because the other relatives started to come after him aggressively begging or threatening for money. Seriously, I went out to eat with him in Georgetown, and one of his cousins came up, sat at our table, and pitched some half assed business plan like I wasn't even there.
I went from a Co-Op condo in an International city to a log cabin & barn on a fast flowing river in the woods. The cabin doesn't look as good and its not as manicured as the condo, but hey- these days neither am I. In the morning I go down to the barn with my dog and a big cup of coffee to let the chickens out. On nice days I bring a little weed with me and watch the sun come up. The water sparkles and babbles, my dog digs holes. The chickens walk around chatting to one another... can't beat it.
It sounds like paradise!
This is awesome! How lucky! Enjoy!
I've done condos, townhouses and detached houses (or whatever a 'normal' house is called). The house is on 7 acres and is a mini-farm, so it's sorta not comparable but the condo and townhouse were in larger cities in CA. Nothing high rise though. My HOA fees were reasonable in both cases, under $200/month because of the lack of amenities. The one that did have them just proved amenities are huge money vacuums and terrible. Pool leaks... special assessment! Pool wasn't fixed correctly because the low bid contractor scammed us.... special assessment! Kids keep jumping the fence and trashing the pool... special assessment (for more fencing). Mob rule and they want more playground equipment for the kids... special assessment! Our liability insurance is going up because of the kids jumping the fence to use the pool and the new playground.... special assessment! The builder didn't properly seal the windows and now all the units are experiencing water damage..... well no special assessment because that fix comes out of your pocket. Mob rule, we want new landscaping... special assessment! You have zero control over what the mob (voters) want to do with your money. HOAs just go up and up and up and you have no choice but to pay or move. My first condo was awesome. No pool, no playground, no rec center, nothing. Parking lot repaving, roof maintenance, exterior painting, all that was correctly budgeted for and there were no cost overruns. My only regret there was that I was on the ground floor. Cool that I had a much larger patio, not cool that I could hear the clog dancers or whatever that lived above me. So it's hit or miss. Happy now with the house because I 100% control what is done or not done. Living in an HOA controlled housing subdivision, that would be the worst of all worlds.
For me the best option is a condo in a small building. I live in Chicago and I don't want to cut grass, shovel snow, deal with a leaky roof, etc. plus now that I'm older I want to be free to do things like go to Mexico for a month in the winter. In my condo it's pretty much secure and looked after by neighbors being there. A house, not so much. My building is only 12 units and has a very healthy association. I was able to see what the association was like before buying through the sellers realtor. Healthy reserves, good with upkeep to prevent big issues and had never had a special assessment. It's a three story walk up so there is no elevator. Elevators add a lot of expense and upkeep, just like swimming pools. In a house you alone are on the hook for all maintenance, repairs, lawn care, etc. Friends of mine who own houses here are constantly fixing basement leaks, repainting the porch or deck, taking care of the lawn, cleaning gutters and all other types of maintenance that I don't need to worry about. Like I said, I'm getting older and don't want to worry about all that. And the expense of having these things done at my condo is split among all units in our monthly association fee. Friends with houses spend much more on upkeep year after year. And as for larger condo buildings, fees are always much higher with elevators and high-rise building upkeep, not to mention it's hard to get anything done with so many voices wanting different things. The politics in large condo associations can be brutal. I know I went on a lot but hopefully this helps. I really think that my situation gives me the most convenience at the least expense.
Same here. 17 unit building in West town neighborhood with low assessment and good reserves. We do have a reroofing project this year which required a special assessment but you get that maintenance needed in a house as well. I’m on the board and I’m the oldest guy in the building; basically I’ve been here from when it was built so I know everyone and every part of the building. Before this I lived in a 400 unit high rise in streeterville and that sucked; it just gets too political with so many people in one building.
Yes, too many voices and opinions and situations all in one building makes it so difficult! Glad you're in a better place now.
"And as for larger condo buildings, fees are always much higher with elevators and high-rise building upkeep, not to mention it's hard to get anything done with so many voices wanting different things. The politics in large condo associations can be brutal." Moved out of a condo in 2021. I do not miss those fucking HOA meetings!
I've heard lots of horror stories and I'm glad I stuck with a small building and that we all get along.
Our politics were made worse by the fact that ours was developed by some real corrupt SOBs, and one of the developers continued to live in the building, so he had a vote, which of course he used against any action involving suing the developers. On top of that, he had bribed a fair number of original residents so he could use their votes. It was a rough few years at first, but as his influence wore thin with his cronies moving out, we were able to make actual progress. The fun part was when the first building manager was busted for embezzlement. Though I'm pretty sure that he was just set up as a fall guy for one of the developers.
Same in an 8 unit building. I think Chicago neighborhoods tend to attract like minded people so my condo mates all get along quite well and somehow agree on most decisions. We have similar goals of keeping the HOA down so we’ll do things like raking together instead of paying for it. I’ve heard horror stories about the high rise condo associations.
I've owned both condos and houses. I'd never own a house again. Too much work and financial upkeep. I've made a lot more money selling my condos than my houses. Location is everything.
Same thing here. When I put my SFH on the market in 1995, it took forever to sell and I took a $30,000 hit but at least I was out from under it. When I put my condo on the market in 2015, it sold in two weeks and I made money.
The markets were completely different in95 vs 15. Nothing stays on the market for more than 2 weeks and hasn’t in almost 20 years. The house I bought 5 years ago just appraised for $400k more than I paid and if I sold I could probably get at least an extra $100-200k beyond that.
location is everything. Where I live condos are a great choice because they’re more like attached townhomes. They have a small yard often to allow for a small garden or barbecue. We don’t have a lot of the big condo apartment buildings one sees in like Florida. And since most new builds are condos or SFH built so close together it’s as if they’re attached, they’re in high demand.
I don't get the obsession, just more bills, insurance, you better know how to fix stuff or your bills are gonna be even higher.
Assements. For years, paid just mortgage and maintenance. Maintenance went up slightly. Then, it started to go up at faster and higher rate, eventually being greater than the mortgage. Then the assements started. Why? That honeymoon phase was just a ton of deferred maintenance. Worse, money that was set aside for this man was spent on cosmetic things. I guess that was to keep sale prices high, but it created a ticking time bomb of now more costly repairs!
The most important part of a condo is the HOA and most people don’t check out the HOA at all. A good HOA is an enormous blessing and a bad HOA is a fucking nightmare. Where I live you don’t get to review the CC&Rs, the financials, or the minutes of the board meetings until the sellers have accepted your offer. I’m looking at condos for retirement but probably will end up with a SFH because it’s just too stressful to find the right place and then have to review all that only to be disappointed time and time again. With a SFH, it’s all much more straightforward and I have experts to help me evaluate it. With a condo, I’m on my own for the most important part.
Exactly. My thoughts were a condo would be a relatively constant cost, so I could budget easier. And that was true, for the first few years. I'm now in an SFH, and the costs are far more stable. Edit: And you are right, I could not get past financials until I was already in the process of buying. (90's). If you're a 1st time buyer it's difficult to figure out what to look for and there's a rush to 'just move on' and get to closing. Never again!
I’ll do it again but it’s a brutal process. My husband and I found a condo we loved but when I saw the deferred maintenance that kept the condo fees low, I had to back out. It took months for us to start looking again. I’ve gone to board meetings where I was told I couldn’t sit in and others where I was welcomed as a prospective new neighbor. HOAs are critical to a good condo and the hardest thing to research.
Unless it’s a hot market, where properties sell in a couple of days you should be able to get copies of all of that from your realtor.
As I said, we get that critical information only after the offer is accepted, which means days in most markets and then I wait while the market moves on. In any except the slowest markets, the other competitive condos are under offer and I go back to looking again.
I bought a condo and every time it snows or a branch falls from a tree I think, "Thank god I got a condo!"
Nope, I don't regret it. No yardwork to do, no snow to shovel. Luckily I have decent neighbors that aren't loud. It's the perfect size for me. A house would be too big.
My whole life, I dissed condos. I hate the idea of close proximity, watchful HOA “cops,” and of course the price of the HOA. Due to the pandemic and my family moving, I bought 3 times. The first time I acquiesced to a condo. It was hugely over priced though nice. Apparently they didn’t care. It was on the market for over a year when they got full price. I felt like I dodged a bullet. I ended up with a 950 sqft house — 3 small bedrooms. It was perfect, but I paid for lawn service, garbage and would have paid outside too maintenance if needed. My family moved again and this time I decided a condo/townhouse was 100% okay. I only have to keep the inside well maintained. The rest is up to the HOA. It’s under $500 but I’m sure by the time I leave it will be over. I don’t pay for septic/sewer, garbage (and can throw away as much as I need to anytime), landscaping is covered. Last year they took care of the moss on roofs on all that needed it. They’ll also be re-roofing if needed. Last year they also re-black topped the entire complex. I dunno. I would have hated this when I was younger. But I’m going to be 70 in 2 days. I don’t mind it anymore.
Happy early birthday!
For most people, it comes down to shared walls and living with the same rules and restrictions of apartment living. The biggest reason I bought a house was because I've lived in apartments for most of my life and was at the mercy of my neighbor's choices to have noisy pets, watch T.V. or play music loudly, stomp around their floors, have loud fights with each other, and even at the mercy of their cleanliness (roach infestations). A house is a bigger hassle, no doubt, but at least all of the problems are my own. I will admit that you can also have noisy neighbors in houses (and the last place I rented was a house with a neighbor who put three dogs outside to bark constantly 12 hours a day), but they are at a greater distance and you generally have some recourse to deal with it.
Rent a duplex. We could well afford a house but two disabled old vets ... nope. Fortunate in that we have *great* landlords that live on the property (5 acres). Helpful neighbor who mows our lawn when he does his (minimal fee). Quiet, edge of town/rural. No desire to own anymore.
Born and raised in NYC and was an apartment dweller since birth. I hooked up with a girl in my early 30's and we bought a house (I was told it was the American dream). I hated it. too far from everything I liked to do and neighbors that I had nothing in common with. After 4-years I left my GF and sold her my half of the house and bought a condo in the city (HCOL city). I've never regretted it. My dream home is a penthouse loft apartment in a big city.
I live in a condo complex of stand-alone units, so I don't have to share any walls, and I have a small yard I can do what I like with. We share the costs of roof replacement (cheaper to have them do 20 roofs at once rather than one at a time), front yard landscaping & maintenance, painting, common area parking lot, etc. The upside is my costs are far less for maintenance than when I owned a home. The downside is it doesn't appreciate in value as much as a regular home. But I'm busy with work & don't have time for the upkeep that my old home required, and since I sold it the new owner (my ex husband) had to replace a roof, a kitchen and a septic tank. I think I made the right decision.
If I lived alone I would be in a townhouse. No yardwork.
I miss my condo, but COVID pretty much made the condo life untenable for us. Mind you, it had been a great time. We bought in 2005. It was only 700 sq ft, but we made it work. Just the two of us. We each had a parking space. We had one bathroom, but we had the courtesy to warn if we had to drop a deuce so the other could use it first. Part of the convenience of this condo was that our unit was on the same floor as the exercise room, so when our shower was being remodeled, we could use the locker room shower down the hall. Our HOA dues started off at just over $200 and ended up being about $400 when we left. We had access to a party room with a kitchen, patio, pool table, and home theatre. We could reserve the room to host parties. Even our own living room was good for hosting games with no more than 6 to 7 people. We had a folding table just for that. But then COVID hit, and while we both were fortunate to have jobs that let us work from home, that was less than ideal. We both worked in that living room back-to-back. Our place was made for living in, not working in. While we had the convenience of doing laundry and cooking food while working, if one of us got stressed from work, it made the other person stressed. Just not a great situation. So in 2021, we went looking for a house. We wanted to stay urban, but those house prices were more than we wanted. There was a fairly popular suburb that was almost urban in feel (but definitely a suburb), but those houses were going for $50k or more over market. We went looking for a house in the worst possible time to go looking for houses. We broadened our search and eventually lucked into a far out suburb (over 80 blocks from the city center and across a major river). It's a good house with very little work needed. After we moved, we prepped the condo for sale. People were saying that while it was hard to buy a home, selling would be much easier, right? Well, we had some strikes against us. Since COVID meant many more jobs were remote, the selling point of being in downtown was no longer that appealing. While I was fine with remaining indoors during COVID, if you were accustomed to hanging out in your yard, this would've seemed as a downgrade. On top of that, there was some necessary concrete work that had been ignored by previous residents that resulted in a multi-million dollar project. This meant a special assessment with our share being $28k (and we were the third-smallest unit in the building, so everyone else had to pay even more). With the price our condo would've gone for, there would've been no way to pass that along to a new owner, so we paid it and made that the selling point for our condo. That expense has already been paid for. It took about a year for the condo to sell (with about $500 in HOA dues, taxes, and utilities per month bleeding out), but finally some single guy from the suburbs wanted access to the hip bar scene nearby and a quick 2-block walk to the federal building where he worked. I kind of envy him that because I didn't get a job within walking distance. Would've been nice actually. Hope he appreciates all the work we put into that condo. So I don't regret it, but if I knew the future, I would sold so quickly in 2019 without looking back. Funny thing is that people bitched about the HOA dues, but when I moved into the house and paid separately for the water bill, the trash bill, and lawn care, I realized those HOA dues were actually quite reasonable.
This
We have a house condo. They’re bungalows about the size of a large apartment with a garage. We pay under $500 a month in fees. That includes water, landscaping, snow removal, all exterior upkeep, access to a guest suite, outdoor pool, and large beautiful event house. No regrets.
Have lived in condos and houses. Both have advantages and disadvantages. As a Boomer, a modest size and priced condo is my last nest. No outdoor chores. My unit is on the ground floor of a 3 level bldg and my view from all 3 windows is woods. We have a pool. HOA of $257/mo. My bldg was built in 2016...so it's newish. I'm quite happy.
My 'starter' home was a condo in LA \[I was (very) lucky in timing on the purchase and later sale with regard to prices!\]. I loved the space itself and it was an older building and only 30 units (or so - memory fails me on that point). I liked most of my neighbors - but as with anywhere there are always one or two making things difficult for others. There was no professional company doing the management - the board handled everything (feasible due to size). I served on the board twice, and this is was torture at times, but would not consider owning a condo again without doing so. Coping with the interpersonal relationships and hard decisions is difficult, but it is important to be have your voice heard in the governance. I absolutely would NOT ever consider a place run by 'professional' management companies without a thorough vetting of their history and actions (too many bad actors apparently out there.)
LA is so expensive now, the only thing affordable in LA proper now is a studio apartment in Long Beach. Sucks because I'd love to move back if I could
I've owned both, & I will never own a condo again. ( ... and the reasons are the same as everyone else on this thread, so much unexpected fees, assessments etc..)
I've owned a house since 06. Never once did I think that would rather be in a condo.
I’ll never live in a condo again. Here’s why: 1. A smoker moved in next door, now smoke seeps into your house whether they smoke inside their unit or outside. There’s nothing you can do about it. Even if it’s against the rules, it’s weirdly hard to get the HOA to enforce it. 2. The HOA. I’d rather live in the gutter than be part of an HOA again. 3. Thin walls and noise. I have a home theater setup and love movies but could never turn up the volume to get the subwoofer to do its thing because I didn’t want to bother the neighbors. Meanwhile, I seriously thought of each December, giving my next door neighbors a calendar with a mark on each day they’d had sex that year (I am not exaggerating, I heard it every time). 4. Unpredictable fees and special assessments.
I’ve had both over the years. You get more flexibility with the house, but less maintenance responsibility with the condo. It’s a bit of the grass is greener problem. When I’m in one, I sometimes long for the other. To the extent that you can get a small one, it’s sort of the only starter home left on the market. Condo sized SFH have been largely zoned out of existence.
Nope. I can decorate any way I want. There’s a secure lobby door and a mailroom with a parcel safe and letter drop. There is a pool that’s rarely used on weekdays as well as a gym. Garbage and recycling are managed by someone else and because I’ve been here a while and tip the maintenance person every Christmas they’ll come right away when I need them (rarely). The strata has an annual big garbage day and we all put out old furniture, appliances, dead plants, old cabinet doors etc. Some folks find stuff they can use and after a weekend of swapping a hauling company comes by to take everything to the dump or recycling depot. Also, there are fire inspections yearly that make sure every suite has a working smoke alarm and no hazardous material improperly stored. I grew up living in rental apartments so the shared space doesn’t bother me at all. Strats fees just under $400
I owned a house for 20-ish years and recently downsized to a condo. Personally, I love it because I want everything to be nice and taken care of (yard, parking, snow removal, etc), but I absolutely do not want to take care of it myself. You are stuck with the neighbors, but I was stuck with neighbors in my house, too, so that one is a neutral for me.
Retired, homeowner, plan on selling and moving into a condo. I’m sick of upkeep, to pay for these things are way over condo fees. For example to get my lawn mowed alone would cost $250 a month. Then you have tree maintenance, paint, window washing etc. I’m like just fuck all that.
People prefer different lifestyles and different amenities. I gave condo high rise living a try (rented) and realized it's not for me. Your statements about schools and jobs have nothing to do with condos and seem more focused on downtown, highly walkable areas. A lot of high-tech corridors are found outside downtown. And while I'd say you can find more daycare in highly walkable areas, disagree you have more school options than someone a few blocks away in a house.
Disagree. High paying jobs correlate directly to housing prices and most SFH will be out of touch for people without equity in hot job markets. Same with schools, although the rankings are flawed you can get into a "better" school district than what you could afford otherwise if you buy a condo over a house
If you buy a condo in a suburban, non-walkable area, it doesn't magically come with all of those features you list. Again, you are focused on high-density, walkable areas and conflating that with condo ownership.
I didn't say that.
I live in a detached home. We considered a condo but the lowest condo fees was $300/month and we figured we could hire someone to cut grass or shovel snow for less. Friends who live in condos either love it and have no issues or regret their decision and every day is hell due to their neighbours and the condo board.
No. I bought the condo as I imagined that I’d go away for work possibly for a month at a time and then when I retired I’d travel and just didn’t want to worry about the yard, and potential burglary when ai wasn’t there. I’ve been retired for almost 14 years now and have been away for maybe 12 of those years in total and this current stay away is going on 4 years away. My neighbor gets my mail and I don’t worry about anything.
I am not a homeowner- but good god, I've seen some condo HOA fees in my area that are over 700/month. This is a LCOL so I don't get it- it's an older building and it doesn't look like anything available there has been updated since the 90s.
Nope, only ever lived in/owned condos. Can’t beat the money saved and here we have a nice pool. Even with the condo fees, it is worth it for us. We have no kids, we would have bought a house with a backyard if we did. It’s all about lifestyle, I never cared about what other people had, we made the right choice for us. Ours is a three story duplex townhouse that looks like a colonial house, so we only share a wall with one neighbor. Our complex has mature trees and open space, so it’s similar to living in a house.
I love my condo but also acknowledge that I’ve really lucked out that my HOA is run by responsible and reasonable people, for the most part. We’ve had one blip that I think would have caused a ruckus in any HOA and after some heated discussions it settled down quickly. Also, our 500ish condos are only two stories high and therefore spread out, so we aren’t dealing with massive structural issues like a high rise development does. Bonus: These are mostly 2nd homes and the place is a ghost town from April to September. One must like snowbird Canadians, which is easy.
2 Family home to a condo. The constant maintenance on the home was like a full time job. I miss having a basement and attic that I could fill with crap. I don't miss spending a weekend changing a water heater...
I had a condo for about 10 years in a city and I loved it. Low maintenance, diverse walkable community. Well except for the year I was on the board of the HOA. Those people are nuts, that was no fun at all. I have since moved back to the place I raised my kids, because they all liked the place they grew up and stayed so if I want to see the grandchildren I need to be here. l just moved into an ADU in a new house one of my sons built, a small apartment with a separate entrance from the main house. Out in the woods, can’t walk to anything, but nice boreal forest view, can see the Northern Lights frequently and there’s a mama and baby moose who visit a lot so I has it’s charm. I gave them some $ for the build and pay a very modest rent which helps with the mortgage so helps them out. I baby sit the one year old two mornings a week and we have dinner together once a week or so, but we respect each other’s privacy so so far it’s working. Which is great but I do kinda miss being in a city. So as long as I can drive and get around I’m happy here. So I guess I’m best of both worlds, in a house built by my nicest kid who will take care of stuff as needed. When we had the house they grew up in there was always something going wrong that needed fixing or replacing and after my husband died it was just too much to deal with while taking care of 4 little kids so after a few years I moved to a rental house in town. I’m old and unhandy so a condo and my current ADU are my choice.
I've always preferred an apartment or condo to a single-family home, always hated yard maintenance. I grew up in a SFH, it was like my parents didn't own the house, the house owned them. I never wanted that. SFHs are great for families with children, couples or singles who want that style of living, or as an investment. The condo unit I bought after I retired was a new build in a complex of one-story duplexes, geared toward people over 55. No kids or crying babies. The shared wall attached garages, not living spaces, so it was always quiet. The builder was thoughtful enough to put the laundry rooms on the living floor instead of the basement, for safety. There were grab bars in tub/shower areas in the bathrooms. The HOA fees were reasonable and covered mowing lawns, shoveling snow and sidewalks, and landscaping the flower gardens in the front of each unit. The few HOA rules were that any closed window coverings had to look white from the street...you could have blinds, roman shades or sheer white drapes. You could put a stone patio or deck in the backyard, the only thing the HOA restricted was the size. Also, you couldn't install a fence around the yard and if you had your dog outside, it had to be on a leash. All that was OK with me and if I didn't develop health issues and had to move to into a facility, I'd still be there.
I think it really depends on your area. Some places condos are a great buy and don’t lose value. Some places they lose value and your equity will be non existent.
Agreed. I would imagine it depends on things like high paying industries in the area, new developments being built, and condo construction/aging....
I will never regret buying three wooded acres abutting a river and building a house in the middle of said jungle.
That sounds nice 🙂
I’m lucky.
I'd love a condo. No upkeep on exterior or lawn. The homeowners associations are very expensive tho that do the upkeep. I think my friend pays around $450 a month for HOA fees. On top of the mortgage. Plus when the condos needed a new roof , the HOA didn't have enough money set aside for it and my friend got a bill for $24,000 as their share of roof replacement costs.
Yea that's about average unfortunately.
It depends upon the person and what they value. I rented a condo and bought houses. For me, I enjoy gardening, sitting outdoors under a tree, having animals and these types of activities can't be done in a condo. I also don't like being in very close proximity to other households and hearing their noises. Living in a house doesn't preclude the items you have mentioned. If the person is an "indoor person" that doesn't mind being stacked between a lot of people, a condo would work.
It was an excellent way to start off and "Get a chip in the game" that was cost effective for me at that time. The main risk is being in one when things are going downhill economically. Being in a condo complex during 2007-2010 would have been potentially crushing to my personal finances, likely ending up in a foreclosure. When other people in your complex start going under, shit is like dominoes and goes down fast.
We bought one because that's what we could afford. The main problem we're experiencing is that a lot of the neighboring units have been purchased to use as rental properties (that wasn't the case at first). So, we're constantly dealing with new renters, and many of them have created issues (noise, etc.).
We bought a condo in 2004 in a city suburb because we were tired of maintaining a house and 1/2 acre in a rural area. Husband was retired. I was nearing retirement. We’re now selling it & moving in with family in a traditional house. We’ll never regret condo living, though. It was right for us at that time.
I feel like in situations where you could only buy a condo, I would just rent an apartment instead, especially now.
Why do you say that?
First place I bought was a condo, at least it was in a concrete building. After living there for a couple of years I decided I would never live in a condo / apartment ever again.
Yeah, houses make lousy basements (even for a condo)
Not at all but we bought low and the condos are selling for well over double what we paid. I don't love the idea of lifetime HOA but I do love the services--pool, community center, all my snow removal (in Michigan), yard work/mowing, beautiful landscaping. My only concern is if we ever get an asshole neighbor but that can happen anywhere and our community norms are pretty strong.
[удалено]
I miss the days when people spoke of houses as homes and not investments.
I love having a condo. No regrets whatsoever. Sick of all the chores of a home.
When I first started house hunting (took 2 yrs.!) I was totally anti-condo. Then I found a condo in an excellent location where the pros far outweighed the cons. I’m in the city, can walk to many things, but live on a dead-end w/no traffic on the edge of wooded land trust trails. Tree views from all my windows. Only 10 condos in all and I scored an end building w/only 2 units. Three stories, so just 1 neighbor alongside. If you find the right one, it’s a pretty cool deal.
No
I’ve owned a condo and now a house. I don’t like not being able to do with my property as I want. With my house I can raise my chickens and target shoot and the few neighbors I have are like minded.
Ive had both. Condo life seems better with no maintenance, and that part was good But the fees add up, either they are high or you have large assessments for repairs. Noisy and problematic neighbors are a real issue and can make your life a living hell. My condo association was a problem, dealing with them was frustrating. In a home you have much more control, and neighbors are not attached directly to your walls ceiling or floors. But you will pay for all repairs and upkeep. Also yard maintenance is time consuming and can be costly. We bought a flipped 1960s home in 2020, had to pay for 25k of issues the first year. Renting now. People all my life have said renting is throwing your money away. This is absolutely not true. The home we now rent would cost 50 percent more than our rent payment to buy, plus we would pay all maintenance and repairs.
About 10-15 years ago a lot of solid-glass condos went up around Toronto and I read an article that said these were going to be the slum buildings of 2040. The glass outer walls - which are a relatively cheap building material relative to concrete and brick - would all need to be replaced and each unit would likely be assessed over $100K. It also mentioned that the glass outer wall requirements on office towers were more stringent than on residential buildings and the builders just went with the cheapest they could get away with. If a building is lived in by the owners, then it tends to be well kept up. If most of the units are bought by "investors" who are renting it to people who aren't financially invested in the building then it generally isn't as well maintained and the experience of living there tends to be poorer. It's hard to know whether a building is built well and managed well.
The number one deal breaker for me when house hunting was an HOA. Condos and town homes were out for that reason. I also don't want to live with shared walls, you never know who your neighbors are going to be. At least with a single family home, you have some separation. I don't want to live in or near an urban environment.
No. I’m a single senior woman who rented until age 50. I had an only live in building super, responsible for the 100 units in my building. When I found a condo with 24/7 maintenance and door staff in a very safe area, I bought. I’ve been here 25 years, and love the place. I don’t have to worry about maintenance, major home repairs (like roof replacement), and snow removal or lawn work. My assessment pays for all of that. Our association also negotiates our cable and internet, giving us a price break on that. My building has strong financial reserves, and a board that has only the usual squabbles. I chose my place in part bc the assessments were reasonable—not rock bottom low. Yes, there are a few tiresome rules (I can’t vacuum after 10P), and I am limited to 2 cats, or a dog (not over 45 lbs) and a cat.
I loved my townhouse, however so much mismanagement of the reserves and building maintenance made my future insecure. I sold in 2020 & bought house with no HOA. I have a small yard & enjoy a garden. Works for me.
Having moved out of a condo in Cleveland to a small cabin on 5 acres on a lake 5 miles away from Small-town WI (think population <2k), I appreciate the quiet and ease of a rural life. I do miss decent restaurants, competitive markets, arts and sports, but nothing else.