Are you thinking of buying that nice condominium? Think about it first. Owning a condominium is completely different from owning a single family home and comes with its own particularities. Before you jump into the condo market with both feet, you should make sure that the condominium lifestyle is right for you.
Make sure you review the advantages and disadvantages of owning one, using your own personal criteria. Which one is more important to you, security or proximity to your neighbors? Are you comfortable with community living? Review the following pluses and minuses of condo living before you make that purchasing decision.
Advantages:
Location
You will find a lot of condo developments in the middle of cities, where space is a premium. If you want to be in the heart of the city, a condominium may be a good choice.
Security
With neighbors around your condo complex, it is always nice to be able to just pick up and go on those long vacations without worrying too much. Condos usually have guards downstairs, buzzers and other security features. If the condo is your vacation home, this is a great advantage.
Low Maintenance
No more shoveling the snow or mowing the lawn! Condo living means someone else takes care of the plumbing problems or roof maintenance for you. There may be some cases, if it’s your fault, where you will have to pay.
Cost
Condos come in a wide price range, and the lower priced units are usually very affordable if you are a first time buyer, hence, a good choice compared to higher priced single family homes.
Perks and Amenities
A lot of developments will provide you with a range of amenities for common areas. These may include swimming pools, tennis courts, workout gyms and other features that might not even be affordable if you had to get it on your own.
Disadvantages:
'Box of Air'
When you buy a condo, you do not own the land beneath the building, you simply share an interest in it. You own the space between the walls of your unit, and share ownership of the common areas with other owners.
Communal Thing
Since the walls are shared, you will tend to hear your neighbors more often, and in the common areas you will probably see them a lot too. Also, as part of the homeowner’s association, you will have to coordinate with neighbors to come to decisions regarding the common areas.
Monthly Fees and Dues
Monthly condo fees go toward maintenance and repair of the common areas. Sometimes, you may be assessed additional fees to cover the occasional large repairs. Your fees may also be paying for amenities, such as a swimming pool, that you may not use.
Resale
Condos tend to be more affected by market trends as compared to single-family residences. If the market goes down the tubes, as what has been happening recently, it's almost sure that the condo values will be the most affected and worse, the last segment to recover.
Yet More Rules
Condos are governed by a set of rules called Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, aka CC&Rs. Take note that these rules may cover pets, noise levels, renovations and sometimes even what color of curtains you can put on your windows.
Condominium Association
Because the condo association is made up of homeowners rather than property-management professionals, the association may be weak and inefficient. Note that if you want to make changes to your unit or if you want to rent it out, these are the folks you will need to get approvals from.
Just remember that condo ownership is totally different from owning a house, and you need to make sure that the condo lifestyle is for you.
Author Resource:-
Monty is a retired teacher living in the middle of the Las Vegas desert. In an effort to relieve his boredom, he has gotten into promoting a random collection of sites such as this one for the Mirage Hotel Las Vegas and even condos overseas i.e. condo manila.
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