[tallrick]

When it comes to lousy places to live, the condo tops all but the trailer. Yet they didn't exist in the 50's did they? Yes there were apartments to rent, but never to buy. Having an apartment over your business is a good idea, and apartments are ideal for younger people without kids, but only the impoverished would try and raise a family in one. Retired people who want a simpler life would be obvious candidates for senior condos, like in retirement villages. Does anyone remember the first Florida condos? Seems like in the past homebuyers had their choice of single family homes and unlike today didn't have to settle for something as depressing as a condo.

[Need_affordable_home]

I dont care much for condos and even less for rental apartments. Sorry Murphy. If im gonna rent(it better be cheaper than property taxes + insurance + HOA to be a good deal) itll be a house rental that some greedy speculator is being forced to rent out at a loss. I would take a mobile home over an apartment/condo because its much cheaper and also its detached and I get my own land and space. Of course if condos were as cheap as mobile homes, ill take it instead because its built better and safer in hurricanes/tornados.

[Jammie]

That's a good question, Rick. I have no idea when they first appeared. But you're right~they are probably not ideal for raising a family in, but for retired or semi-retired people, they're a very good choice. At least they seem to be something we'd consider.

[Need_affordable_home]

You can get a good price on a 55+ condo. If you decide to live in north FL expect to pay $75k to $100k for a 2/2 55+ condo. I dont know how much rent is but I wouldnt rent more than a year since its much cheaper to buy than rent

My parents dont like condos either and when they downsize, itll be a smaller 1 story detached house

[TriMT7]

My real estate law professor told us once about a man who made a killing (monetarily speaking) in.... Tampa? (I think it was) a few decades back manipulating the condo market. He approached low-rise and single family home coastal property owners at the time and bought the "air" rights above their property (when you own land you own from the center of the earth below you up to the heavens).

When condo developers came in and bought up the properties on the coast to tear down and put up high rise condos, they had a rude awakening to find out they couldn't build "upwards" without paying this guy off because he owned the air above the land!



Anyway, condos are not a bad deal for people who want low maintenance living! Plus, if you can afford a luxury one it's like living in a hotel.

[sunrico90]

Here is a bit of info:

An alternative form of ownership, popular in the United States but found also in other common law jurisdictions, is the "cooperative" corporation, also known as "company share" or "co-op", in which the building has an associated legal company and ownership of shares gives the right to a lease for residence of a unit. Another form is leasehold or ground rent in which a single landlord retains ownership of the land on which the building is constructed in which the lease renews in perpetuity or over a very long term such as in a civil law emphyteutic lease. Another form of civil law joint property ownership is undivided co-ownership where the owners own a percentage of the entire property but have exclusive possession of a specific part of the property and joint possession of other parts of the property; distinguished from joint tenancy with right of survivorship or a tenancy in common of common law.

The first condominium law passed in the United States was passed by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1958. Common law tradition holds that real property ownership must involve land, whereas the French civil law tradition recognized condominium ownership as early as the 1804 Napoleonic Code; thus, it is notable that condominiums evolved in the United States via a Caribbean government with a hybrid common-civil legal system. Section 234 of the 1961 National Housing Act allowed the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages on condominiums, which led to a vast increase in the capital available for condominiums and to condominium laws in every state by 1969. Americans' first taste of condominium life came not from its largest cities but from south Florida, where developers had first imported the condominium concept from Puerto Rico and used it to sell thousands of inexpensive apartments to retirees arriving with equity earned from the urban North.

[TriMT7]

With a nod to the common law tradition, when you buy a condo, you own an "air lot!"

[FLPL75]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

You can get a good price on a 55+ condo. If you decide to live in north FL expect to pay $75k to $100k for a 2/2 55+ condo.

Here are the prices for homes & condos in one of the 55+ developments here North florida
A tad higher than $75k to $100k
not to mention the HOA fees are over $175 a month
Now you can find some 2/2 townhouses in north fl for less than $100k but these are not in the best neighborhoods
for the sake of people looking for factual information please be careful of quoting prices for areas you do not know

The Cormorant Carriage Home
Shorebirds 2 2 1,857 $204,185
Monte Villa
Sandpiper 3 2 2,002 $218,790
Monte Azul
Sandpiper 2 2 1,810 $222,050
The Spoonbill Carriage Home
Shorebirds 2 2 1,797 $222,930
The Heron Carriage Home
Shorebirds 2 2 1,438 $223,990
Monte Verde
Sandpiper 2 2 2,129 $226,790
The Egret Carriage Home
Shorebirds 2 2 1,536 $228,990
The Brentwood
Gardens 2 2 1,515 $270,270
The Belmont
Gardens 2 2 1,725 $301,990
The Cypress
Woodlands 2 2 1,720 $338,920
The Laurel
Woodlands 2 3 2,098 $351,135
The Magnolia
Woodlands 3 2/1 2,389 $441,990

[vpcats]

When I was living in NYC, I was renting an apt. in Westchester, just over the county line (so I had a commute to work) but it was in a very nice building, in a very nice area and my son could go out and play and ride his bike and there was green space and good schools.
Then came the famous "co-op". Lots of the apt. buildings in the surrounding area went co-op. Mine fortunately did not although they bounced the idea back and forth for a while. Then I moved to Florida.
But co-op in a place like NY is ALMOST as good as it will get for some people since you literally have to be able to pay $600K for a studio apt in the city or a 1 bedroom in the nicer parts of Westchester county, which is doable distance for commuters.

[jhlcomp]

The first condominium law passed in the United States was passed by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1958. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condominium