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My sister is going to move into a condo soon. The location is awesome, its located in a downtown area with lots of things to do. She is single and works tons of hours. She found maintaining her yard was too much. Lawn care and snow removal was far more expensive than the monthly HOA she is going to be paying. Although I love the location of her condo I dont think I would want her particular set up. Its a 3 story condo with each living area separated by floor. Square footage wise, it is large but it doesnt really feel spacious. Its basically very tall and skinny in layout. There are tons of stairs. TONS.
I think dragging laundry from one floor to the next is going to be a hassle. She also owns a large dog and even though she says it wont be a big deal taking the dog for a walk I think its going to get old. Taking a dog for a daily walk is one thing but to constantly take the dog out to do its business is something else. There also is no common area, she just has a balcony. I also noticed the wood on the balcony was in pretty bad condition. The realtor said, "oh the HOA will take care of that." Well the wood was pretty rotted so obviously the HOA doesnt jump on repairs right away. On a 3 story balcony...umm...I wouldnt want to be standing on rotted wood. Im too anal to let things go like that. If it were my place it would have been fixed a long time ago so I think waiting around for the HOA to fix stuff would wear on me quickly.
I do see the appeal of condo living though. I say research well and consider layout.
Just wondering what you all feel about pets being allowed in a condo. Presently, our condo does not allow pets. The people who bought into our condo, bought into this knowing upfront that this was the situation. Several people have health conditions in which they definitely wanted a place with no pets, one person is deathly afraid of dogs and several others live on the side of the building where one of our SFH neighbors has a continuously barking dog and has made comments that they are relieved that we do not allow pets. The rest of us don't have an opinion either way but are content with the situation since we were aware when we purchased.
Here's the problem. One owner who has been in the condo for a number of years has wanted a pet ever since she moved in. She was aware, as were the rest of us, of the no pets in the by-laws. She even got on the board thinking she could get the by-law changed and it didn't work. She is one unhappy woman for many reasons but the no pets is making her really ugly.
She wants the board to hold a vote to change the by-law. How many of you condo owners have condo associations that allow pets and what guidelines would you suggest. FYI- We have 18 units in our building, all units have entrances to a common hallway, no individual out door entrances,each unit has a deck, hallways and common areas are carpeted. Any info would be appreciated.
"Curious in Wisconsin"
The BOD cannot change a Covenant or Bylaw. It generally takes the majority of the owners voting for such.
The reply should be I love animals but many moved here because animals were not allowed. We all knew that going in and we all agreed to it thus I believe we should leave it as is.
I'm a renter, but live in a story condo (1 shared wall, since we are at the end).
As others have stated, plusses are no yard work (although we are responsible for shoveling our own driveways), our association dues are only $1,000/ year, but there is no pool, playground, common buildings... so it's basically for lawn care and building maintenance.
Our neighborhood is quiet, so it's basically like living in a detached house in a neighborhood.
This is very informative. The reasons we want a condo are firstly, its the only affordable way to be beachfront, which is what I have wanted forever but never thought I could have. I have rented beachfront condos for vacation for over 5 months and it was all positive.
As time goes on, we are each sick of home and grounds maintenance. And we are not good at repairs and such. My H is a world-class procrastinator so nothing gets finished. We don't like to tinker or garden, we like to walk on the beach and travel. We are close to retirement and can buy this condo and have it paid for before retirement, and before selling our 5-acre home.
HOA fees are just $100 a month, and taxes $100 annually. There's an infinity pool, hot tub and BBQ common area. No kids or pets or smoking allowed. It's brand-new with only 15 units and we can get the top floor of 3 floors. There's garages available but I want to get RID of stuff and not require storage. I would definitely use a pool, hot tub or gym so those are a huge plus.
We are used to our privacy on 5 acres, so I realize this will be a trade-off. But the wide open spaces of limitless beach to walk on outside the front door, I think will make up for this. It may just save our marriage if H doesn't have to do projects or maintenance anymore, LOL!
We really want to cut down and have a simpler, freer life. On the beach!
This is very informative. The reasons we want a condo are firstly, its the only affordable way to be beachfront, which is what I have wanted forever but never thought I could have. I have rented beachfront condos for vacation for over 5 months and it was all positive.
As time goes on, we are each sick of home and grounds maintenance. And we are not good at repairs and such. My H is a world-class procrastinator so nothing gets finished. We don't like to tinker or garden, we like to walk on the beach and travel. We are close to retirement and can buy this condo and have it paid for before retirement, and before selling our 5-acre home.
HOA fees are just $100 a month, and taxes $100 annually. There's an infinity pool, hot tub and BBQ common area. No kids or pets or smoking allowed. It's brand-new with only 15 units and we can get the top floor of 3 floors. There's garages available but I want to get RID of stuff and not require storage. I would definitely use a pool, hot tub or gym so those are a huge plus.
We are used to our privacy on 5 acres, so I realize this will be a trade-off. But the wide open spaces of limitless beach to walk on outside the front door, I think will make up for this. It may just save our marriage if H doesn't have to do projects or maintenance anymore, LOL!
We really want to cut down and have a simpler, freer life. On the beach!
I haven't read the other responses, but here's my experience.
We have lived in several different houses and condos. The lack of yard work in a condo is generally very nice, although sometimes I actually missed having the space to create flower beds and do my own landscaping.
I think that if a person's main reason to choose a condo is so that someone else takes care of the outside work, it would usually be more economical to buy a brick house (very low maintenance) with the size yard you like, and simply hire a lawn care service for warm months and a snow removal service (if needed in your area) for winter. For us, that would have been less expensive than paying $300/month 12 months a year for our condo fee.
Based on job quotes I received, and based on a midwest location:
5 months of lawn mowing/edging (May through Sept), 22 weeks x $55.00 = $1210
8 instances of driveway/sidewalk snow removal x $40.00 = $320
So, condo fee of $3600/yr is a lot more than hiring the outside work for $1530.
(BTW, we now have a brick house in the south, so no snow to worry about, and we are doing our own lawn work again. It's not so bad!)
I know this is an older thread, but there've been some more recent comments, and the whole condo/HOA/SFH debate is always a hot topic around here!
I chose condo living, for the following reasons:
- I'm a single female and appreciate living in a secure high-rise with secure parking
- I dislike yard work
- I have a pretty busy life and I like not having to remember "Trash day is tomorrow, I'd better put out the trash". There's a trash room just down the hall, with trash chutes, and I can get rid of my trash as needed.
- I like not having to budget for preventative maintenance/repairs (this is covered under the HOA fees)
- I enjoy having the pool, hot tub, and a pretty decent on-site gym
- my electric bills are lower, since my condo is insulated on 3 sides, above, and below. I just have one exposed side.
I know not everyone is a fan of HOAs, but I've personally never encountered one of the draconian ones I often hear being tossed about on this website.
And sure, HOA dues can suck, but if you're paying several hundred dollars per month, there's a good chance that a lot of it is going into the reserves, to fund future exterior painting, maintenance, resurfacing the pool, roof repairs, etc. In other words, expenses you might encounter with your SFH, anyway.
This is very informative. The reasons we want a condo are firstly, its the only affordable way to be beachfront, which is what I have wanted forever but never thought I could have. I have rented beachfront condos for vacation for over 5 months and it was all positive.
As time goes on, we are each sick of home and grounds maintenance. And we are not good at repairs and such. My H is a world-class procrastinator so nothing gets finished. We don't like to tinker or garden, we like to walk on the beach and travel. We are close to retirement and can buy this condo and have it paid for before retirement, and before selling our 5-acre home.
HOA fees are just $100 a month, and taxes $100 annually. There's an infinity pool, hot tub and BBQ common area. No kids or pets or smoking allowed. It's brand-new with only 15 units and we can get the top floor of 3 floors. There's garages available but I want to get RID of stuff and not require storage. I would definitely use a pool, hot tub or gym so those are a huge plus.
We are used to our privacy on 5 acres, so I realize this will be a trade-off. But the wide open spaces of limitless beach to walk on outside the front door, I think will make up for this. It may just save our marriage if H doesn't have to do projects or maintenance anymore, LOL!
We really want to cut down and have a simpler, freer life. On the beach!
Yes, pray tell .... where is this jewel ? Are you sure prop. taxes are only $100 per year ? or per month. If you can't give the exact location, we understand. But how about the town ?
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