Anyone here prefer condos to SFHs?

[emm74]

Originally Posted by bookspage

There is still a difference between having people's feet running literally on top of your head with only a thin layer of sheetrock between you and having bad neighbors that you don't share any walls with. At least there is some distance between you

I could hear people peeing above us in our apartment. Peeing!

then that apartment was extremely poorly constructed.

I own half of a side by side duplex, or paired home as they are called where I live. The party wall is so well constructed that unless my neighbors are banging on it with a hammer, I don't hear them from inside their house at all.

I can hear them when they are outside or if noise comes through their open windows, just like I can with my non-attached neighbor on the other side of my house or the people who are across from me in our shared alley.

[Sreysrey]

I prefer SFH over condo because my home my rules...NO HOA. Some condo owner friends told me HOA restrict their activities at their own home.

[kebas239]

Never again, as you could probably tell by my post history. But I suppose it really depends on the complex and your location within it. My initial attraction to condos was that you pay an HOA fee and all the yard work and outside repairs are taken care of by someone else. Less maintenance you have to worry about. If you need something that's cheaper price wise, you can usually get a better deal on a condo than on a house. The higher end condos may include features such as swimming pools, spas, etc.
On the other side of the coin, in many cases, you have to share a close space with other people. Those people can be loud whether it be dogs, parties, kids or heavy walking. The condo may also have poor or no sound proofing which can make things worse. As I've found, the noise can occur at any time day or night - And you may not have much recourse depending on it's source. You might have to reorganize your life around the distractions. You are really taking a big risk if you're living in condos that put you in a closer space with your neighbors, particularly if someone lives above you. Another negative is that you don't own any land and any yard space is communal. You also need to abide by the association's rules such as pet requirements, which may turn some people off.
But, if you're looking in the higher end, many of the negatives can be alleviated. I would consider a condo again if I was going high end. But on the lower end, nope!