Condos........Pros vs Cons (Sarasota, Naples: apartments, renting, HOA fees)

[luvfishing]

Just began thinking about purchasing a condo in the area instead of a single family home, but unsure at this time. What are your thoughts on Condos? I like my privacy and do not like listening to other's TV's/ Music through my walls. Is this a problem in Condos? Also, what kind of taxes and fees are associated with this? Thanks.

[Wiggins]

What happens to the maintenance fees when there are a large number of units going bankrupt and not paying maintenance? Problem.

With a single family residence you have control over your maintenance costs. Hopefully you'll accrue some funds over the years for new roof, water heater, etc. Condos may not have a good reserve fund and then hit you with a large special assessment for a major repair. The other side of the coin is that you may be paying huge monthly fees for things you will never use, like exercise equipment, club house, etc.

Some condo fees may run several hundred dollars a month. I looked at one unit downtown, beautiful place, but the monthly maintenance fee was $1200 a month...too rich for me.

[Peter the Brit]

Problem with condos are the costs of group / block insurance and now a small condo with few facilities has monthly fees over $300 a month
Also no privacy with thin walls

[Big House]

Condos - Right now unless they are fully occupied, and all the dues have been collected for maintenance and other issues, the banks are less willing to sell. So while they check out the status of that, it may take a while to hear back about the financing. - That is the case up here in MD, so I expect that it is pretty much the same other places too.

Condos are more noisy.
There are usually more limitations, ie renting, and things like that.
HOA fees and Condo fees apply most of the time.

Your cost for them is sometimes more than having a pool guy $85/month, and a lawn guy $85 per month take care of the things you need done. My pool guy checks my house and waters my plants too every week.

I guess I greatly prefer a single family house with my own garage and parking too.

Also all the common area sounds, and smells of your neighbors cooking.

[davery5872]

We just bought a condo and I can tell you it depends greatly on the complex. If you purchase a condo conversion (converted from apartments) the walls will be thin. They will probably be 2 X 4 construction. Most that were built as condos will be concrete walls. Our complex has 78 units and has never had a speial assessment (over 25 years). Our fee is $261, which includes all exterior maintainance (including lawn, pool, roof, etc) and even some interior items (such as common plumbing, electrical). We have never heard any noise through the walls.

[justNancy]

I think it's a very personal decision based on affordability & lifestyle. I am staying in a very quiet retirement community across the state in Vero Beach. Most people here say they never hear a thing. I hear the toilets flushing and the TV next door wakes me up many mornings when my neighbor turns on the early news at 5:30am. But I am super-sensitive to noise, while others are oblivious to the same sounds.

To me, a single family home is a much better choice and you're not subject to all the rules & regulations, although a condo where nobody was above, below or next to me might not be so bad! I can live with some rules, but here they don't allow pets and I miss having a furry friend around. I looked at condos in Naples and there were a lot of empty units, even in the newer developments. I assume Sarasota is similar. The fees averaged about $400 a month, although some were much higher. Depends on the amenities. Some charged an annual fee in addition to the monthly HOA.

Still, there are a lot of good buys around, so if you like condo living, I wouldn't rule it out completely. Just make sure the association maintains a healthy reserve fund and there aren't a lot of unoccupied units.

[sarasotadreaming]

Originally Posted by davery5872

We just bought a condo and I can tell you it depends greatly on the complex. If you purchase a condo conversion (converted from apartments) the walls will be thin. They will probably be 2 X 4 construction. Most that were built as condos will be concrete walls. Our complex has 78 units and has never had a speial assessment (over 25 years). Our fee is $261, which includes all exterior maintainance (including lawn, pool, roof, etc) and even some interior items (such as common plumbing, electrical). We have never heard any noise through the walls.

Your condo complex sounds very stable and well built. We are looking for property in Sarasota and would be interested in knowing the name of your condo complex. Thanks.

[heydade]

funny I came upon this thread. Last night at 430am I responded to call of "water leak" coming from an apartment. The apartment is a 2nd floor apartment that is part of a 3-story apartment garden style complex. All the neighbors were up due to the large commotion and the gallons and gallons of water that were rushing out the front door and seeping through the ceilings and walls to the apartments all below the "problem" apartment. THe leak was coming from the A/C handler closet near the ceiling where the A/C handler ties in. I went upstairs to the 3rd floor apartment and determined the leak was not coming from there. So it had to be the 2nd floor apartment. I felt very sorry for the family, there was about 3-4 inches of water EVERYWHERE...and it was gushing out at about 3 gallons per minute. Was able to find the main shut off valve for the water supply. That did the trick. Turned off the electricity since there was water coming from light fixtures around that general area. Problem seemed to be stemming from a pipe that was running in the ceiling. I also felt sorry for the (2) apartments below that sustained some serious water damage.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by davery5872

We just bought a condo and I can tell you it depends greatly on the complex. If you purchase a condo conversion (converted from apartments) the walls will be thin. They will probably be 2 X 4 construction. Most that were built as condos will be concrete walls. Our complex has 78 units and has never had a speial assessment (over 25 years). Our fee is $261, which includes all exterior maintainance (including lawn, pool, roof, etc) and even some interior items (such as common plumbing, electrical). We have never heard any noise through the walls.

davery,
I built both condominiums and apartments, and it is true that the construction will vary greatly, especially if the condominium project was originally envisioned as being a condominium from the beginning during the design phase. Often apartments are converted to condominiums, and sometimes first cost is considered when designing condominiums and developers will "do what they gotta do" to make their projects work, some good ones wont compromise. Sound ratings have really become regulated, and tested assemblies are now being required in the design and construction of condominiums, and apartments, and other structures as well. Just a few years ago, the sound (STC and IIC) ratings were not considered much, or even important. Many of the features, when they were considered were "value-engineered" out of the projects in order to save costs. Now, and for the past few years, the requirements have been imposed by code and jurisdictional adoption of those codes. Believe it or not codes vary by jurisdiction and are not uniform, or universally enforced through out - even now.

Anyway, sound is one of many important variables to consider when deciding on purchasing a condominium vs. a single family home. The fees, charges, maintenance, utility costs, pets, lifestyle, available services, location, schools, ammenities, and other common / property feature sharing are all things to consider. There is both a lot of cost and feature benefits to consider. Good and bad / pluses and minuses for each type of property you consider buying.

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by heydade

funny I came upon this thread. Last night at 430am I responded to call of "water leak" coming from an apartment. The apartment is a 2nd floor apartment that is part of a 3-story apartment garden style complex. All the neighbors were up due to the large commotion and the gallons and gallons of water that were rushing out the front door and seeping through the ceilings and walls to the apartments all below the "problem" apartment. THe leak was coming from the A/C handler closet near the ceiling where the A/C handler ties in. I went upstairs to the 3rd floor apartment and determined the leak was not coming from there. So it had to be the 2nd floor apartment. I felt very sorry for the family, there was about 3-4 inches of water EVERYWHERE...and it was gushing out at about 3 gallons per minute. Was able to find the main shut off valve for the water supply. That did the trick. Turned off the electricity since there was water coming from light fixtures around that general area. Problem seemed to be stemming from a pipe that was running in the ceiling. I also felt sorry for the (2) apartments below that sustained some serious water damage.

A very common occurance in both condo/apt. living.

Not sure if this is an "occupied" unit (that had the leak)?

We tell the unit owners (I work for a condo assoc.) that during any absence, we request the water to be turned off to try to alleviate this situation as much as possible. We have three floor bldgs. When this happens on the 3rd/2nd floor, what happened above is a nightmare. 1st floor, not so bad, just the singular unit is soaked. We do unit checks twice a month just to check for this type of leak in units and do inform owners that someone should be checking their units every week for leak issues. Even if I check a unit today, a pipe could burst an hour later & we wouldn't know it until we were either informed or unit checking. Had this problem in a first floor unit where the water backed up from the kitchen sink. Result: mold growth, total kitchen remodle necessary. Sometimes, it's beyond anyone's control.

Very important to consider in condo living due to the way insurance/repairs are handled.