[Airseabattle]

Hello,
I'm considering buying a condominium. For those of you who have purchased and actually lived in the unit, I need your advice. Besides location, what should I look for? Would you suggest to only to buy from an upscale property? My biggest fear is that I will purchase a beautiful and moderately priced unit just to have someone above me who is very dirty and has a pest infestation that will make its way into my unit . Or worse, I manage to end up living next to a rental property and have to deal with shady people coming and going every year. Is it best to just buy a small two bedroom house? I'm only considering condos because I would ideally like a one bedroom.

[lvmensch]

Originally Posted by Airseabattle

Hello,
I'm considering buying a condominium. For those of you who have purchased and actually lived in the unit, I need your advice. Besides location, what should I look for? Would you suggest to only to buy from an upscale property? My biggest fear is that I will purchase a beautiful and moderately priced unit just to have someone above me who is very dirty and has a pest infestation that will make its way into my unit . Or worse, I manage to end up living next to a rental property and have to deal with shady people coming and going every year. Is it best to just buy a small two bedroom house? I'm only considering condos because I would ideally like a one bedroom.

There are never any guarantees. There are a few reasonable condos that don't have renters...but be careful some that supposedly don't do. One that is reasonably safe is Mar-a-lago in Desert Shores. And there are others.

Small houses and town houses tend to have a similar problem. It is reasonably easy in the case of any of these constructs to find out roughly how bad the rental problem is. Use the assessors site and see how bad the non local ownership is.

The more upscale units tend to be better run and have a better experience but again no guarantee. Red Hills for instance has units over the garages or small units at ground level but little noise or neighbor problem in either kind of unit. Some of the units in Aliante are such that you don't have neighbors overhead in mamy units.

[nicolemi]

Originally Posted by lvmensch

There are never any guarantees. There are a few reasonable condos that don't have renters...but be careful some that supposedly don't do. One that is reasonably safe is Mar-a-lago in Desert Shores. And there are others.

Small houses and town houses tend to have a similar problem. It is reasonably easy in the case of any of these constructs to find out roughly how bad the rental problem is. Use the assessors site and see how bad the non local ownership is.

The more upscale units tend to be better run and have a better experience but again no guarantee. Red Hills for instance has units over the garages or small units at ground level but little noise or neighbor problem in either kind of unit. Some of the units in Aliante are such that you don't have neighbors overhead in mamy units.

Could you explain this process to a newbie (me) and the areas in Henderson where the rentals are a problem ? What would be your definition of "small houses" .... lot size... number of bedrooms... ? I like to read your responses on real estate because you seem to be well informed of the pulse of the market and I am currently very interested in purchasing a house in Henderson. But as a senior, I too would not like a
home that is not too large due to the upkeep involved..
Any advice you could share would be much appreciated...! Thanks in advance !

[WVREDLEG]

Originally Posted by lvmensch

There are never any guarantees.

This. Even diligence and landing that perfect spot can be undone as soon as your quiet, considerate neighbor sells and new people move in. By design, you share sounds and smell in a multi-unit complex. HOAs vary as much as the type of neighbors you might get....from good to horrible.

I took a huge risk by doing new construction (townhome), not knowing who might move in next door (I am end unit). It is a single young man with a medium-sized dog. I cannot tell if he is there or not unless he triggers one of my cameras going out to walk his dog. We hope he never leaves.

Here is my advice for your search:

- Make sure you have dedicated, covered parking if not a secured garage. More than a few high rises have deeded spots and even a storage locker as part of your ownership.

- use a RE agent who knows the history and design of the condos--there are good agents who are simply not good at condos. I was very determined to shop a certain condo, but my agent candidly told me he thought the risks were still too high (he was right). He did not pump a certain project or zip code--but when we pointed at something and said "this" he had the facts and history ready.

- Study HOA financials and look closely at the amenities. I rented 3 months in a "luxury" condo. The gym was junky and equipment was run down--you could tell the HOA had no interest in keeping the gym up. The common spaces were pristine, but these spaces are postcards...all you ever do is look at them.

- Vacancy and delinquent owners--these things tend to hurt weaker HOAs and owners bear the burden of unpaid dues, litigation, and negative impressions to future buyers--there are a few people on this forum who know this from first hand experience.

[lvmensch]

Originally Posted by nicolemi

Could you explain this process to a newbie (me) and the areas in Henderson where the rentals are a problem ? What would be your definition of "small houses" .... lot size... number of bedrooms... ? I like to read your responses on real estate because you seem to be well informed of the pulse of the market and I am currently very interested in purchasing a house in Henderson. But as a senior, I too would not like a
home that is not too large due to the upkeep involved..
Any advice you could share would be much appreciated...! Thanks in advance !

Small homes are in the 1,000 to 1,200 feet range. Generally single story though not always. Two bedroom two bath one or two car garage is normal.

The 55+ communities offer suitable places though at a premium. In Henderson the obvious ones are Sun City Anthem and Sun City Mc Donald's Ranch. The premium is generally about 25% above that price in a non mature community. The HOA fees are not bad but be careful of the somewhat cheaper town homes which generally have a second HOA more than doubling the fees. These places have renters but not a problem. I rent a couple of places in Sun City Summerlin. Most of my renters have 800 or close to it FICO scores and are not a problem. About the same as owner occupants as neighbors.

For less expensive homes in Henderson you go north of the 215. There are some quite livable condos and small home tracts. Try and stay to the south portion of that area if you can. Gets less desirable though still livable in the north extreme. You can also go to the fringes of Henderson along Boulder Highway but I would not - too tricky and likely to have problems.

[luckydogg]

I recently bought a 2 bd townhouse in Henderson and I love it. However, I specifically ruled out apartment style condos (where you have someone living above or below you) because I want to limit potential problems with neighbors. There's nobody above me, below me is only garage and the people that live behind me have the bathrooms and stairwell as common walls so there's no noise. It's perfect.

Are you looking at highrise condos or stick built (wood)? My advice, if you're worried about potentially noisy neighbors DO NOT buy an apartment style condo (wood construction) where someone lives above you. I repeat DO NOT. It's not worth the risk in my opinion. If you get a bunch of noisy people above you walking around at all hours, jumping up and down, having parties etc you will regret it to no end. Especially if the units were poorly constructed, they may not even be noisy people in general but just walking heavy can wake you up in the middle of the night. I was in one condo of a friend of mine and I could hear people above us talking! I don't know how he lived there honestly. And if you complain, they may resent it and actually make more noise or retaliate in some other way. I have been in that situation luckily I was only renting so I broke my lease and moved out, but if you own the unit moving out may not be an option. Even if you consider a condo with nobody above you, but you are above someone else, you risk having someone below you complaining about you, even if you aren't very noisy but the construction is poor. Unfortunately most apartment style condos are wood structures so other than plywood, maybe insulation and padding/carpet there isn't much between the units. At least in a highrise condo that is steel and concrete construction there's a good noise barrier so noise isn't really an issue.

When I was looking, I only looked at single level or two story townhouses with at least a 1 car garage, with nobody above or below me and I am very happy I went that route.

Good luck.

[paulapan9]

I was all set to buy condo in Las Vegas, but, there are very few condos that a lender will finance. Most condos are apartment conversions, so not for me. Also, they are bought by investors paying with cash. So I gave up, happily, and bought a Townhouse.:

[Basse Bud]

I'd pay particular attention to the unit's C C& R's, in addition to asking for a copy of the minutes of the last two HOA meetings. You will be amazed at what you can learn! ( Much to your advantage!)
Does the complex you are considering have a limit on occupancy by non-owners? (Rentals?)

IMHO, I'd avoid any high rise condo's, single story units are much more appealing to perspective buyers.

[WorldKlas]

I own and have lived in condos. Each has been a positive experience. A few lessons, tho,
*Buy a condo that was built as a condo, not apartments converted to condos. Sound proofing is much better.
*Be sensitive to placement of your unit to street/parking lot noise
*On-site management is best -- usually found in upscale buildings but I own one in Dallas where the office is staffed just 1 day a week. I much prefer the HOA having a paid on-site staff (or even just a single part timer) than totally run services by volunteer board members)
*learn who your direct neighbors are before buying -- if owners or at least real adults
*Condos that are not convenient to schools have fewer kids -- that is a plus in my book!

[Hal Roach]

I bought at LA posada in 2009. 560 sf 1 bedroom. They had been going for 150..I paid 35. Lots of trashy people, some of the owners over paid and would rent to anyone with a pulse or even worse, a housing voucher. HOA fees do not include sewer....HOA was pretty solid, but then you had the fat pig with three dogs claiming two were service dogs. Deeded covered parking was nice. Now probably 75,000.....or more. I did better with a small house on a nice lot in Phoenix...I now have a studio in a midrise in Thailand...HOA is 28 per month..taxes zero...YMMV.