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We are retired, kids are in different states. We live in a 5 bed rm house, and like it - the space, the location, the town. I think off and on about moving to a condo or apartment as we age. The latter seems best, most maintenance free, if it is well managed place, with nice amenities and - no HMO to deal with, and any maintenances the management takes care. A condo often means HMO, not sure if we would like it.
If you are in a similar situation, are you considering these options?
Would you relocate? If so where and why?
Please vote if you have downsized or considering options to downsize.
My wife and I are sort of in the same boat. 5-7 years to retirement, kids live a 5-6 flights in opposite directions, 5 BR house. We've started to consider a townhouse. I'm not ready for an apartment condo or an over 55 community.
IMHO, the HOA with either of those options isn't quite the same as the big HOA's you see in other areas with single family homes where they regulate the style of your fence and the number of cars you have in the driveway. That would drive me nuts. Yeah you might have to deal with the color of your door and number of tchotchke on your little lawn but that's the way it is living with an HOA.
My wife and I are sort of in the same boat. 5-7 years to retirement, kids live a 5-6 flights in opposite directions, 5 BR house. We've started to consider a townhouse. I'm not ready for an apartment condo or an over 55 community.
IMHO, the HOA with either of those options isn't quite the same as the big HOA's you see in other areas with single family homes where they regulate the style of your fence and the number of cars you have in the driveway. That would drive me nuts. Yeah you might have to deal with the color of your door and number of tchotchke on your little lawn but that's the way it is living with an HOA.
That's one of the good things about an HOA though. It prevents neighbors from bringing down your property value/appeal by having all their junk displayed out in the lawn!
I am nowhere near retirement age and currently have a single family house. I am considering a townhouse/condo if it's the right set up. I have a bad neighbor who doesn't maintain their property so I've become sick of spending time and effort keeping my property looking real nice only to have it brought down by the neighboring (excuse my French) sh*thole.
I've noticed some builders are now building what look like small cottage style homes that are classified as condos (you don't own the land and pay an HOA for lawn maintenance, trash and plowing just like a condo) but you are detached so there are no shared walls. Some even have attached garages. Those sound the most appealing to me versus the traditional attached row condos/townhomes.
That's one of the good things about an HOA though. It prevents neighbors from bringing down your property value/appeal by having all their junk displayed out in the lawn!
No, your neighbors wouldn't be able to get away with that with an HOA.
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Our HOA in Hilton Head isn't too bad. You aren't limited to a certain number or type of car and they don't have to be in the garage. I don't think you can have boats in the driveway, but we have a marina in the community so why would you? They don't limit the amount or kind of pets (just no livestock or wild animals).The only real annoyance is that you can't have a fence.
Friends of ours sold their home and bought one of those detached condos. Very nice, over 3,000 sq. ft. but that is in a 55+ community.
No, your neighbors wouldn't be able to get away with that with an HOA.
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Our HOA in Hilton Head isn't too bad. You aren't limited to a certain numor type of car and they don't have to be in the garage. I don't think you can have boats in the driveway, but we have a marina in the community so why would you? They don't limit the amount or kind of pets (just no livestock or wild animals).The only real annoyance is that you can't have a fence.
Friends of ours sold their home and bought one of those detached condos. Very nice, over 3,000 sq. ft. but that is in a 55+ community.
I may also start to take a deeper dive into considering S.Carolina (if I can find a suitable job there). What would you say are the biggest positives and negatives that stood out to you the most between S.Carolina vs here in MA when you first bought your property and started living down there for awhile? (whether it be traffic, people, weather, prices of certain things, etc.) Do you currently prefer one place over the other if you could only pick one?
OP, keep in mind that if you rent an apartment, they can raise your rent.
^^^^True. However when owning a home in an HOA community, your HOA fees can and will go up. Also, when taxes increase so does your property tax. Any repairs that need to be done are paid for by the homeowner as well as replacing appliances, HVAC systems, roofs, etc.
So...when renting, rent increases do happen. We sold the house and downsized to an apartment. Yes, we've had rent increases but we also know that whatever increase we get, new tenants who rent the same model will be paying more than we do. Our building is 9 years old. When we moved here, the building was 2 years old. During the time we've lived here, we've already had to get a new washing machine and a new kitchen faucet. (We've learned that new apartments get new appliances...but...the appliances they buy are all discontinued models in order to save money).
The one big difference between renting and owning---Paying a mortgage means that you are building equity and if you sell, you get back whatever money you've paid into the mortgage. The big exception to that is if you sell during an upside down market, you could well go to settlement owing money. That, and if you go into foreclosure, you lose the house.
Of course, if the landlord decided to convert their apartments to condos, you would be left with having to decide to buy your apartment or move. This happened to us once. We were living in a dumpy apartment and had already decided to move when the lease was up. They sent all the tenants a notice saying we either had to buy our apartments or move by X date (which turned out to be when our lease was up).
We chose to rent after selling the house because it did concern us that as we age, we may need assisted living. Should it come to that (hopefully not) we won't have the worry regarding what to do with the house. Management in our building said that if we did have to move to assisted living, they will work with you so you're not stuck with having to break the lease. We do appreciate that!
So...advantages and disadvantages no matter which you choose.
I may also start to take a deeper dive into considering S.Carolina (if I can find a suitable job there). What would you say are the biggest positives and negatives that stood out to you the most between S.Carolina vs here in MA when you first bought your property and started living down there for awhile? (whether it be traffic, people, weather, prices of certain things, etc.) Do you currently prefer one place over the other if you could only pick one?
The only thing I really miss when I am in South Carolina is the food I'm used to from living in New England.
I love the weather and the people are the nicest you'd ever want to meet.
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