condo vs house (apartment, HOA fees, insurance)

[anne_vancouver]

we a re looking to invest in a property in the phoenix/scottsdale area and would like to get ideas as to hoe much utilities and associated costs are for a 3 bedroom house in phoenix (such as heat/ac, tv/insurance...)
thanks in advance

[LOA Chandler]

Of course it depends on the size of the house. Highest bills are in the summer. 3000 sq ft house, all electric can be 200-300 month depending upon your usage and using the budget plan offered by the utility company which averages your bill and has you pay the same amount ea. month.

[smokemaster]

All electric homes use a little more than 1 dollar per sf, per year--pool extra. 70 winter/80 summer.....

[anne_vancouver]

thanks, am looking at roughly a 1,500 sq foot home but want to understand the bills i would be facing if going for a house vs a condo.

[anne_vancouver]

also is this a good area
Camelback & 91st Ave in phoenix

[altus2006]

Originally Posted by anne_vancouver

thanks, am looking at roughly a 1,500 sq foot home but want to understand the bills i would be facing if going for a house vs a condo.

Look at the HOA fees for the condo that you are interested in buying. Usually the condo will have higher association fees than similar size houses. Utilities should be close, depending on whether the dwellings are on upper levels which cost more to cool than single story houses.

Also, in this economy, condos will usually sell slower than a house, so you might not be able to get rid of it quickly (or at all) if you choose to sell it at some point.

Another thing to look for is whether the condo is simply a remade apartment. If it is, the noise between the walls of other units might be excessive due to paper thin walls.

altus2006