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I personally wouldn't purchase a condo, mainly because of the regime fees and the closeness of living next to neighbors. If you're not comfortable with it, don't do it, because you will be second guessing your decision constantly.
The closeness to neighbors wouldn't bother me (I don't think), but I'm trying to make it make economic sense to myself.
The closeness to neighbors wouldn't bother me (I don't think), but I'm trying to make it make economic sense to myself.
It makes sense if you don't like coming out of pocket for roofing/siding projects, you like people to do your groundkeeping and maintain your swimming pools etc. If you were to buy a single family home in an HOA managed community, you have fees as well, but they typically aren't as much as a condo.
Honestly, if the community that you want to move into is worthwhile, the condo fees will be more palatable to you.
I pay $750 a month in condo fees for my place in Honolulu. I live in a high rise and my condo fees coverage water, sewage, cable, general building and grounds maintenance, rooftop pool and recreation areas, and 24/7 security.
Even though I can argue that I get a lot out of my fees, many of those are items that I would not pay for on my own and could do without (rooftop pool, though it is a selling factor; cable; water . . . yes, I'd still have water but I'd be paying much less if I took care of my own water bill; etc.).
Still, I love my building and the views and do like what comes with the fees overall.
Note, my condo building has very thick walls and you can't hear a peep from the other units. If I was paying that amount of money in monthly condo fees and could hear my neighbors, I'd be pissed.
there are other benefits than you have listed. The condominium i live in currently is in a sought after area because it is an an urban area, but has huge mature trees (that is the reason i moved in), towering redwoods, cedar, flowering cherry. It is professionally landscaped, it has water feature including fountains and small lakes with turtles, koi, and attracts heron also. It is gated, which I like for some added security. It is a large enough property that I can walk 1-2 miles (among the big trees) and i love that. It has 4 swimming pools and two hot tubs, in scenic outdoor setting.
Those are features i use and enjoy. even though there are busy streets nearby, i have lived in two different units, both on cul de sac so quiet and no traffic.
Condos are for specific individuals as is owning your own single family home and it totally depends on the needs and wants of the particular individual to decide what’s the best fit for them.
I’m not inclined to go along with rules and regulations that would determine what I can and can’t do with my residence as well as decision making as to maintenance and operating costs. I’d much rather have control over these factors as well as how close my neighbors are, parking, landscaping and sharing in expenses that are determined by a board of other homeowners.
It’s certainly not for me, however depending on other people’s tolerance and capabilities, condos might be their best option.
Having owned, lived in, and managed as a landlord a series of houses, mostly old and historic, I really feel, as I head into retirement, that I am OVER the historic old house thing. Charming money pits, and I absolutely loathe dealing with the maintenance, especially exterior. I'm honestly tempted to go the condo route next time but, being extremely frugal, just can't justify to myself paying $200 or more a month for, essentially, free water, sewer, and garbage and maybe snow removal (it doesn't snow here). Also, garbage is free here. Water is a couple of dollars a month; sewer is $20 something. I intellectually (or at least theoretically) understand that it goes into a fund to maintain the exterior of the building but, honestly, how often does this really pay off? It seems any MAJOR expense, and you'll pay an assessment (basically, you're paying for the exterior repair just like you did when you owned an entire house) ON TOP OF the $200-plus to have your free garbage picked up. A condo I have my eye on at the moment doesn't offer a pool or any other amenity that would compensate. Of course, there are downsides: noisy neighbors. Then there's some added difficulty in selling when that time comes versus a SFH. What benefit am I missing that would make this acceptable in my penny-pinching eyes, or is it really a rip-off that people accept for the convenience of condo-living???
I had a buddy's dad very similar to you. He fixed everything himself, literally turning the workmen away from a job and doing it himself. He had a garage full of tools, very smart and frugal guy. Finally his sons talked him into a condo, he was paranoid someone would look in his windows (at a 75+ yr old guy?). After a year there, he thought it was the best place in the world. Nothing to fix, didn't need a garage full of tools anymore. It was essentially a "retirement from doing chores" existence. Something he didn't realize, the old house was a full time job........what is your time worth? I'd hope it is worth more than $200 a month/$7 a day.
FYI in most condos the exterior of the building insurance is covered by the HOA so free water/garbage and exterior insurance.
Not having to write a check to reroof or repaint the building because there are reserves (when they exist) is an often overlooked benefit to having a condo fee. A homeowner effectively pays a special assessment every time he does maintenance on his house.
The closeness to neighbors wouldn't bother me (I don't think), but I'm trying to make it make economic sense to myself.
That's not hard. I'm closing next week on a townhome with two HOAs. There's a master HOA and a community HOA. Fees are in the neighborhood of $260/month combined.
The master HOA maintains all of the roads, keeps up the infrastructure, maintains empty lots, mows the grass, provides blanket liability insurance for accidents and stuff that happens, provides private security with an in-unit security monitoring.
The community HOA maintains the common grounds, insures the structure, and maintains everything from the drywall out. My homeowner's insurance is half the cost of my car insurance and cost less than my renter's insurance, adjusted for square footage.
Both HOAs maintain substantial reserves given that the structure is still under warranty from the builder.
A gardener (assuming I can even get one) will run me $50 a visit easily (say once a week - $200) and ADT will easily run me $50 a month. Going from HO6 insurance to full townhouse insurance doubles my homeowner's insurance premiums if not more, to the tune of $70+ a month. Those three items alone and I'm ahead economically.
There's also an intangible benefit - people who can afford to shell out that kind of money every month on HOA fees are generally at least fairly well off. Well off people want to live in well maintained homes and neighborhoods with other well off people. This goes to livability.
I've seen everything from condos to SFHs with no HOA. Generally, there's an inverse relationship between the shape that the property is in and HOA fees, given a fixed budget.
DIY costs less but only if you value your time at $0 an hour. How much is your time worth?
Last edited by albert648; 11-22-2020 at 08:10 AM..
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