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One main trouble with condo is the design of condo is all common elements and the whole building is built at once.
One condo near me was built at height of 1970s. It literally looks like a large Taco Bell, folks call it the Taco Bell condos.
Faux clay roofs, ornate fake stucco, loud colors, even has a orange clay roof. Condo is in mint shape, but is trapped forever in the swinging 70s. It also is not a age based condos but tons and tons of folks in their 80s through 90s dying off one by one and when you see the estate sales from the original owners you see shag carpeting, orange Formica vanity, asbestos tiled floors in kitchen and bathes and green and orange appliances and track lighting with laminate everywhere.
It would take a massive massive assessment to bring buildings into the 2015 era or get 100% of owners to vote to tear down complex and build a new one at an assessment of maybe 300K a unit.
Unlike a house you cant touch the outside. Some of the new owners have gutted units and they are beautiful. But outside is still yuck.
Guess what they at beautiful 2006 condo you bought in Miami, come 2036 it will also be just as dated and ugly.
I'd give our condo three stars out of five. We have a professional management team on site in their own office five days a week. Also of course elected board members. Underground parking. In an urban setting within walking distance of stores, restaurants. Complex is ten years old.
The HOA recently won a construction defect lawsuit from the builder and netted 1.8 million after expenses. Most of the condo balconies have been rebuilt and there was enough money left to do a complete interior exterior paint job.
We have 24/7 security on site. All entrances are gated and require a key card to enter. Also weekday cleaning staff for the common spaces. Five day a week on site gardener for landscaping upkeep.
We do have some noise issues which generate most of the complaints. Rentals are allowed here and a majority of noise complaints are because of inconsiderate renters. Most of the people here are not retired. Younger professionals and military people.
I'd give our condo three stars out of five. We have a professional management team on site in their own office five days a week. Also of course elected board members. Underground parking. In an urban setting within walking distance of stores, restaurants. Complex is ten years old.
The HOA recently won a construction defect lawsuit from the builder and netted 1.8 million after expenses. Most of the condo balconies have been rebuilt and there was enough money left to do a complete interior exterior paint job.
We have 24/7 security on site. All entrances are gated and require a key card to enter. Also 24/7 cleaning staff for the common spaces. Five day a week on site gardener for landscaping upkeep.
We do have some noise issues which generate most of the complaints. Rentals are allowed here and a majority of noise complaints are because of inconsiderate renters. Most of the people here are not retired. Younger professionals and military people.
That sounds really good. But of course you don't know how the sausage is made. My building which I complain about a lot, some folks not on board think it runs ok. They are lucky in a way. I am sure in your building the board dealt with a lot of crap with the lawsuit and doing RFPs and bids to ensure you get the best service at the best price.
I almost wish I never joined board. My last building I was blissfully igornant for 7 years.
Um, because the specific noise problem of hearing someone's music is much more likely in shared living spaces, like apartments and condos, because of shared walls (you can close windows and doors all you want, but it's the shared walls that are typically the problem as you don't have much control over them!). I never want to live in an apartment again so would never want to live in a condo unless it were 100% soundproof. (Sound like some might come close to that or even meet it -- I would consider those, if I could find one!)
Sounds like your house is REALLY close to your neighbor's (mine isn't -- in three and a half years in my current house, I have never once heard music, TV, etc. from any neighbor's house) and/or you have a high tolerance for neighbor noise (I don't).
I live in suburbia where the houses are pretty much right next to each other. My neighbor's son sits in their driveway listening to loud thumping music in his car. From where I sit in my TV room, that's a distance of about 12 feet. Trust me, even with brick walls and closed windows, it's loud enough to drown my TV out.
And don't get me started on when my back yard neighbors got a trampoline...
Yes, shared walls (or ceilings/floors) can be worse, but SFH doesn't mean no noise issues.
HOA's vary. A lot! For whatever reason you want no upkeep bother, condo's fill the need. However, I have seen HOA's that acted totally stupid (a history of "kingpins" are what you look out for; association fees that increased substantially for no good reason) and others that have one way or another, kept the HOA fee the same, like, for 20+ years. That's the "litmus test." And that's what you investigate before you buy a condo. Sometimes it isn't easy to get the info, but you must!
But, as the investment funds warn, past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance! At any time the HOA may be taken over by "knuckleheads" who will do stupid things, and raise your fees.
To me a condo is too dependent on people I don't choose and have little influence over. And even if you find one completely populated with angels, all you need is for one angel next to you to leave, and a devil move in...
Also if you are at all handy as Geoff points out, you are required by law to have "pros" do *everything* - even change out an outlet - a job I have done many times using only a Swiss Army Knife, just because the job is so damn easy!
Um, because the specific noise problem of hearing someone's music is much more likely in shared living spaces, like apartments and condos, because of shared walls (you can close windows and doors all you want, but it's the shared walls that are typically the problem as you don't have much control over them!). I never want to live in an apartment again so would never want to live in a condo unless it were 100% soundproof. (Sound like some might come close to that or even meet it -- I would consider those, if I could find one!)
Sounds like your house is REALLY close to your neighbor's (mine isn't -- in three and a half years in my current house, I have never once heard music, TV, etc. from any neighbor's house) and/or you have a high tolerance for neighbor noise (I don't).
I'm close to one neighbor. I can hear them without opening the windows or doors. The neighbor much further away, I can hear when the doors or windows are open. Noise exists everywhere. You can't escape it.
I've lived in apartments where you could hear a mouse fart in the walls and I've lived in apartments where you never heard anything. I've also lived in a townhouse where you could hear some noise periodically.....but it wasn't only from the neighbor we shared a wall with.
And no, I don't have a high tolerance for noise. Some noises are a fact of life and you learn to live with it.
how do you enforce no renting in a smaller complex?
That's what by-laws are for!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyJet
One main trouble with condo is the design of condo is all common elements and the whole building is built at once.
One condo near me was built at height of 1970s. It literally looks like a large Taco Bell, folks call it the Taco Bell condos.
Faux clay roofs, ornate fake stucco, loud colors, even has a orange clay roof. Condo is in mint shape, but is trapped forever in the swinging 70s. It also is not a age based condos but tons and tons of folks in their 80s through 90s dying off one by one and when you see the estate sales from the original owners you see shag carpeting, orange Formica vanity, asbestos tiled floors in kitchen and bathes and green and orange appliances and track lighting with laminate everywhere.
Now that sounds sweet! Talk about a sexy kinda place to live......YIKES!!!! You wanna come over for dinner? Yeah, sure. I live at Taco Bell....all the burritos you can eat.
One main trouble with condo is the design of condo is all common elements and the whole building is built at once.
One condo near me was built at height of 1970s. It literally looks like a large Taco Bell, folks call it the Taco Bell condos.
Faux clay roofs, ornate fake stucco, loud colors, even has a orange clay roof. Condo is in mint shape, but is trapped forever in the swinging 70s. It also is not a age based condos but tons and tons of folks in their 80s through 90s dying off one by one and when you see the estate sales from the original owners you see shag carpeting, orange Formica vanity, asbestos tiled floors in kitchen and bathes and green and orange appliances and track lighting with laminate everywhere.
It would take a massive massive assessment to bring buildings into the 2015 era or get 100% of owners to vote to tear down complex and build a new one at an assessment of maybe 300K a unit.
Unlike a house you cant touch the outside. Some of the new owners have gutted units and they are beautiful. But outside is still yuck.
Guess what they at beautiful 2006 condo you bought in Miami, come 2036 it will also be just as dated and ugly.
While you might not like the styling of the Taco Bell condos, that doesn't mean that no one does. At one time Victorian houses and mid-century modern house were considered outdated and undesirable by those chasing the 'new'.
While you might not like the styling of the Taco Bell condos, that doesn't mean that no one does. At one time Victorian houses and mid-century modern house were considered outdated and undesirable by those chasing the 'new'.
I like the Castile Blanco Condos
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