The Pros and Cons of Buying a Condominium

Some people prefer to rent, some prefer to own.  Some prefer a new construction mini mansion, some prefer a historical painted lady victorian with character.  Whether your preference is a tiny house or a trailer, the choices out there are unlimited.  You have to find what's best for not just your lifestyle and patterns, but it has to feel like "home".  At this stage of my life, "home" for me felt more like a condominium.  

A few years ago when I first moved into mine, I was pretty much an empty nester; my children were away at college.  A condo was my first choice for that very reason, I did not want to be in a big house alone.  I also knew that I had to choose a condo with three bedrooms for the times that my kids would be home (Thanksgiving break, summer break, etc).  Here it is three years later and both of them are back here permanently.  It's fine though, there is plenty of room.  It's pretty spacious here and although my condo of one is back to a condo of three, I still love my choice.  Here's why:

My Pros

Owning for me was a no brainer, especially at the deal that I got.  I purchased a short sale and it was bank owned.  It was so below market value that I was able to pay cash for it.  I have no mortgage, I just have to pay a monthly assessment and my property taxes twice a year.  Had I rented three years ago when I was looking for a place to live, an apartment the size of my condo in my city (or a nearby city that shares my school district) would have been about $1,800 a month.  So $1,800 a month for three years would have been $64,800 given to a landlord.  That is more than what I paid for my condominium that I own.  That alone, should be enough of a pro.

I subscribe to Zillow just to keep updated on the comps in my area.  The market is getting better so that means that the condominiums around me are selling for a lot more than what they were going for in 2015.  My new neighbors who live in the exact building as me paid almost double than what I paid and they have two bedrooms; I have three.  Zillow gives me a monthly "zestimate" on what my condo would go for if I decide to put it on the market today.  That's a "zestimate" without any knowledge of the home improvements that I've made, that zestimate is going off of what it was appraised for back then.  The zestimates that they came up with always bring a smile to my face.  They say that I can get four times more than what I paid for my condo if I put it on the market now.  Man, wait until an appraiser see the changes (cosmetic and necessary), I would be able to get a few thousand more, I know it.  I am not tempted to treat it like a flipped property though, I want this to be my forever home.  Although, a lot of real estate investors do that (buy a home, fix it up while living there, then sell it after 2-3 years while making a very nice profit).

Another pro is that I'm not responsible for repairs that are outside of my condo.  If my building needed a new roof, thats the property management company and home owner's association's problem, not mine.  I do not have to spend $1,700-$8,000 out of my pocket.  Same with our driveways and parking lot, the association paid for the new asphalt we got layed down.  They even painted the exterior of our building, including our garages, decks and patios.  The security cameras in the parking lot and exterior doors?  Free to me!  Had I owned a home instead, I would have had to come out of pocket for all of that.

In the winter, it is nice to walk out to an already shoveled doorstep, sidewalk and driveway.  In the summer, I don't mind waking up every Thursday morning to the sound of a lawnmower because I know that it is not me paying those guys to mow the lawn, plant flowers, etc.  Had I owned a house, I would have had to shovel the snow myself or would have had to pay landscapers to mow the grass because she don't do yard work.  Nope!

My utilities are low.  My water, gas and electric bills are close to nothing because I live in a condominium.  Even my policy for condominium insurance is a whole lot less than a policy would have been for a free standing home.  Everything isn't roses though.  Although the pros outweigh the cons, there are still cons.

My Cons

Every month, I have to pay an assessment to the property management.  It's not a lot, but maybe I should move this in the pro section because the assessment covers that snow shoveling and lawn mowing that I mentioned earlier.  It also pays for other conveniences like salt for our water softener, security and the maintained curb appeal of our acreage.  If I had to come out of pocket for those services myself, it would surely be more expensive than my assessment.

The petty rules that my home owners association make.  I'm not saying that they sometimes get on my nerves, I get it, they want to make sure that our place is a beautiful and safe environment, but they can be a little strict.  If you want to have a garage sale, you can forget it, they ain't having it.  No pets are allowed either.  Children can't even play outside (dang, that's cold).  If you are not on  the first floor, then you have to have carpet.  No hard floors for you (actually that's a pro because I swear my upstairs neighbor wear concrete house shoes).  Sometimes homeowners associations can make you feel like you don't own your own place because they tell you what to do with what's yours more often than you'd like.  The quarterly meetings are something else too.  They can raise your assessment with just a vote, I was outvoted on a 3% raise on our assessment for the next calendar year.  Can we get some ammenities in exchange for that raise though?

All in all, I have no regrets whatsoever when it comes to buying my condominium.  It is one of the best investments that I've made in my life.  I'm personalizing it; making it my own (another pro- because I get to rip up floors, paint walls and next year start construction on my kitchen and bathrooms).  I love it here and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  My goal is to purchase another condominium in a warmer climate so that I can live on two coasts.  I want to spend my winters there (wherever "there" is).  See, I have this plan for early retirement and I am pretty excited about that, maybe I'll go in detail in another post.  Condo life is the life for me though.  Now let's hear from you!  Question of the Day: What type of dwelling do you prefer?