Advice Requested: Condo vs Single Family Home- Single Mom

[*pixie*dust*]

I am making plans to move within the next year or so. Not out of my current area, but to a different home in the area. The home I am in was one purchased with my ex-spouse, that requires a fair amount of maintenance and was never intended to be my "forever". I greatly desire a change of venue. I am approaching the big "40" and have a 9 year old DS. Other than my mortgage, I will be debt free in the next 1-2 years. I am in a secure career.
I am struggling with what type of home to buy. Here are my options. I would appreciate constructive input, especially from other single women who may have "been there, done that".

1. Condo - The condos in this complex are well maintained and in a nice neighborhood. Now, with a young son and a pretty demanding job, no maintenance and upkeep outside sounds great. The monthly association fee is reasonable and the cost of the condos is less than my current home value. So affordable, low maintenance, convenient and a nice neighborhood are all big pluses. The downside is smaller size and closes proximity to others.

2. Single family home -- There are a number of suitable smaller homes available in a variety of price ranges. The advantage of a single family home would be more living space, more privacy and yard space for DS. I also have considered that, after I retire, I might want a yard, so that gardening is an option. The downside would be higher price (potentially) and more maintenance.

So that is my quandary -- what do you think? What would you do/or did you do? Your input is appreciated!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

It sounds like this intends to be your forever home(how you talk about living in it after retirement), unless of course you meet someone else?

If that's the case, I would want to buy a small home without an HOA fee. I don't know how laws are where you live but in some places HOA fees can skyrocket and if you're on a fixed income later in life it could definitely be challenging to keep up with the fees. If you have already anticipated the chance of HOA increases then obviously that's not a worry. Another thing, a lot of condos are multiple levels. As you get older multiple floors will be challenging for you. Is that something you're willing to deal with?

I'm not a single mom but that's just my thoughts. I live in California so there's no shortage of homes on small lots of land I don't know how homes are where you live but I'd definitely consider that option first. Plus, I like having the ability to make a house my own and I'm not saying that condos aren't great, but you can't really do what you want with it without permission.

 

[JanaDee]

I am making plans to move within the next year or so. Not out of my current area, but to a different home in the area. The home I am in was one purchased with my ex-spouse, that requires a fair amount of maintenance and was never intended to be my "forever". I greatly desire a change of venue. I am approaching the big "40" and have a 9 year old DS. Other than my mortgage, I will be debt free in the next 1-2 years. I am in a secure career.
I am struggling with what type of home to buy. Here are my options. I would appreciate constructive input, especially from other single women who may have "been there, done that".

1. Condo - The condos in this complex are well maintained and in a nice neighborhood. Now, with a young son and a pretty demanding job, no maintenance and upkeep outside sounds great. The monthly association fee is reasonable and the cost of the condos is less than my current home value. So affordable, low maintenance, convenient and a nice neighborhood are all big pluses. The downside is smaller size and closes proximity to others.

2. Single family home -- There are a number of suitable smaller homes available in a variety of price ranges. The advantage of a single family home would be more living space, more privacy and yard space for DS. I also have considered that, after I retire, I might want a yard, so that gardening is an option. The downside would be higher price (potentially) and more maintenance.

So that is my quandary -- what do you think? What would you do/or did you do? Your input is appreciated!

Are you planning on this being your forever home or are you open to the possibility of maybe moving once your son is out on his own?

 

[threeboysmom]

I found myself in your situation 5 years ago. I bought myself a condo because of the reasons you've already mentioned. As a single mom, I just couldn't see myself having to deal with the mowing, raking, and shoveling (lots of it!)... not to mention any repairs/upkeep that need to be done.

I hate paying the condo fee, even though it's quite reasonable... I feel like my mortgage with a small home would have been cheaper than my mortgage+condo fee, but I also don't plan on living here until retirement either.

 

[havaneselover]

I made this choice almost two years ago. My options were small sfhs, detached condos, or attached condos. I liked no yard maintenance, not having to worry about the roof or painting the siding, etc. but at the end of the day it didn't feel as much like a home as a sfh. Also I wanted a fenced yard, to be able to put up a basketball hoop, and to be around other kids. The other consideration was that I felt like the condo fees were exorbitant for what they covered. There are days when I hate mowing or the repairs seem overwhelming (I replaced the roof and a bunch of siding and the deck needs to be sealed and the house probably needs to be painted soon) but I think it was the best option for us.

 

[tasha99]

I'm a single mom too and I just bought a home this year. I chose to buy a stand alone home because right now, my kids can help with the yard work. After my youngest moves out, I will either do it myself or hire a gardener. I have a lot more control over a gardener's fees than I do over HOA fees.

This is the home I plan to retire in. One thing that was a deal breaker for me was single story only.

 

[amcnj]

I would just suggest looking closely at what the hoa fees cover and which of those items you would be willing to do versus having to hire someone else to do. Figuring out a yearly approximate cost of any you'd contract out would might affect the financial comparison between the two choices.

 

[yoopermom]

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head...

Do you picture you and your DS doing more homebody type things between now and when he goes off to college, or is he involved in tons of afterschool activities and you both love to travel?

Knowing he's going to transition in about 5-6 years to probably not wanting to be seen with mom , when you have more of that time to yourself and he's not a priority, will you want to do activities around the home/yard, or will you want to be free to travel, do long weekends, etc?

Is the area you're in one where it's easier to sell small homes or condos? Whether or not you think it's your "forever" home, it's important to be realistic and have the peace of mind to know that you could sell it if need be (loss of job, long term illness, want to move, etc).

Would you rather have a regularly scheduled cost (aka HOA fees) or costs that could fluctuate but you would have more control over (home maintenance and repair)?

What will your tolerance be if you buy a condo and the neighbors change, or the condo board changes, or you just get tired of all the "rules"?

Would you ever want to have pets that aren't allowed in a condo situation?

My DM went from a house to a condo, and hates it, but chose poorly. Six doors down from her we have a different relative who lives in a different layout, with much better neighbors, who's perfectly happy (and also in a different place in her life).

Good luck with your decision!

Terri

 

[Darcy03231]

While I'm not single, its just DH and I. We recently sold our large family home and moved into something smaller. We debated the same choices as we plan for this to be our "forever" home. DH has already retired and I plan to retire within the next 5-7 years. We both wanted to approach it so that if our health declined and when one of us was no longer here the other would be able to stay in the home as long as possible.

We decided on a smaller, one level single family home. After discussing it and going to look at both single family homes and condos we realized that we preferred to have the privacy of a single family home. We also decided we didn't want to have to live under someone else's rules. We felt that with the cost of condo fees we could take that money and hire someone to do tasks that we either (1) didn't want to do or (2) were unable to continue to do. Another consideration is that with a condo there could be a special assessment on top of condo fees. DH's ex-wife purchased a condo and within the 1st year got hit with a $4000 special assessment. We decided that we wanted to be able to make the decisions on what got repaired/replaced and when and with what materials, etc.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I will say that I thought I would be sad when it came time to sell the "family" home. Instead, I am relieved that I no longer have to clean it and DH is thrilled that he no longer has to maintain it!

 

[Nennie]

When I was single (no kids though), I lived in a condo and loved it. Didn't have to worry about mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, etc. My complex also had a gym and a pool, which was great!

I'm married with kids, and in a single family home, but DH does everything house-related for us. If something were to ever happen to my DH, I would move back to a condo (or townhouse) in a second!

 

[MomToOne]

Another single Mom here. A decade or so older than you DD is 14.

I've always preferred a house. As PPs have said, condos don't feel as much like "home" to me, not to mention you have to put up with neighbors being RIGHT THERE. People stomping on your ceiling or being loud outside your door, parking lots which sometimes don't have enough spaces, etc.

For yard work, I hire a "mow and blow" guy to take care of the weekly tasks, I take care of any sprinkler system fixes, any replanting that is needed, putting down mulch once a year and other stuff like that myself. It only takes a weekend here and there.

For other maintenance, well, I have a 75 year old house, so I've learned to do some things myself and otherwise just built up a network of tradesmen that are all on speed dial But even with such an old house, I usually only have to call someone out once or twice a year. The advantage of having an old house (other than things like character ) is that it is in a neighborhood with no HOA, so I figure the money I would just put towards that goes into my repair budget. But if you don't want to put up with that many repairs, just look at newer construction.

 

[lvillotta1]

Great points of view. After living in a sfh for 14 years I wish I had chosen condo life. Hoa fees can be expensive,But most things are done for you. That is priceless. At this point I have a house that has an original kitchen,bathroom and basement. I hate that I do not have the extra money to pour into the house and that will be the way it is for a long time. I would if I could go buy a newly built condo with new updates and that would be perfect. I feel like I would have had a very nice place to live. At this point I am here forever b/c I have 12 years left on my mortgage. If you are debt free like I am I would buy new and add your touches and pay the Hoa fee.

 

[eliza61]

So I'm a bit older and moved almost a year ago. my situation was a bit different as I lived in a big surburban house that I knew was never going to be my forever home. But after my dh passed away and my kids are young adults I got sick of the maintence and upkeep of a larger house along with the fact I hate surban living.

Now I ended up with a townhouse with a HOA. I absolutely love it. I have only 12 other houses in my hoa so I have none of the other "horror' stories that I've been hearing.

Last year, during the winter of Armaggedon, lol. HOA took care of absolutely every thing. Shoveled before 5 am every snow fall, cleared the roof, picked up the down trees and debris, keep common areas salted and ice free. seriously I wanted to kiss them. During the summer they cut the grass, trimmed the rose buses and hedges and last week they planted fall mums. My tree is dying in my front yard, all I have to do next summer is pick out the type of tree from a local groundskeeping company that they sent me too and voila I'll have anew tree.

So not all HOA's are bad. my fees are 150 a month. worth every dime IMO. I've also added a screen door and some flower boxes to the front of my house without any drama.

Now I do have neighbors as it's a townhouse but seriously unless you get the neighbors from "he$$$" I haven't had any issues. yes, every once in a while I can hear my neighbors kids in the back yard. not a big whooo for me.

I live in Philly which has some great condos so I think when I get tired of stairs I'll probably move again and as the above poster mentioned if you get some of the newer condo's, they are absolutely fabulous. we have some that over look the parkway with gourmet kitchens that I would sell a kid for.
LOL

when I retire I want to be a snow bird and I'm certainly not buying another house so in reality I'll have some type of condo or apartment.

I'm a city gal so condo's don't bother me.

good luck.

 

[Darcy03231]

Great points of view. After living in a sfh for 14 years I wish I had chosen condo life. Hoa fees can be expensive,But most things are done for you. That is priceless. At this point I have a house that has an original kitchen,bathroom and basement. I hate that I do not have the extra money to pour into the house and that will be the way it is for a long time. I would if I could go buy a newly built condo with new updates and that would be perfect. I feel like I would have had a very nice place to live. At this point I am here forever b/c I have 12 years left on my mortgage. If you are debt free like I am I would buy new and add your touches and pay the Hoa fee.

That might not change just because you buy a condo. Even if you buy something new now, by the time you live in for 15-20 years all of those things will again be older and potentially outdated. No matter what you buy, condo or house, it will require updating the interior at some point in time, unless you plan to sell every ten to fifteen years and move into new construction again.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm not in your exact shoes but our last home was a condo and now we're in a single home. While we lived in the condo we longed for more storage, more freedom (say, to buy whatever kind of screen door we like.). We wanted a garage. We were slightly resentful about paying a condo fee to cover things like snow plowing and trash removal. These are servicea that any single homeowner would automatically get for paying property taxes. Yet we still paid taxes but the twp didn't provide these services since the condos are considered private property. Our neighbors were not noisy and people took care of their little courtyard areas beyond the service provided by the condo landscapers.
Once I was pregnant with ds, now 17, we moved to a single home. It was built in the early 60's so it's needed lots of repairs, updates, etc. Over the years we've redone both bathrooms, kitchen, soffits, garage door & opener, furnace/cental air, roof, driveway, added a shed, painted the outside twice & the inside multiple times,rescreened the back porch, replaced rotted wood on exterior window sills & various other parts. Dh is uber handy & has done all of this himself except for the roof & driveway. My brother does HVAC so he installed the furnace/AC. No way could we have kept up with all of this if we had to pay for labor as well.

Now we look back fondly at condo living as being so easy and care-free. A crew would cut the grass & plants flowers, paint the exterior & repaired the roof when it leaked. We say once our kids are grown & moved out we may return to easy condo living one day.

Then there's dh's sister, a single mom, who insisted she wanted a single home for her son with a yard etc despite dh urging her to get a condo. It was so expensive just for her to keep up with all her bills she fell behond in maintenance to the point she worried about how she could ever catch up. Her son is now 20 so the yard is no longer so appealing. At the same time my MIL needed more and more help/home care so finally my SIL sold her home, and with the proceeds of the sale, put a small addition on my inlaws home, so she could be there for my MIL.
Anyway. We always say now to own a single home you have to either be very handy to keep up with the maintenance or make plenty of money so you can afford to pay others to do it.
Good luck in your decision.

 

[Dashzap]

I became a single-mom a few years ago. You are lucky to have a steady income; I'm still frantically working on that.

My ex and I bought a 1565 sq ft ranch house just before we separated (needed one level for son who became disabled.) I got the house since the kids live with me; he got the cash. Hail damage led to a new roof and new siding last year, so that is good for a while. Since the house is paid for, it is cheapest for me to stay put. No doubt new waterheater/furnace/airconditioner be required at some point as the house was built in the mid 1990s.

Sometimes house maintenance is stressful, as I am low on cash for hiring help, but if I had steady income, I wouldn't worry about calling in an electrician instead of changing outlets myself (thank heavens for youtube!)

Cutting the grass is a nuisance, but I view it as my exercise program. Luckily while my neighborhood is attractive, it isn't quite as OCD as my last in terms of yard work. (In the old neighborhood, kids were yelled at for walking on grass, and people would scrub oil drips off their driveways. ) When I get overwhelmed and can't keep up, I hire a neighborhood kid to cut or rake (generally about $25 for a small yard.)

My teen boys shovel the snow when needed. (They can't mow due to allergies and injuries.)

What do condo fees cover? Roof, windows, doors, lawn care, shoveling?

Does it pay for utilities?

 

[Disney Dynamite]

Others have brought up some excellent points. Before I married my DH, I was weighing buying a condo vs a small house. I ultimately decided against the condo because of resell potential. In my area, there isn't a much of a price difference between new and used condos, so pre-owned condos are a difficult sell and have a tendency to sit on the market a long time. Also, after living in dorms and apartments for so many years, I just couldn't stomach the idea of sharing walls with neighbors.

 

[tvguy]

With a small child, I would think a SFH would be your best choice.

I lived in a rented a brand new condo for a year, opted not to buy it for the $75,000 they wanted, bought a $100,000 house instead. 31 years later, that condo is worth $75,000 and the house $350,000 (down from a high of about $450,000 in 2006). So it may not appreciated at all. And condos can be hard to sell. People love to rent them, not as many want to own them.

And my biggest fear is that HOA. One unexpected (read that as unbudgeted) expense, and you have to cough up $5,000 for your share of a new roof, or $250 for pool repairs.

I know it was an issue for my mom when I moved out. She had lived in her house for 22 years.........she considered a condo, but stayed in her house for another 31 years (a total of 53 years). Yes, it cost her $75 a month for a gardner, and $7,500 for a new roof, but she had her space an privacy, and a huge yard for the grandkids to play in.

 

[Darcy03231]

I became a single-mom a few years ago. You are lucky to have a steady income; I'm still frantically working on that.

My ex and I bought a 1565 sq ft ranch house just before we separated (needed one level for son who became disabled.) I got the house since the kids live with me; he got the cash. Hail damage led to a new roof and new siding last year, so that is good for a while. Since the house is paid for, it is cheapest for me to stay put. No doubt new waterheater/furnace/airconditioner be required at some point as the house was built in the mid 1990s.

Sometimes house maintenance is stressful, as I am low on cash for hiring help, but if I had steady income, I wouldn't worry about calling in an electrician instead of changing outlets myself (thank heavens for youtube!)

Cutting the grass is a nuisance, but I view it as my exercise program. Luckily while my neighborhood is attractive, it isn't quite as OCD as my last in terms of yard work. (In the old neighborhood, kids were yelled at for walking on grass, and people would scrub oil drips off their driveways. ) When I get overwhelmed and can't keep up, I hire a neighborhood kid to cut or rake (generally about $25 for a small yard.)

My teen boys shovel the snow when needed. (They can't mow due to allergies and injuries.)

What do condo fees cover? Roof, windows, doors, lawn care, shoveling?

Does it pay for utilities?

Typically, in our area condo fees cover trash pick-up, snowplowing of the roads, all exterior maintenance (painting & siding, driveways), roof, and lawn care. Depending on the development some also cover shoveling/plowing of driveways and walkways and doors & windows. I haven't heard of one that covers utilities.

Keep in mind the more the condo fee covers, the higher the fee is. Fees in our area can range from $200/mo for the smaller developments with less amenities (i.e., no pool, no security, snowplowing just the roads, dumpsters for residents to put trash in, etc.), to over $1,000/mo for the larger developments with more amenities (i.e., pool, clubhouse, security, golfcourse, curbside trash pick-up, shoveling/plowing driveway and walkways, etc.). Most of the condos in our area have fees between $250-$350/mo.

Also, you need to keep in mind the special assessments. If there isn't enough money in the general fund to cover a large expense the owners each have to chip in more. DH's ex-wife got hit with a $4000 special assessment when her condo development had to redo driveways and there wasn't enough money in the general fund to cover it.

 

[eliza61]

With a small child, I would think a SFH would be your best choice.

I lived in a rented a brand new condo for a year, opted not to buy it for the $75,000 they wanted, bought a $100,000 house instead. 31 years later, that condo is worth $75,000 and the house $350,000 (down from a high of about $450,000 in 2006). So it may not appreciated at all. And condos can be hard to sell. People love to rent them, not as many want to own them.

And my biggest fear is that HOA. One unexpected (read that as unbudgeted) expense, and you have to cough up $5,000 for your share of a new roof, or $250 for pool repairs.
I know it was an issue for my mom when I moved out. She had lived in her house for 22 years.........she considered a condo, but stayed in her house for another 31 years (a total of 53 years). Yes, it cost her $75 a month for a gardner, and $7,500 for a new roof, but she had her space an privacy, and a huge yard for the grandkids to play in.

How long ago was that TV? A lot of that has changed. You really have to talk with the HOA. When I was looking last fall almost every condo I visit had guarantees in there that prevented folks from getting socked with huge up charges like that. same thing with the townhome communities.

My HOA cannot raise dues more than 3% over the rate of inflation without legal action. Period. Now each homeowner is responsible for their own roof maintenance and repair so that's not an issue but common areas like pools, gym etc all have separate budgets and those budgets have minimum amounts that must be maintained at all times. we get monthly statements of the escrow accounts and quarterly statements on the scheduled maintenance. for example we have a gated driveway and garages. the gates are schedule to be repaired in two years (every seven years) along with folks garage doors. that's part of the budget for 2016 so when it's time there shouldn't be an issue. same thing with the community center, unless a tornadoe comes barreling through.

I do know of a few instance of special assessments but they were from older HOA.

They are trying to get better at keeping them to a minimum.

I think the larger issue especially if you live in a big complex is what to spend those dues on. As you can imagine all members have different ideas on what's important.

I only have 12 other members in our HOA so we have our local meetings at the neighborhood watering hole where we discuss issues. Some neighbors want the front yards resodded (is that a word) so we'll have a discussion on that but outside of that, we'll chat about where the Christmas/Hannaka party is going to be.