Condo's-the good, the bad and the ugly??

[mamajoan]

So this is just a hypothetical future that I have been pondering...

Dh and I were thinking about selling our home when we retire... in about 15-17 years..... and yes, we probably will have moved to another home by then any way but this idea is for Retirement..

We were thinking about purchasing a condo... has to be a one level with w/c access. In actuallity we would like to purchase two condo's.. one in the midwest and one in Hawaii.
We know the lay of the land in both areas, so know the availability and pricing.... However, I was reading the apt. thread..and I was wondering if CONDO Living is similar to APT. living.. ie. problems with neighbors etc...

We have not lived in apt. type living since 1988 when we were transfered from Kanehoe Marine Corp Air Station in Hawaii.

So if you live in a Condo.. can you tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly of Condo life? Thanks

 

[cassie]

Here's my take on condo living. I'm in my mid 50's and I bought a condo 5 years ago. I love having the lawn mowed, the leaves picked up in the fall, and the snow removal. My condo is a townhouse, so I have two floors and a basement, more than enough room for me. I really love it here.

As far as annoying close neighbors, I have lucked out. But that could change any time. I'm in a family association, and when I retire I know I would want a 55 and older complex. What is a/c access?

 

[mamajoan]

thanks..

Dh and I would enjoy having a small patio.. but no more big lawn and weeds to deal with.. that sounds lovely!
w/c=wheelchair

 

[NHAnn]

Originally posted by cassie
I love having the lawn mowed, the leaves picked up in the fall, and the snow removal.

Definitely the "good"!!

Check into the by-laws and operation of the condo association. It's nice when an Association has owners with expertise in various areas such as business, law, faciliteis management, who are involved on it's governing board...that way, even if the day-to-day operation is run my a property management company or contractors, the financial and operational is being overseen by owners. Also, check on the percentage of units that are owner occupied vs. rented out to get a feel for how "invested" residents are in the "neighborhood".

I could tell you some bad and ugly relating to maintenance contractor bleeding an association of $$ - making for costly "special assessments" on owners or dues increases higher than inflation when common area property needs major maintenance or repair.

 

[Mishetta]

My Mom & I had bought a brand new condo in a brand new complex in So. Calif & we LOVED it. It was a great experience & I wouldn't hesitate when the time comes for us to downsize. Although, they are making some condo's now as large as homes! We didn't hear our neighbors at all ~ it was very private the way the complex was laid out.

Actually, come to think of it, that condo, which was only 805 sq feet had much more storage space than our 2400 sq foot home does now!!

 

[Margie J]

I bought my condo in July 1997. It's a one bedroom unit in a building of 69 units (one, two-bedroom and townhouse two floor units). My unit includes central air, underground gated parking and my own w/d which is wonderful to have. The unit is small though, less than 800 square feet.

Pros
- I don't have to shovel snow in the winter or cut grass in the summer.
- We have a gardener that takes care of the landscape (many trees and flowers).
- The location is convenient.
- For major repairs of the building I don't have to find a contractor, the management and condo board do that.

Cons
- Our building was slapped together and looks nice. However, we are now paying the hefty price of cheap work. We have major plumbing problems with huge leaks everywhere. Former management just patched up the problem and never fixed it, making it worse.
- We had a huge assessment a few years ago to help pay for major repairs that our account couldn't cover. As a condo owner you could be asked at any time to fork over hundreds or thousands of dollars for a repair, even if the finances look good.
- I've had neighbors upstairs and next door that either play pounding music or decide to do housework in the wee hours of the morning. One was nice about the situation when approached about it, another was not. The one who wasn't had lived here longer and felt she could do what she wanted when she wanted in her unit.
- I can't have a pet (dog or cat).
- I got a warning letter about my old car which drips a bit of oil. The management got all crazy about it and basically told me to fix it or else. My remedy was cat litter under the car. Sorry, old cars leak and I can't afford a new one now to please management.
- Our monthly fee has gone up dramatically since I moved in. At this point if I pooled my current monthly mortgage and fee I could afford a decent house of my own.
- Major decisions about the building are made by management or the association. Although this can be a pro, it can be a con too if you don't agree on the repair, when it's done or who is doing it.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

DH and I purchased a condo in 1986 when we got engaged. It was the WORST mistake in our lives . . .we bought it for $67,900. We lived there 5 years and when we wanted to sell and purchase a house the condo was worth half that. So we ended up renting it. We STILL own it! The market now is better but still it is only worth around $50,000. We've had the most wonderful tenants since 1995, but we have not made any money on it whatsoever. It is a 960 sq ft ranch unit on the first floor. I would never recommend a ranch style condo unless you purchase on the top floor. We heard our upstairs neighbors walking around and playing a piano. Our across neighbor tapped danced at all hours . . .

If we could go back and do it over again, we most likely would of just rented something until we could afford a house, or we should of purchased a town home. The ranch style unit didn't seem like anything but an apartment. We really hated it.

 

[LindaG4458]

We currently live in a duplex tounhouse PUD (Private Unit Development) which is similar to a condo except we own the outside of the building and 1.5 feet beyond. The units are on a slab, with two bedrooms and a loft, and one full bath, with a half bath on the first floor. It is bigger than the house we owned for 29 years. We have owned this unit for 15 years, part-timers for 11 years and full-timers for 4. There are 14 units - 7 buildings - on 22 acres, which means plenty of open space. There are 5 full-time owners and 9 part-time (vacation) owners. Therein lies the problem.

The other half of our building does vacation rentals, varying from one night to two weeks at a time. Of course, everyone is ON VACATION!!! That means they invite 20 of their closest friend to stay with them , sleeping all over the floor. The record is 13 CARS FOR A UNIT THAT SLEEPS 6!!! They say it is only for one night, can't we be more lenient. For them it is only one night, for us the same thing happens with the next group. Speaking to the owners does no good because SOMETIMES THE OWNERS ARE HERE INVITING ALL THEIR FRIENDS!! We have called the police once and threatened another time because of noise and disruption late at night.

My husband is president of the association and it is difficult to get the part-timers to see any problem with this kind of behavior so we cannot get rules passed. It is turning into an us-against-them situation.


MY SUGGESTIONS: If you are planning to buy in a resort area be sure to buy in a devolopment that has a strong association and enforcement record. Also, investigate the types of rentals allowed. Our condo in Florida (an >55 community) has a minimum rental of 2 months. Everyone has to give up some freedom, but it is worth it for the overall quality of life. Also, investigate the financial health of the development. When we first bought here we didn't know that the place was on the verge of bankruptcy.

 

[arminnie]

I've owned three condos. The maintenance stuff is great. I think the plus things have been covered.

Negatives:
Condo will generally not appreciate as much as a single family home. If you are buying this to stay in it a long time that is not as much of a consideration as it would be if you were trying to build up equity to trade up.

If the market is bad and owners cannot sell (see above post) they may end up with more renters than owners living there. That happened to my aunt and she had a terrible time selling as most mortgage companies don't want to finance a condo if the percentage of rental units goes above a certain figure (don't know what that is). Some absentee owners get behind in paying HOA dues.

If you are the type of person who is aware of every sound then a condo may not be right for you. Just people walking by the unit talking may disturb some people.

Many condo associations end up suing the builder at some point. If the unit is older then the building deficiencies have usually been taken care of.

There are a lot of rules and regulations - you can't just decide to paint your windows or knock out an interior wall w/o permission. Even somethings like what color window coverings might be covered. No drying your clothes outside usually.

Bad neighbors are closer - I really never had a problem with bad neighbors but others have. Who can predict even in a house? I never heard my upstairs neighbors but we had 12 inches of airspace between concrete layers to buffer the noise.

If you get a bunch of people who never want to pay for maintenance the property will suffer. I lived in a condo in CA that was built in two phases and there were two separate home owners associations. One of them got very behind on doing routine repairs because the people on the HOA board would not spend any money. You could really tell a difference in the two complexes just by driving up. The seedy one ended up having to spend way more money eventually because they had let things go. The condo units were identical as was the location but the units in the well maintained and well run HOA sold for more money.

I personally love condo living and am very tired of living in a house and having to deal with all of the external stuff. I live with my dad who is 83, and this is where he wants to be so that's where I am now. I'd move to a condo in a second but I would be very picky about what I bought.

Another issue to consider is fire wall protection. We had a fire in the building across from me in CA (candle left alone) and it did major damage to the unit but did not damage the surrounding units because of the firewalls. I saw one last year where the same type of fire caused extensive damage to 3 units (including destroying the cars in the garages) because the firewalls were non-existant. It spread so quickly.

 

[mamajoan]

You guys are giving me lots to think about! Thank you so very much for all the information and personal experiences.. it really does help.

I am amazed that condos back east don't seem to sell as quickly as similar ones in the west...

But then I live in the Bay Area.. and EVERY Condo, Home, Apt or trailer is EXPENSIVE.. and it has been a Sellers market for years.

ie... friend just sold a 2 br upstairs condo.. 900 sq ft in a fair but very crowded neighborhood... little or no amenities... she bought it 2 years ago for $169000... sold it in 2 month for $280,000

Most are selling faster.. usually within 30 days.. but she has a few things that needed to be taken care of during the marketing of her condo.....

Keep it coming folks.. This information is invaluable!!

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by mamajoan
$280,000

In MY midwest , which includes Niles, of which I speak, those are some starting prices for brand-new. There are lower and higher from there, too. A lot depends on what you want/need, sq. footage, etc.

Being in real estate, as you know, I'd also like to stress the owner %, and management of the association. I could get even more particular about the differences in management, when the time arises.

 

[outstandinfarmer]

I live in the suburbs of Milwaukee and all of a sudden condos are going up everywhere. They are absolutely beautiful and the locations are wonderful. On lakes, by the woods, in a seculed area, but still by the city close to everything. Ahh. . . They run about $200,000 for a decent size one with a two car garage. The ones with the walk through basement are huge! The one we are getting is 2600 sq ft. It's a mansion compared to our teeny, tiny apartment. (Then again, it's a mansion compared to a lot of people's homes )

We are SOOO excited about it. It will be completely new so we get to pick everything in it. The wood, carpet, floors, counters, fireplace--EVERYTHING!!

It's more than we could have ever imagined. God has blessed us!

 

[Kimberle]

We purchased our condo 7 years ago. It has DOUBLED in value.

We really enjoy our condo. We've been lucky, our neighbors are really good.

We knew we were going to buy a condo instead of a house. My dh was working full time and still going to school. He had no time for lawn mowing, etc. We looked VERY CAREFULLY at many different complexes before buying.

Some key points for us:
A small complex (ours has 43 units).

Little undeveloped land around (for fear of a "welfare" type complex, or undesirable, large, noisey business.)

In a residential area. (You don't know how many complexes we saw in business or "warehouse" type areas.)


I'd also recommend buying the "worst" condo in the BEST complex rather than the "best" condo in the worst complex. You need a good complex to retain your investment.

Basically, your monthly "expenses" are set via your maintance charge. However, you can have assesments. We've been assested three times. For driveway paving, new roofs, and a swimming pool re-haul. They have ranged from $2000 - $10,000. Every complex is different, our gave us 3-4 months to pay each. (They did say they would work with you if you did have a problem.) We also replaced all the decks, but were not assesed.

So, look at the big ticket items like roofs, swimming pools, etc. Find out when each was last replaced or what maintainance was done. For instance, our complex was 20 years old when we purchased. Each building had the orginal roof. Roof's generally last 20-30 years. So we knew we'd be looking at new roofs during our ownership.

If you live in the snow belt, ask about snow removal. Who does it? How quickly after a snow? Etc.

All complexes don't "hire out". My friend mowes her own grass in hers. Some have lower maintance costs, but higher "owner responsibilities".

Real estate is a great investment. But like anything else, tread slowly. Keep researching and asking questions until you are comfortable!

 

[JayCT]

Wish Upon a Star - You own a condo that hasn't gone up in value since you bought it in 1986? Is it in CT??? I bought a condo in 1987 and rented it out because I couldn't sell it in 1994 when we bought our house. It is in central CT, convenient to three major cities (not far from Wallingford). Fortunately we have had good tenants (we are on our third) and the prices have gone through the roof in the last few years. Also, it will be paid off soon and we will use the money from it to pay for our sons college. With the stock market as crazy as it is, this condo turned out to be the best investment we made. Especially now that it is paying for itself. Plus i have agents bangin on my door asking if we want to sell.

Of course, nobody knows if the real estate market will continue to go up or go down. In the late 80's early 90's it went down. Now it is going up, at least in our area and most of CT.

The downside to condo living is that there is a lack of privacy and there are a lot rules that may or may not be to your likeing. However, the more exensive condos tend to be better built and better designed to give you the feeling of a single family home. You really need to check them out before you purchase. As others have warned there are a lot of problems with additional assessments. We are lucky we have never had one. That is because we have a complex manager that is very good at getting things done at a reasonable cost (which I think is a really big problem at some complexes). Unfortunately, we have a small group (4 people out of over 300 units) who dislike our manager and are now sueing to get him thrown out of the complex. These people do not know what they are doing because if this guy leaves and they bring in another person (or worse a management company), our condo fees are going to go through the roof. I know a lot of people who pay a lot more than we do and get a lot less. Oh well, what can you do? Jay

 

[LindaG4458]

Now that I told you about the bad stuff at our NH home, I will tell you about the good stuff at our condo in Vero Beach FL. We were fortunate that DH's aunt lives there and knew we were in the market for another condo/vacation home. She knew what buildings had good views and had an ear to the ground about availability. She put a refundable deposit down on our first place before we knew anything about it - she didn't want someone else to beat us to it.

We had originally bought a 1 bedroom 1 1/2 bath condo in an older, established development. The place was built in 1978 but looked like it was brand new. Fresh paint, groomed lawns, all kinds of amenities. It was a >55 community and we were too young to stay there so we used it for rental property. It was around a golf course, but the course was under foreclosure and gone somewhat to seed. We loved the apartment when we could finally stay there, but we wanted a place where we could have a pet. Two years later we sold it for the price we paid. The community had 111 buildings of 14 units per building.

We purchased, in its place, a brand new unit in a sister comunity. This place is two bedrooms, two baths, huge closets - bigger than our NH place. There are only 7 buildings with either 8 or 12 units per building for a total of 72 units. We bought into the third building. It is now fully constructed and occupied. We are on the same golf course which now has been redone. A recent resale was 50% more than we paid two years ago!

Florida is used to condos and I think people know what to expect. Most New Englanders own their homes and lots and don't understand the community concept of condo living, especially if it is a vacation home to them.

Good luck, but be careful.