Should I Purchase a Condo?

Considering buying a condominium? Be warned. It's much different versus owning a house and you have to be aware of its special characteristics. Before you pull the trigger on purchasing one in the condo market, make sure that it will match your lifestyle first.

Make sure you review the advantages and disadvantages of owning one, using your own personal criteria. Is security more important to you than distance from your neighbors? Do you like the community living lifestyle? Here is a list of the basic pros and cons of condo living to help you make your decision.

Advantages:
Location
There is often a high concentration of condominiums in downtown locations where land is at a premium. If you want to be in the heart of the city, a condominium may be a good choice.

Security
Having neighbors around makes it a lot easier to lock up and leave for a vacation or an extended period of time. Also, condominium buildings often have security features, be they buzzers or a guard service. This is particularly helpful if this is your second home, and you are only there for part of the year.

Low Maintenance
No more shoveling the snow or mowing the lawn! Condo living means someone else takes care of the plumbing problems or roof maintenance for you. However, there might be cases where you will need to pay, if the problem was your fault.

Affordability
Condos come in a wide price range, and the lower priced units are usually very affordable if you are a first time buyer, hence, a good choice compared to higher priced single family homes.

Amenities
Most condominium developments offer a range of amenities in the common areas. These may include swimming pools, tennis courts, workout gyms and other features that might not even be affordable if you had to get it on your own.

Disadvantages:
'Box of Air'
When you buy a condo, you do not own the land beneath the building, you simply share an interest in it. Realistically, you just own the space between the walls of your unit, and the rest of the common areas you share the ownership with the other tenants.

Community Living
Since the walls are shared, you will tend to hear your neighbors more often, and in the common areas you will probably see them a lot too. In addition, since you will be all part of a homeowner's association, you will need to get involved in making day to day decisions on the usage of common areas.

Fees
These fees go towards the maintenance and upkeep of the common areas. Sometimes, you may be assessed additional fees to cover the occasional large repairs. Your fees may also be paying for amenities, such as a swimming pool, that you may not use.

Resale
Condominiums are more sensitive to trends in the real estate market than single-family homes. If the market goes down the tubes, as what has been happening recently, it's almost sure that the condo values will be the most affected and worse, the last segment to recover.

Rules
Condos are governed by a set of rules called Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, aka CC&Rs. This can include restrictions on noise levels, pet ownership, renovations, and even what kind of curtains you can put in your windows.

Condominium Association
Since the association is made up of homeowners like you and me, instead of paid professionals, the efficiency levels might not be as expected. Also, if you want to make renovations to your unit or rent your unit out, you may have to get approval from the condo association.

At the end of the day, always remember that owning a condo is quite different from owning a house. Make sure the condo lifestyle is for you before buying.

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