If you’re a buyer who’s at a price point where you can either buy a condo or possibly buy a single-family residence and you’re wondering which path is right for you, there is one major pro and one major con to buying a condo that you need to take into consideration.
Con: When you buy a condo, you’re investing with other people.
In other words, if there are eight others living in the complex, you’re in a business relationship with all of them. Every condominium has a homeowners association (HOA) which acts as its governing board. The board is the governing authority, so if you disagree with something they’re doing and you want to change it, you have to get elected to the board yourself. In the past, I’ve had people call me telling me they wanted to sell their condo just because they didn’t agree with something the board was doing or they had a bad relationship with them.
“When living in a condo, you’re only responsible for what’s inside the unit.”
Pro: The cost of maintaining a condo is a lot less than maintaining a house.
Let’s say you buy a single-family house, and three months later you flush something down the road toilet, it gets clogged, and you discover there’s root intrusion in your sewer line. All of a sudden, you’re looking at a $12,000 to $15,000 repair bill. You wouldn’t have to deal with this situation if you lived in a condo. When living in a condo, you’re only responsible for what’s inside the unit.
Your HOA will take care of any external issues, which means less maintenance and less hassle on your end if, for example, you’re focused on your career and you don’t want to have to worry about taking care of any big-ticket items.
As always, if you have any other questions about this topic or you have any other real estate needs, please feel free to reach out to me. I’m never too busy to assist you.
