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Article Courtesy of The Realtor
By Lisa Johnson Mandell
Published July 10, 2016
If you ask most people to explain what a condo is,
they’ll tell you, “It’s like an apartment, but you own it.”
Or, “It’s like a home, but without a yard.” Both of these
descriptions are mostly true, but there’s a lot more to it.
A condo (short for “condominium”) is a private residence owned by an
individual or family in a building or community with multiple units.
Although condos are usually part of a larger building, “detached
condominiums” also exist. What all condos have in common is that they share
common areas—such as yards, garages, rec rooms, or gyms—with other units
that the condo owners don’t have to maintain themselves, making home upkeep
that much easier.
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For this convenience,
condo owners pay dues to a condo board—typically made up of
elected condo owners—who handle the hiring of landscapers,
pool cleaners, and other repairmen for anything that must be
fixed, from faulty elevators to gopher infestations in the
common yard. This is much the way a homeowners association,
or HOA, functions. (Leaky pipes and plumbing and/or roof
repairs fall into more of a gray area, but generally if it’s
outside the walls of your unit, it’s the board’s
responsibility to fix.)
According to Matthew Gordon Lasner, author of “High Life:
Condo Living in the Suburban Century,” the first condo in
the United States was built in Salt Lake City in 1960—and
since then, condos have truly taken off. Currently there are
approximately 17 million privately owned condos in the U.S.,
which may have you wondering: Is a condo right for you? |
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Should you buy a condo? Here’s how to decide
You can see why condos would be ideal for people who want to own a piece of
real estate but don’t want to worry about yardwork and maintenance. This
makes condos ideal for retirees, young adults without kids, or anyone who
would like to own property in more densely populated areas where detached
single-family homes just cost way too much.
And the advantage of buying a condo over renting an apartment? One, condos
tend to be better built and maintained than rentals. Plus, condos enable
homeowners to gain equity in their property over time—so why not invest your
money in a home rather than throw it away on rent?
“Mortgage interest rates in today’s market are extremely low. Most
individuals seeking a $2,500-a-month rental could easily afford a mortgage
of $500,000. Monthly payments would be similar if not the same,” points out
Jessica Peters, a RealtorŪ with the Peters-O’Brien Team at Douglas Elliman.
“Depending on the area and whether or not the buyer is savvy, the condo
would appreciate during the length of residency. Whereas in a rental, there
is no opportunity for a return on investment.”
On the other hand, condos are not a great idea for fiercely independent
people who like their own privacy and space, and don’t want anyone telling
them what they can and can’t do with it. That’s because in addition to
collecting dues, a condo board also enforces rules and regulations that
owners agree to abide by when they purchase their condo. The board can
regulate everything from the size and number of pets you’re allowed to the
number and ages of the people living in your unit. Retirement condo
communities, for example, can legally require that all long-term residents
be over the age of 55.
So if you’re looking into buying a condo, make sure to study up on the rules
(called covenants, conditions, and restrictions, or CC&Rs) before you commit
to your purchase.
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