first time home buyer - condo vs home

After years living in apartments, when I finally achieved the financial status to buy a freestanding home, I vowed to NEVER share walls with anyone again. Condo's are no different than apartments, with the exception of what materials the walls are constructed from. Concrete or no concrete, a loud stereo at 3am or a loud, drunk asshole will penetrate the walls and there you'll lay in your own bed, wishing you could just sleep.

Hopefully nothing happens financially that causes me to have to let go of my house, because if I'm forced to go back to apartment / condo living, someone may die.

Also, having to take the dogs for a walk was a pain. Now I just let them out in the back yard.
 
I bought a condo last april. I went with the condo over the house because I traveled alot at the job I was at. The plus is that I don't have to do anything with the outside of the condo. No cutting grass or anything like that. The only negative for me was the lack of a fenced back yard( I live on the second story) and no garage. If you don't mind having to deal with all the extras that come with the house then go for a house. With traveling with my job and my soon to be wife not wanting to do yard work a condo was my best bet.
 
a loud stereo at 3am or a loud, drunk asshole will penetrate the walls and there you'll lay in your own bed, wishing you could just sleep.
i know what you mean. i lived in a fraternity house for 3 years of college. but can the same not also be said of your neighbors at a house? most of what i'm looking at is around 1/3 acre lots. if they're playing their stereo loud or running around drunk i'm probably going to hear it.
 
I prefer a house over a condo at this point. I like the fact of having space and something to take care of. I like yard work and being outside in a yard not a patch of sod or a balcony. I've lived in houses, condos, and apartments over the years. I currently live in a apartment that I can not wait to get out of. I am looking for a small home that I can call my own and do what I please with. I can not stand having people of either side or above me.

Condos are a great idea for someone that does not want to do yard work. I have alot of friends that live in condos but they look at it as a transition property to a house.
 
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my deal with yard work is that i don't mind doing it but i'm not so sure i'll like being forced to do it. grass is going to grow, leaves are going to fall, plants are going to do whatever plants do, and you need to address the stuff when it happens. so would i mind mowing the lawn? no that'd be fine. would i like to have to mow it twice/week for a lot of the summer? i think i can find more fun things to do
 
my deal with yard work is that i don't mind doing it but i'm not so sure i'll like being forced to do it. grass is going to grow, leaves are going to fall, plants are going to do whatever plants do, and you need to address the stuff when it happens. so would i mind mowing the lawn? no that'd be fine. would i like to have to mow it twice/week for a lot of the summer? i think i can find more fun things to do

Its called home ownership...Things are going to break and yard work has to be done.
 
Get a townhouse. No upstairs or downstairs neighbors (no getting woken by stamping kids or dogs). Small yard, so little maintenance, and you might be able to swing one with a car-hole. Some complexes are technically condo associations too, so they take care of the outside maintenance...
 
Condo & Homeowners Association fees and assesments are big negatives for me. So is contractual agreement of what you can and cannot do to YOUR property.

With the housing market like it is, look for a reasonable 1st home in a location that does not have a homeowners association. Paying for assessments and having no control over fees and what you can do would be problems for me.
 
Condo & Homeowners Association fees and assesments are big negatives for me. So is contractual agreement of what you can and cannot do to YOUR property.

With the housing market like it is, look for a reasonable 1st home in a location that does not have a homeowners association. Paying for assessments and having no control over fees and what you can do would be problems for me.

Just keep in mind that those fees are usually to help accomplish things, like fix roofs or repaint walls or landscape that you would otherwise have to take care of on your own.

The condo agreement is a pain, but as long as you are making improvements to the property (and aren't trying to put a 20' dish on your roof), it's usually easy to get approved. That said, if you go the route where you need to deal with one, ask some potential neighbors about the association before you commit to anything. Some management companies are a real PITA!
 
Yardwork sucks, but if you have bad neighbors, at least you have a little more separation. I like having a little bit of breathing room.

Yeah, home maintenance sucks, but I'd hate to depend on a bad condo association to fix exterior things. Sometimes you want to get things done in a reasonable amount of time.

Sometimes I wish I bought a townhouse instead, but I like having my own property and my own yard.
 
I spend more than half the year travelling, much of that internationally, so I went with a condo. For me is was a total pratical decision. I've like a house with a yard, or even better live out in the country with a lot of property around me, but with my life that isn't going to happen for a while.

If you are going with a condo you MUST look into the board. My condo has a good board, a very healthy reserve fund, and is well managed. I have friends that aren't so lucky.
 
I liked the fact that a house has its own peice of land that I can do what I want with. I like the satisfaction of keeping my house looking good so the yard work doesn't bother me.

But if I traveled a lot for work I could see were a condo or townhouse would be a better choice.
 
I have a townhome. I want my own yard though. I hate assoication fees but they go towards landscape, shoveling/plowing of the subdivision, roofing, etc.
 
Another thing to be careful of with a condo is special assessments. When the association decides it's time for a new roof, or a new parking lot, or new landscaping, they drop your portion of the bill in your mailbox and if you don't pay up, they can foreclose on your unit.

**** TO-THE NO. I decide when I get a roof and how much I pay for it. I decide when landscaping gets done and how much is spent on it.
 
Get a townhouse. No upstairs or downstairs neighbors (no getting woken by stamping kids or dogs)
townhome style is what i'm looking at. that's actually what most of them are around here for some reason. there's one nearby that is actually a good location that is not townhome style but it's low on my list and the only reason it's on my list is because all of the units are actually really nice inside. nice high ceilings, redone kitchens and baths, etc...
 
this is along the lines of what i'm looking for a condo http://www.prudentialct.com/ListingDetails.aspx?norecord=0&LK=1442463. if that one was a little closer to work it'd be much more appealing. it's an end unit so only a neighbor on one side plus extra windows, and it's at the back of the complex so woods behind. no garage but i'd be ok with that for a little while plus it's kinda in the middle of nowhere so no hooligans running around. if i can find something like that 10-15 mins closer to work it'll probably be my front runner. homes are usually similar in size on ~.25 acres in various levels of needing updates done. the foreclosure market is also a consideration
 
Another thing to be careful of with a condo is special assessments. When the association decides it's time for a new roof, or a new parking lot, or new landscaping, they drop your portion of the bill in your mailbox and if you don't pay up, they can foreclose on your unit.

**** TO-THE NO. I decide when I get a roof and how much I pay for it. I decide when landscaping gets done and how much is spent on it.

That's eventually why I didn't go with a condo. Most of the time, unless you are higher up on the condo board, you can't even select the roofing/painting/paving etc contractor that does the work. They could cheap out and cause damage to the interior of your unit (leaky roof, but drywall inside your condo is your responsibility).

Condo associations can be awful.
 
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