If you live in a condo, or even looked into living in one, you probably have seen the letters HOA. They stand for Homeowners Association. Before purchasing a condo, it's important to know what your monthly HOA payment covers and what it doesn't cover.
From the outside looking in, it's impossible to tell whether a building is home to condos or to a housing cooperative (better known as a co-op). While both condos and co-ops afford people a place to live and can provide convenient access to amenities like swimming pools and workout rooms, there are some major differences.
Just as suburban neighborhoods often attract certain types of people, so too, do condo buildings in urban areas. So whom might you expect to find living in condos? Here are four types of people, in a variety of age ranges. As long as you have an open mind to meeting new people, you may find your neighbors are one of the best parts of condo-living experience.
The vast majority of people who live in condominiums never have a problem with their homeowners association. Each month, they write a check to the association, and they receive the variety of services covered by their association dues. There are steps that potential condo owners can take to ensure they do not buy a unit in a building that has a bad homeowners association, as well as steps they can take if they discover after the fact that their association leaves something to be desired.
Everyone has different reasons for choosing to live in an urban condo. Indeed, if you ask a group of condo-dwellers what their favorite part of the condo life is, you very well may get different answers from each person in the group. As someone who lives in an urban condo, I can tell that I consider location to be the best aspect of condo living.
There is a lot to like about living in an urban condo. It's a lifestyle in and of itself, and more than likely you'll be close to restaurants and nightlife that other people travel miles to enjoy. In addition, there are some extra amenities you might find in your condo itself, or your condo building, depending on where you live.
The floor may be the one thing you use most in your condo. Unless you can fly, your floor is in constant use when you are home. Given the large amount of use it gets, it is worth spending some time thinking about your floor, whether you are buying or selling, or just thinking of ways to improve your condo. The five types of flooring we will discuss are carpet, hardwood, laminate and tile.
If you are like many people who buy a condo, you looked at the unit, fell in love with it, and decided to buy it. You are well on your way to enjoying the condo lifestyle, but many people get tripped up when they think about how to furnish their new home. If they are downsizing, they suddenly wonder where everything will go. And if they're buying a home for the first time, they wonder how they're going to fill it up. In both instances, a little moderation is a good thing.
The condominium life is one of convenience. For many people, work is nearby. Restaurants and nightclubs are within walking distance. Home maintenance is largely left to someone else. But the reality is that space often is at a premium. So unless you love living amongst clutter, organization is necessary. Here are 10 organization tips that will help you make the most of the space your condo has.
People sometimes ask me whether condos are family friendly. They generally mean: Can I raise children in a condominium? My answer is usually 'yes, but…' Just as single-family homes may or may not be child-friendly, the same goes for condos. If you already live in a condo and just learned you will be having a child, you can probably make it work. But if you are planning to have kids, or already have them, and looking to move into a condo, there are some things you should consider.
For all the upsides of living in a condo - and there are a lot of them - one of the glaring downsides for many people is the fact that most condos do not offer the same opportunities to access the outdoors as do single-family homes. Considering that condos often are located in high-rise buildings, it is a trade-off with which people thinking of living in a condo must be comfortable. But there are ways for condo-dwellers to bring the outside in.
Quick: Do you want to be free to take more vacations? Do you want to let someone else tackle most of your home maintenance? Do you want to live in a place where a fitness room or pool is just down the hallway? Do you want to live in the middle of it all? If you answered yes to some or all of those questions, then, yes, the condo life may be for you.
Most people do not have access to a pool or workout room in their house. Nor do they have a basketball or tennis court in their backyard. Indeed, there are some amenities that those people who live in condos have easy access to, while their friends who live in single-family homes would have to join a gym to enjoy the same.
Home ownership is a dream for many people who simply want someplace to call their own. It is nice, of course, to build equity and plant roots, but one of the main perks of owning a home is the sense of stability it affords. That applies whether you are in your 20s or in your 80s, or anywhere in between. Though most people own more than one house during the course of their lives, there are many reasons why condos are worth a look from first-time home buyers.
Many people who live in urban condos are able to get by without owning a car. They bike or walk to the places they want to go, or use public transportation. Whether they mean to or not, that is green behavior that is environmentally friendly. So why not take it a few steps further? Following are some relatively simple ways to green your condo (even if you do own and drive a car).
When you reside in a single-family dwelling, one of the options you have if you run out of space is to put an addition on the home. It may be costly and time-consuming, but it can be done. But if you live in a condo and run short of space, you have no such option. The space you have is the space you have.
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