Is it like an apartment that you buy? I looked it up online and that's my impression from what I read, but it seems like I'm missing something.

What's the benefit to buying a condo and what are some of the downsides?

Thanks!

4/25/2006 10:21:19 PM

pretty much

4/25/2006 10:23:03 PM

I just bought a condo: http://www.loftsdilworth.com/

Benefits: No exterior mantainence (roof, painting, foundation)
No Yard to mow
Less overall to take care of

Personally, I bought a condo because I didnt need anything large and I wanted to live in uptown charlotte.

Downside: neighbors? no garage, no yard. Homeowner dues

4/25/2006 10:28:26 PM

^ how much are the HOA dues?

4/25/2006 10:29:43 PM

This could vary based on developer: Let me preface this by saying that construction just started and I don't actually live there yet. But I was told that Homeowner dues are calculated by multiplying a set number by the # of sq ft.

I have 617 sq feet and will pay $82 per month. Unit about me is 1200 sq feet so they pay around 160.

Includes water bill, sewer and garbage.

4/25/2006 10:32:15 PM

Thanks for the info

4/25/2006 10:36:27 PM

If you don't want a house and expect to be in the area for any decent amount of time then you definitely want to buy a condo instead of renting an apartment. Its an investment instead of lost money.

4/25/2006 11:04:30 PM

what's google/dictionary?

4/25/2006 11:05:29 PM

^ Fuck you. I said I'd looked it up and gave my sincere assessment of what it seemed to me to be. I wanted actual human interaction as to answering what the nuances and benefits/downsides would be.

So, again, FUCK YOU.

4/25/2006 11:12:59 PM

I heard something about basically how much of the wall you own. With one, you can only make certain modifications to the walls, but with the other, you can pretty much knock out walls, etc.

4/25/2006 11:47:53 PM

Quote :

"Benefits: No exterior mantainence (roof, painting, foundation)"

I wouldn't say that is entirely true. I've never owned a condo but I have heard from people that do. They were hit with a hefty bill of several thousand when it came time to re-roof and re-side the 'superstructure' that housed all the condos. This bill was split among all the owners in the unit.

I'd go so far as to even say that this is a disadvantage. At least when you own a house you can chose a time when it is financially best for you to re-roof and re-side as opposed to having it imposed upon you. They probably put such projects up for vote in the community but you won't always agree with the outcome.

I'd say the main advantage is that they are generally much cheaper than a house. That way you can be investing your money instead of losing it in an apartment - even if you do not have the kind of cash/get approved for a loan sufficient to cover for a house.

The main disadvantage? It's an apartment. It has all the disadvantages of an apartment. Namely you have to deal with noisy inconsiderate neighbors - unless you are the noisy inconsiderate neighbor.

4/26/2006 7:42:29 AM

what scares me about buying a condo (around raleigh at least) is that the value of the unit won't grow as much as a house. some of the condos downtown start at 300k. i would think it'd be hard to resell it 5 years later for that price.

4/26/2006 8:45:46 AM

thats because raleigh sucks

4/26/2006 9:07:00 AM

^^^they must not have had a homeowner's association. HOA dues would have paid for the roof. or there was some other circumstance that caused the owner's to dip into their pocket. the legal description of a condo is exactly what jsncc587 said. the owner can do what they want to the interior of the home, but the exterior is maintained by the community/HOA/property manager.

and yeah it sucks if you want something done to your neighborhood but the rest of the community votes it out (ahem, hunter's creek pool ), but that's what HOA is for.

[Edited on April 26, 2006 at 9:09 AM. Reason : ^]

4/26/2006 9:09:14 AM

A shitty investment

4/26/2006 9:14:34 AM

Condos aren't too bad of an investment ... they tend to be built in urban areas where land is scarce, and their main buyers tend to be young professionals who want to be near work. The ones I've seen are in gated communities or have alarmed exterior doors. Some even have elevators. But yeah, they're basically apartments.

4/26/2006 7:41:42 PM

Quote :

"Is it like an apartment that you buy?"

yep, all the disadvantages of an apartment, & the only benefit you get is that you aren't throwing away money on rent. some places also intermix rental & owned properties. i would hate to buy a place and have obnoxious people living above me. at least if you buy a townhouse you have nobody above or below, no stairs to walk up & a little bit of grass in front of & behind you.

4/27/2006 6:19:24 PM

Quote :

"What exactly is a condo?"

all i will ever be able to afford in san diego. a crappy 30 year old condo with 2 tiny rooms can still sell for $400k+ here.

Quote :

"Is it like an apartment that you buy?"

they have a lot of "condo conversions" here which used to be apartments and they've converted them to condos so they could sell them at ridiculous prices.

4/27/2006 7:17:36 PM

Another benefit is you can write off the loan interest, whereas you can't write off rent. That alone can save you quite a bit of money.

4/27/2006 7:32:16 PM

Quote :

"what scares me about buying a condo (around raleigh at least) is that the value of the unit won't grow as much as a house. some of the condos downtown start at 300k. i would think it'd be hard to resell it 5 years later for that price."

BS. I bought a condo as a resale before the building was even finished. The sellers made over 30% on their initial investment (which was actually nothing since they hadn't closed yet). I closed right before Christmas and could sell it now and make 25% on my investment.

But the downtown condo market is much crazier than anywhere else in town.

http://www.boylanflats.com
http://www.glenwoodsfinest.com
http://www.712tucker.com

Those are some new constructions going up near me. I'm debating picking up a few assignment contracts when they start selling them.

4/27/2006 8:55:48 PM

My experience tells me it's an apartment you buy. Otherwise, rent or own it's labeled as a house, town-house, duplex, etc.

The "kiddie condo" tax benefit for parents who buy their students a property (condo, t-house, house) applies to any of those housing situations, not just condo's though I believe. At least that's what is says on all my legal documents where my parent's just bought the townhouse I was renting

$130,000 commercial loan
$1,000 monthly payment for 5 years
$100,000 balloon payment (from the estimated $126-130k sale of my house)
= should get some decent seed money for my next property

4/27/2006 10:23:51 PM

^^oh wow, condos here in raleigh in the 150ks? that's not bad at all. i remember seeing condos from 300 to 800k when i was browsing around.

4/27/2006 11:30:02 PM

Thanks for all the helpful info everyone!

4/28/2006 12:19:05 AM

There's also an annual home tour, if you're looking for something downtown:

2nd ANNUAL DOWNTOWN RALEIGH HOME TOUR
MAY 20, 2006, 11 am to 5 pm

The City of Raleigh Urban Design Center is proud to host the 2nd Annual Art of Downtown Living Home Tour on Saturday, May 20 from 11 am to 5 pm, highlighting more than a dozen residential properties in the heart of the city. Held the same weekend as Artsplosure, the self-guided tour will focus on the wide variety of housing options available in Downtown, featuring historic properties and single-family homes, as well as affordable rental units and luxury condominiums. The event will be held rain or shine.

Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased by cash or check at the Raleigh Urban Design Center at 133 Fayetteville Street from now through the day of the event. Children 12 and under are free. Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards a future educational series coordinated by the Urban Design Center highlighting emerging downtown issues.

Destinations planned for the tour include a mixed residential/work space in the Raleigh Times Building, historic downtown rentals in the Capital Apartments and Prairie Building, a large scale historic rehab in the Cotton Mill, luxury condominiums such as Park Devereaux, Founder’s Row, the Hudson, and the Dawson on Morgan, single-family homes, and much more. Information on residential projects that are planned or under construction will also be available at the Urban Design Center the day of the event.

For more information call (919) 807-8482, email hometour@ci.raleigh.nc.us, or visit http://www.raleighdowntownliving.com

4/28/2006 1:47:04 AM

How does a 19yo afford a 300k+ condo?

4/28/2006 1:55:45 AM

Having just finished the process of looking for a place to buy, here is what I determined as positives/negatives with the condo/house options.

Condo:

Positives:
Maintenance is performed by someone else.
Typically have covered garage parking here in Charlotte, if only one space per bedroom.
Typically walking distance to at least some nice restaurants/markets.

Negatives:
Monthly HOA dues.
Insane price per square foot - $300 psf in Charlotte == not worth it imo.
Having neighbors that you can hear.
Not actually owning any land - which all that's worth anything in cities anymore.

House:

Positives:
Very low price per square foot in the right neighborhoods.
Still can be walking distance to markets/restaurants if you pick the right one.
Land comes with the house.
No neighbors to deal with.
No monthly HOA dues.

Negatives:
Having a yard to maintain.

I ended up going the house route. It's 5 min by bike to the light rail in Charlotte (Arrowood station), 1900 ft^2, and still has a half acre of woods behind the house, all for less than jsncc587 paid for his condo.

4/29/2006 9:25:06 AM

I'm not 19 and didn't pay 300k for the condo

4/29/2006 12:25:15 PM

actually some condos do have garages and most home developements have homeowner dues.

4/29/2006 3:44:07 PM

Your HOA can come and ask for more money than your typical monthly payment. When they come asking for more money to fix the roof or other problems they are called “assessments.” So it is possible to pay more than your monthly payments.

4/30/2006 12:12:10 AM

^^^ about $180k for the one bedrooms at dilworth lofts, correct?

[Edited on April 30, 2006 at 7:38 AM. Reason : asdf]

4/30/2006 7:38:19 AM

They;re going to 265 a sq. ft now

4/30/2006 9:21:12 AM

That's why I'm pricing places in Concord

4/30/2006 9:35:46 AM

i like the idea of living close to work. we'll see though

[Edited on April 30, 2006 at 9:40 AM. Reason : vbn]

4/30/2006 9:39:33 AM

the fact that you stomp around your apt and 'people below' won't hear u
the fact that u can bang yer bitch hard and people won't hear u
the fact that every word u say can't be herd from outside
privacy

and much much more

plus not having to live by a 1000 fricking non-speaking illegal aliens

4/30/2006 9:56:53 PM

Negatives: assessments, assessments, assessments


Just dont buy one near the beach....When i was down in Florida for Wilma, one condo(many stories like this) roof was damaged...every resident in the building is getting assessed at a min 15k to repair.

Also, they go down in value usually. It is better to buy one to rent out, if you want a return on investment.

Condo associations suck, most are underinsured

Good Luck



[Edited on April 30, 2006 at 10:34 PM. Reason : w]

4/30/2006 10:32:08 PM