A condominium is a form of ownership in which owners share an interest in common areas, such as parking structures and shared yards, and hold title independently for their individual units. Owners are members of a homeowners’ association, or HOA, which enforces and amends the institution rules and regulations. Depending upon your personal preferences, there are advantages to buying a condo rather than a house.
Prices
A condo normally costs less than a similarly located and sized single-family home. Since the overall price is lower, both the monthly payment and the property taxes will be lower. Even with all the HOA fees, which can be used for upkeep of shared features like landscaping, your complete monthly transport prices may be lower.
Mortgage Requirements
Lenders will actually help you know whether a complicated you would like to buy into has a stable fiscal environment or not. They will look at the HOA reserve fund and the percentage of units occupied by owners instead of tenants. They will also examine the insurance coverage if it’s preserved by the HOA rather than individual condo owners. If any one of these areas isn’t up to their standards–usually requiring a reserve fund consistent with the HOA rules, greater than 50 percent owner occupancy and insurance that will at minimum repay all unit mortgages, they will not lend to get a unit there. This is a great thing. It will help ensure that when you do buy a condo, it’ll be in complicated that’s economically viable.
Amenities and Maintenance-Free Living
If you do not like the responsibility of maintaining the grounds around your home but enjoy lush landscaping, then the HOA yard maintenance will be a feature you prefer. If your condo complex includes a pool or other amenities you enjoy but couldn’t manage for yourself at a yearlong residence, a condo may do the job for you. You won’t have to wash out the pool or assess the spa chemicals. It will all be done for you.
Convenient Locations
If you would like to live at the heart of a densely populated urban area, in close proximity to a broad array of commercial applications, a condominium may be your sole choice of housing. Land values in several downtown locations are prohibitively high for the building of single-family homes. Dwelling in a downtown condo will open doorways to sporting and cultural events you may never look at commuting to on a regular basis.
Other Factors
Condo complexes frequently have security attributes that very few single-family home owners could afford–what from a gated entry into 24-hour security guards. Additionally, because every unit is in such close proximity to other people, your neighbors may function as eyes and ears even when you’re away.