Who owns a condo?

christy Posted: May 23, 2003 07:34 PM

Who owns a condo?

What are the pros and cons?
I have already debathed the Co-op idea, and feel a condo may be better for us. I dont know if we are ready for a house yet, but I would love to hear about condos. Thanks fellow newlyweds! I am still getting used to being on this board.

michele31 Posted: May 23, 2003 08:21 PM

Re: Who owns a condo?

I owned a condo for 2 years before we purchased our house. The pros: in some cases a nice condo is less expensive than a house, you don't have to mow the grass or keep up much of the grounds (you may have a small garden in your 'yard' or some places do not have that), if the roof goes it isn't your problem, you own it so you can re-do the rooms/paint/wallpaper etc.... The cons: you have to live next or above or below others and that isn't always great (our neighbor was a miserable women who was so nasty), you cannot just do what you want to the outside or some of the inside- the board may have rules about that stuff. But overall it is a great investment and I almost doubled my money in 2 years. It is much better than renting!

MarcellaBella Posted: May 23, 2003 10:21 PM

Re: Who owns a condo?

I agree with Michele 100%!

In all honesty, if you had to choose between a coop and a condo DEF go with the condo.. you want to have a say and be able to do what you want with your investment. You don't want a group of people (coop board) deciding whether you can have more than 4 people over, paint your walls green or whatever,.

Good luck in whatever you decide~

yabbobay Posted: May 24, 2003 12:48 AM

Re: Who owns a condo?

I lived in a coop...and I will say...I never want to have anything to do with a coop every again in my life!!

with a condo...you actually own something...in a coop you own shares in the building...so where you live...isn't exactly yours...ugh there are so many restrictions...

we are buying a condo and are happy with the decision...hopefully we can build up enough equity to have a bigger down payment on a house in 2 years...

btw...if you don't want to pay taxes on your profit...you must live in your condo for at least 2 years...and then reinvest all of the profit into the next purchase...so make sure that you would want to live somewhere for at least 2 years...

christy Posted: May 24, 2003 09:17 AM

Re: Who owns a condo?

Thanks so much! I am going to look at two condos today. I feel good about this decision to hopefully buy a condo. I know a house is ideal, but I just dont think we are ready for a house. I do want to own something, and a coop just doesnt seem right for me. Thanks ladies, as always you are terrific!

Teri Posted: May 24, 2003 09:23 AM

Re: Who owns a condo?

do you mind saying where you're looking? Nassau? Suffolk?

Between a co-op and a condo, we'd take a condo any day!!! Simply for the reasons others stated - you really 'own' it and have to go to the board a lot less for basic things.....

NIHA Posted: May 24, 2003 10:09 AM

Re: Who owns a condo?

I'm with Erica on never wanting to have anything to do with a coop again!! If we had purchased a house or condo, we would not have waited 6 months from making an offer to closing!!!

Sasha96 Posted: May 24, 2003 12:32 PM

Re: Who owns a condo?

I own a condo. It is a townhouse and we love it! We have two floors, plenty of space and neighbors only on each side. We have a small porch and a backyard. I think it is a great investment and my development has always had great resale values. We bought last year and this year, for units just a bit smaller than ours they are asking $40,000 more than we paid for ours (the asking price has gone up about $15,000-20,000). We do whatever we want to the inside, the outside is maintained and we can get up and go when we want to (without worrying about mowing, etc.). One day we will want the yard and all, but not yet. Until then we can build equity. We are restricted in some ways with what we can do to the outside, but the development looks so nice with all the units looking similar. Having the amenities are great too. We are very happy with our decision and wouldn NOT have even CONSIDERED a co-op. There is a good book out about buying co-ops vs. condos. FM if you want me to look it up. I borrowed it from the Mass. Bar Harbor Library when we were buying. GOOD LUCK!

christy Posted: May 25, 2003 10:53 AM

Re: Who owns a condo?

we've been looking in suffolk so far. Babylon mostly (my husband works in the city a lot and does not want a far commute). However, it seems the prices are so much better out east. He is not really willing to consider it.

Everyone keeps telling me to buy a house, but I feel like the houses I would be interested in are way too much money right now. I just worry that if I spend like 230,000 on a condo that I wont be able to sell it for that much down the road.

What do you all think???

Sasha96 Posted: May 25, 2003 11:38 AM

Re: Who owns a condo?

Many good condo develoments sell for as much as some houses, but they require less work. Ours cost as much as many of the houses we were looking at but we just had to basically paint it. The homes in the same price range required construction! I think that each condo development has different resale and knowing the history of resale values in the development makes a difference. Usually developments are known to have a certain way with the bylaws and neighbors as well as with resale. Like I said, I've seen other townhouses in my development sell over the past year and the prices have slowly but steadily gone up (which is good for me!)