Buying a COOP or CONDO>?

Okay... recently I have been looking into housing options for after me and FH get married. Houses are $$$$$. Anything decent is around 700k+. So I am resorting to a starter Condo or Coop.
Has anyone here bought either before. I have no idea what the difference are ...and what the 'maintenance' fees cover. Do you still have to pay electric, water, etc each month? How about local taxes?
So confused. If anyone has any idea..please post or FM me some info. I don't want to go to a real estate agent and know NOTHING!!
TIA!!!!!!!

We considered but choose to rent and save for now. You pay everything as if you were owning a home....plus mortage...plus maintenance fees. Some places include tax in the maintenance but in others you get a seperate tax bill. My friends bought a co-op 3 years ago for $25000 and their mortgage is around $1300/month, then they pay about $150 in utilities and then $890 maintenance. All that is double my monthly rent and in the end, how much will it sell for? I can't see co-ops going for that much more than that.

Just research and read all the fine print. Ask for a clearly explained summary of maintenance, taxes, etc.

Hope I didn't rain on your parade too much. Good luck!

this glossary might help

Condominium:
In a condominium each individual apartment unit is owned privately. All owners share common ownership of common areas such as the lobby, hallways, laundry room, etc. Renters will sublet the apartment from the individual owner. Application to the Board of Directors of the condominium for the rental is required but rarely is the application rejected.

Cooperative:
In a cooperative the building is owned by the corporation formed by the coop association. All apartment 'owners' own shares in the corporation and are referred to as 'proprietary lessees'. In rare cases and subject to restriction the proprietary lessee is allowed to sublet his apartment. The tenant will be required to submit a lengthy application package to the Board of Directors for their approval of the sublet. The Board can turn down an applicant for no apparent reason and the applicant nor the proprietary lessee has grounds to successfully challenge the Board's decision. Most Coop Boards discourage subletting of apartments in their buildings.

i just signed on a condo. my maintenace is 340 a month whcih includes, water, basic cable, snow removel, lawn.......

i think its a good investment with the market so high...we were looking into a co-op but then i was askign around & it takes a loooonggg time to seel them