Buying A Home
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Condos
DH and I are looking to a buy a house in a few years and in our area there are a few condo complexes. What are the pros and cons of buying a condo versus buying a house?
Re: Condos
Many previous posters on here who have bought THs or condos in the past regret the decision once they've started a family. They out grow them quickly and then have a hard time reselling them (in many markets THs and condos have a harder resale).
Privacy - shared walls, small yards, close proximity to all neighbors.
Possible parking space issues.
Consistenly increasing costs of home owner's association fees.
I am currently living in my second-owned condo and there are some pro's and con's to it. H and I don't plan on having kids, but we are saving up for a small house to own within the next 2 yrs.
Pro's- No outside yard work to do except deck painting/repairs, you can do anything to the inside within reason (not sure about tearing down walls and stuff), minimal shoveling of snow, overall easy living
Con's- Rude/annoying/nosey neighbors, not enough storage in some cases, condo assesments for new roofing/siding (tho it may be cheaper only having to pay a portion, if you had a house you'd have to pay the full amount yourself), yearly condo meeting can turn into a circus, little yard space, limitations to things you can do (not hanging plants from railing, only 1 pet allowed per unit), unit can get crowded if you decide to start a family
Parking may or may not be an issue. We have a townhouse style with a 1 car garage and the space right in front of the garage. People who don't have garages, get 2 regular parking lot spaces. It all depends on the complex. There can also be limited visitor parking. We have 42 units and only 4 visitor spots.
Don't do it!!! Condo's just don't hold the same value as single family homes. We are trying to sell our NY condo and having SUCH a hard time. We are catering to a specific market, so it's been really hard to sell.
We are on the top floor so while we luck out and don't hear anyone above us, it doesn't mean we don't hear the people below us - because we do! All. The. Time. While you don't get to choose who your neighbors are - even in single family homes - it's nice to have land in between. We have a wall. Our most recent neighbors have started smoking in their unit, which is drifting into ours. It stinks, literally!
Then, there's also dealing with HOA, which is a PAIN. We feel like it's such a waste of money. They get you with every little thing. We feel like we're constantly being spied on because they have so much control.
I wish we had done more research before purchasing our condo, or had someone tell us it was a bad idea. Hindsight is always 20/20 I guess. My advice is to REALLY think about it.