Condos - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Retirees, first-timers, and some in-between make up a large percentage of condominium buyers . The reasons are pretty intuitive and help to illustrate why condominiums are perfect for some folks and others just hate them.
Retirees are tired of mowing lawns, plowing and shoveling snow, and worrying about major repairs. This doesn't mean that they don't care about how the lawn and gardens look or whether the walks and drives are plowed, because they do - many of them passionately. It just means that they would rather pay dues rather than pay individual contractors or do the work themselves. I think retirees also like the more intimate neighborhood arrangement that condominium life offers. A chance to more easily meet neighbors who might share common interests and, in some cases, an active community based lifestyle are appealing when one has left behind a home of long-standing and downsized.
For first time buyers, the answer is also pretty easy to understand. Generally speaking, a buyer with a limited budget or credit history can get more "bang for their buck" buying into a common interest community. So, these buyers, just starting out, can get into home ownership instead of paying rent and get more amenities than they could afford in the single family home market. Plus, like the retirees, there is the added benefit of no yard work etc. so that these, usually singles or couples, have more time to do the things that younger people do.
The in-between crowd is made up of people of all ages who are starting over, for some reason. Divorce, death of a spouse, just moving into town and so on. These folks like the lower prices, the lack of maintenance work and buy in, planning top move on in the short term.
Then, of course, there are the investors, who don't really fit into any one category above. There are some good reasons to invest in condo properties and some pitfalls as well. But generally, condo investors are buying to hold their unit(s) for rental. For them, questions of management, maintenance, collections and appreciation are important.
The above represents the good or at least potential good side of buying into a condo community. Next we'll explore the bad, and then later, the ugly.
Retirees are tired of mowing lawns, plowing and shoveling snow, and worrying about major repairs. This doesn't mean that they don't care about how the lawn and gardens look or whether the walks and drives are plowed, because they do - many of them passionately. It just means that they would rather pay dues rather than pay individual contractors or do the work themselves. I think retirees also like the more intimate neighborhood arrangement that condominium life offers. A chance to more easily meet neighbors who might share common interests and, in some cases, an active community based lifestyle are appealing when one has left behind a home of long-standing and downsized.
For first time buyers, the answer is also pretty easy to understand. Generally speaking, a buyer with a limited budget or credit history can get more "bang for their buck" buying into a common interest community. So, these buyers, just starting out, can get into home ownership instead of paying rent and get more amenities than they could afford in the single family home market. Plus, like the retirees, there is the added benefit of no yard work etc. so that these, usually singles or couples, have more time to do the things that younger people do.
The in-between crowd is made up of people of all ages who are starting over, for some reason. Divorce, death of a spouse, just moving into town and so on. These folks like the lower prices, the lack of maintenance work and buy in, planning top move on in the short term.
Then, of course, there are the investors, who don't really fit into any one category above. There are some good reasons to invest in condo properties and some pitfalls as well. But generally, condo investors are buying to hold their unit(s) for rental. For them, questions of management, maintenance, collections and appreciation are important.
The above represents the good or at least potential good side of buying into a condo community. Next we'll explore the bad, and then later, the ugly.
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