As in everything, with a condo purchase, there is also some downside. Many, especially first time condo buyers, don't have a frame of reference for what the condo lifestyle will actually be like and tend to focus on the benefits, like no lawn care, no snow shoveling etc. But, as in life, you have to take the bitter with the sweet.

• Neighbors in Close Proximity - Many condos are physically attached to each other, either on each side in the case of townhouses, or worse still, stacked on top of one another. Either way, and no matter what sort of insulation is installed, you can hear your neighbors. You can hear them open and close their doors, you can hear their dishwasher running, you can hear their tv or stereo, and in the worst cases, you can hear a lot of things you would just rather not hear. And guess what? - They can hear you too!
  

• Shared Amenities - The sales pitch for a lot of developments is the fact that the community offers amenities, like a swimming pool, tennis courts, workout areas, clubhouses, and in some cases, golf courses, ski slopes, restaurants and more. The problem is, if you don't use these amenities, you still get to pay for them because the cost of their operation is included in your monthly dues. If you do use them, you have to share them with your neighbors, whom you may or may not like to be around. Some of them, like golf courses, you must pay an extra fee to use, to boot.

• Maintenance Problems - If you have moved into a condo from a single family home where you maintained or caused to be maintained your lawn, plantings, snow removal, and other jobs, you have, no doubt, set a standard of performance that you expect including the schedule, the frequency, right down to exactly how much sand is applied to the walkway; salt or no salt; mulch or no mulch; how long or how short the lawn is cut; fertilizer or no fertilizer and on and on. In a condo, you don't get to choose - the Board of Directors sets the budget and the budget dictates what level of service you will receive. If you don't like it, the answer will be, "We can do that, but the dues will go way up."

I could go on for a long time listing the personal choices and freedoms you give up when you move into a managed community, but you get the idea. You trade the benefit of not having to do the work for the dissatisfaction of not having the work done the way you want it, privacy for no privacy, your choice of amenities for amenities that you may never use, but still have to pay for - and there's nothing you can do about it.

Next time we'll cover the ugly side of condo life.