Thinking about Condo or townhouse

[AZjeff]

Respect to you and your wife for looking ahead and wanting to keep ahead of what's inevitable. My parents waited too long to get out of their farmhouse and small acreage in the country, wouldn't consider it, until basic upkeep and day to day things were too much and unsafe. From that point they never got ahead of it and were mostly unhappy. Dad died in early 2015 and last September mom had to go to assisted living. Their sunset years would have been much different if they had honestly assessed their situation and adjusted accordingly. A sad and common story.

That you're looking honestly at how things are and are willing to make changes is wonderful and indicates you'll likely make a good decision. You're getting negative feedback on condos from people not in your life situation, might work for you might not. My parents should have sold and moved into a small house in a retirement/continued care community when they could have adjusted and enjoyed the company of some of their friends already there.

I met a couple in their 70s the other day who had downsized to a 1400 sq ft duplex 8 years ago, they're in the final stages of selling all and moving to Hawaii for whatever is next!!

Best of luck to you!

 

[4WD]

Or we just warn people who are first time, think that's what big home on 2 acres folks need …
We have unit 1 out of 22 … being on the end and single story is a plus …
The only overlapping is the length of one room and it's firewall construction. Pretty quiet.
Real fireplace is cozy + smells great … something charming and functional even in the south …

Worse part for me is a tiny patio and pot plants is it … Wife and I still enjoy a landscaped yard on half acre with pool …
So, would not want to live there full time … not yet.

 

[zzyzzx]

People here want garages and places to store their tools, hence the hatred of condos.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

My wife and I are both 63 and retired. In 2018 we sold our 1850 sq foot home in Indiana and bought a 1250 sq foot condo in Las Vegas. Been here 1 yr and it's been fine. Our unit is 2 bedroom on the ground floor. There are elevators and stairs but we prefer ground floor. She has a bad knee and I have a bad back so ground works for us. Our hoa is good. They do their job and keep the monthly fees down. They also stay out of your business. Most overt actions have been some NO SMOKING signs in the lobby and a polite notice on the bulletin board to "place all trash in recepticals". Beautiful pool area, exercise room, clubhouse. Financially, what we spent on home maintenance, pool service, lawn care, water, sewer and trash pickup is a wash with our hoa fee which covers all those things. Advantage is that I don't have to mess with any of that. Since we don't have kids, we wanted to get situated while we can do this ourselves. Nobody coming along behind us to help! Home has wide doors, walk in showers, hand rails. All that stuff we'll eventually come to appreciate more. Now that we're squared away, we're living every day like we're on vacation. Enjoying our good health while we can knowing we have a comfortable place to grow old in when the time comes. As always YMMV.

 

[atikovi]

Being the BISTOG forum I assume you're into cars on some level. In a condo, you can just about forget being able to do any work on your cars, even washing and detailing. A townhouse isn't much better unless it has an attached garage.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

The units in our neighborhood (390 total) are available with 1 or 2 car garage or carport. The rules allow any car mechanics you want in the confines of your garage provided you're not running a commercial enterprise. Additionally, your driveway may be used for mechanic work as long as the vehicle is not out of commission more than 48 hrs.. So... lots a people have project car, dirt bikes in garage, daily drivers on driveway. Boats and campers either have to fit in garage or be stored offsite. I've rotated tires, checked fluids, changed wipers in my carport. Everybody else does. Nobody complains or seems to care.

 

[Dinoburner]

We are in our late 70`s and decided to age in place. Bought a condo for my Mom. Put a stair lift in but now she is in a nursing home and we have no interest in living there. A pedometer shows mowing the lawn is a 3.8 mile walk, no longer do it all at one session during hot spells. Cut my own fire wood and have a good size garden. Feel blessed.

 

[WhyMe]

i would just sell or rent the current home and buy something smaller with a small footprint. living in a condo is like living in an apartment. not much privacy. Same as a townhouse.

 

[KJSmith]

Do they have zero lot line houses in your area?

I like that better than a condo or townhome.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted by Dinoburner
We are in our late 70`s and decided to age in place. .


I guess that's what my parents did. They thought they'd just die in their sleep one night and that would be that. Didn't work out.

 

[JLTD]

OP, where will you be happiest? If it's where you are - stay. As mentioned numerous times above, if it's too much for you, get a little help. Having someone come out to do some things every week or two will probably be cheaper than the condo fees.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by JLTD
OP, where will you be happiest? If it's where you are - stay. As mentioned numerous times above, if it's too much for you, get a little help. Having someone come out to do some things every week or two will probably be cheaper than the condo fees.


The condo fees are basically the same as owning a home aside from the management fee, if it's self managed, you actually end up with free labor from your neighbors who run the association. Of course with a condo, they could be even lower as you can get economy of scale and the costs are more spread out amount multiple units.

The only difference with a home is that when the boiler goes, instead of a special assessment, you now have to fork over 5-10k for a new boiler. Or ongoing maintenance of a property like mowing, painting, cleaning, etc. Whether you do it yourself or pay someone to do it, the expense of getting it done still exists.

 

[A_Spruce]

As the others have said, either hire some part time help or downsize and pay for a landscaper, it will be far cheaper than living in an association and paying someone else to tell you what you can and can't do with your own property.

 

[CharBaby]

Lots of good points made by members.

I too have entertained the thought of moving into a condo/townhome. IDK if I can live with all of the rules even though I think most of the rules are good ones.

When my father(RIP-he'd be 106 yrs old) lived in a townhome he loved it and we did too(for him).

Owners of the unit, couldn't have a pickup truck, only cars, then later, SUVs. No driveway parking. Owners had to have their vehicle in the garage at all times with garage door closed. And guests had to park in the guest parking lot.

If owner's had multiple vehicles then, they'd need a larger unit.

No children so, when we(and our siblings) would visit, there was nothing outside for his grandchildren to do.

Couldn't wash your car outside which was fine for Dad as he always took his car to the local car wash where he bought his gas. But, once in a while I'd like to wash/wax his vehicle and clean the interior. I had to take his car to my home and do it there.

Owners(according to the HOA Rules) couldn't use the "recreation center" and the "pool" at the same time even though they were right next to one another in the fenced area. It was one or the other.

Owners could do some things such as plant flowers outside but, everything had to first be approved.

You need to decide if you can live with the rules that you don't like. And there are many.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by A_Spruce
As the others have said, either hire some part time help or downsize and pay for a landscaper, it will be far cheaper than living in an association and paying someone else to tell you what you can and can't do with your own property.


Yep. Not to mention corruption within the association and special assessments.

Just buy a much smaller house and hire someone to landscape.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Originally Posted by A_Spruce
As the others have said, either hire some part time help or downsize and pay for a landscaper, it will be far cheaper than living in an association and paying someone else to tell you what you can and can't do with your own property.


Yep. Not to mention corruption within the association and special assessments.

Just buy a much smaller house and hire someone to landscape.


Right, more good points!

And you & your wife can pick & choose what you both would like to involve yourselves in as far as maintenance & tasks on the smaller home/yard. For example, my 90+ yr old FIL still dabbles in the yard but hires out what his body can't do any longer. But, he doesn't want to lose his home.

Plus it'll most likely be cheaper(annually) to hire out for specific tasks(lawn mowing/gutter cleaning) at your picking & choosing and shop'round for prices on those particular jobs, instead of paying an always increasing HOA fee every single month.

And you can $pend more one year and le$$ the next if you so choose.

 

[csandste]

Live in a villa style condo and like it. Like any subdivision you have to watch out for overly zealous HOA members. Had a neighbor who sought election. Dog took a dump outside at 3 am and he was knocking on my door at 5:15 pointing out that bylaws stated that dog waste must be picked up immediately. Guess I'm lucky he didn't insist that all pee be towel dried off the grass.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by BobsArmory
Association and/or maintenance fees can sometimes eat you alive. Also be very careful for all the little rules that you might have to follow.


^^^THIS!!
IF you still do your own maintenance on your vehicles, that can be VERBOTEN by many/most HOAs, even in your very own driveway! :mad;

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Char Baby
Lots of good points made by members.

I too have entertained the thought of moving into a condo/townhome. IDK if I can live with all of the rules even though I think most of the rules are good ones.

When my father(RIP-he'd be 106 yrs old) lived in a townhome he loved it and we did too(for him).

Owners of the unit, couldn't have a pickup truck, only cars, then later, SUVs. No driveway parking. Owners had to have their vehicle in the garage at all times with garage door closed. And guests had to park in the guest parking lot.

If owner's had multiple vehicles then, they'd need a larger unit.

No children so, when we(and our siblings) would visit, there was nothing outside for his grandchildren to do.

Couldn't wash your car outside which was fine for Dad as he always took his car to the local car wash where he bought his gas. But, once in a while I'd like to wash/wax his vehicle and clean the interior. I had to take his car to my home and do it there.

Owners(according to the HOA Rules) couldn't use the "recreation center" and the "pool" at the same time even though they were right next to one another in the fenced area. It was one or the other.

Owners could do some things such as plant flowers outside but, everything had to first be approved.

You need to decide if you can live with the rules that you don't like. And there are many.


That sounds like a retirement community which isn't that common around here. I could see it having much more restrictive rules than a regular condo association. Basically by law, you can't have a no children clause unless it's been carved out as a senior community. As I said earlier, read the rules and regulations before buying. If you don't like them, don't buy there. Also I've known people who have owned condos for year, sometimes they eventually take over the place when they get enough people backing them....

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

Personally, I would avoid any type of 55+ or retirement community. Our neighborhood is all ages but definitely skewed to a younger demographic. The smaller 1 or 2 bedroom units are fairly evenly split between young singles and retirees. The larger 2 or 3 bedroom units are almost exclusively young families with 1 or 2 kids. The young folks are too wrapped up in career, kids school activities, or in the case of the single crowd, dating and parties, to worry about the nit picky stuff their neighbors are doing. Not enough of us grouchy old folk to gain any traction, lol ! Besides, if you have a lot of 20 and 30 somethings around, the scenery at the pool and exercise room is a whole lot better!