5 Things to Consider When Buying a CondoMany first time home buyers start out by purchasing condos rather than detached homes. This can be a highly beneficial financial decision, as many condos come at affordable prices and appreciate with value over time, providing their owners with equity that can be used to buy a larger house down the line. But when your first home purchase is a condo, you need to consider some specific factors that will affect the value you get for your dollar. Just as with any other home, you must do your research carefully to make sure you're getting a good deal. But this is where the similarities end. Condos differ from detached homes in a number of ways. Know what you're buying. With a condo, you don't actually own the structure. You own the empty space within your condominium. This is colloquially known as "air space" in the industry. You don't necessarily have the right to alter or make changes to the physical layout of your condo. It's not like owning a home to which improvements can be made at any time. For this reason, you need to make sure that what you're buying truly meets your needs and is truly worth investing in, as you likely won't be able to change it. You're taking on a mortgage, hopefully a short, fixed rate mortgage, to purchase this property. Your credit score is at stake. Make sure you are getting into a condo that will meet your needs for at least several years to come. Evaluate the neighborhood. Unlike with a detached home, where your nearest neighbors are likely ten or twenty feet away and separated from you by several walls, your neighbors in a condominium are all around you and just inches away through the wall. You don't want to buy into a condo complex full of loud or disruptive tenants. Unfortunately, there often isn't a good way to evaluate the "neighborhood" of your condo before you buy. The best thing you can do is visit the complex multiple times and get a feel for the clientele of the place. Visit at multiple different times during the day to find out what activity occurs at each different hour. What's it like in the afternoon? In the evening? Late at night? If you can, get to know some of your future neighbors before buying to see whether they're really tenants you'd like to live close to. Expect great service. When buying into a condo, you're buying the right to a certain amount of property maintenance and grounds keeping service. Find out before you buy whether or not the management company is worth investing in. How quickly are maintenance issues resolved after you report them? Ask some of your soon-to-be-neighbors what kinds of experiences they've had with the property management staff. Make sure you're insured. You don't have to buy homeowner's insurance when you purchase a condo. Instead, insurance is bought and paid for by the management company that owns the full structure. Make sure the condo association has a solid insurance policy that will cover any damages done to your condo. Be aware of additional fees. When you own a condo, you often have to pay HOA dues or other fees to the property management company in order to cover community amenities and maintenance costs. Make sure you know what these fees are before you sign the dotted line. The last thing you want is to get hit with unexpected expenses after you move in. |
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