If you’re thinking about buying a single-family home, an apartment, or a condo, you know that there are a lot of choices to be made. The luxury condominium community offers a lot of benefits, though, and you should definitely be looking at condos for sale. Here’s everything you need to know about what condos are and why those condos for sale could be your best real estate purchase.
What Is a Condominium?
A condominium is a kind of compromise between a house and apartment. Like a house, it’s a piece of property that you will own outright. Like an apartment, it will be adjacent to other pieces of property so that you may share a wall with another family. Luxury condos can also be part of a high-rise building so that you may not be necessarily on the ground floor.
Four Reasons to Buy
- They are often less expensive than houses.Of course, this all depends on property values, the amount of luxury offered by a particular condominium community, and the general cost-of-living in the area you choose. But all things considered, it is generally less expensive buying condos than single-family homes. Just remember that you’ll have to pay association dues, though these usually give you rights to access quite valuable amenities such as 24-hour security, gyms, and pools.
- You aren’t responsible for any landscaping. To be fair, you don’t have to do landscaping if you own your own property, either. But if you don’t, you’re definitely going to pay for it. You’ll hate your yard, there will be bugs everywhere, your property valuable tank, and your neighbors might even take you to court.
If you live in an apartment, you have no landscaping at all. Open your door and all you see are other doors and hallways. If you want to walk the dog in a pretty place or give the kids a yard to play in, you have to take everybody down to the park.
Condos split the difference here. You’ll have your own yard and lawn but no mowing or landscaping. Your association dues help to pay for all the landscaping and yard work. Just make sure that as you look at condos for sale you look for properties that are well managed.
- You get both privacy and community. If you move into an apartment complex, not only do you have a consistent nagging feeling that you have no privacy, but you don’t even get the community that you would expect with all that closeness. People feel crammed in and invaded upon, so they tend to respond by withdrawing and being as private as possible. If you have your own single-family home, you’re going to live disconnected from your neighbors, often with fences between you and large yards that discourage communication and friendliness.
Once again, condos offer a compromise. You’re not so close to all the neighbors that you feel compelled to withdraw and protect yourself from them. Yet you’re also not so far away that you don’t even recognize them as you walk down the street. You’re also likely to see your neighbors at nearby shopping centers and restaurants because condominium communities are typically built in close proximity to these. This can build a true sense of community that’s missing in other housing contexts.
- You cut down on your commute. The more affordable a single-family home is, the more likely it is to be far from the city center. This means longer commutes and more logistical problems going shopping or getting the kids to school. While apartments are often located closer to the city, many of them lack the space necessary to be truly family-friendly, and with so many people living so close together, parking becomes a serious issue.
Condominium communities are typically built near to the city so that is practical to walk to the shops, restaurants, and train stations. They will be convenient school bus routes for the kids to get to school, and there will definitely be a parking space when you need one. Just be sure to look for condominiums that have dedicated parking for residents.
Those condos for sale are your best bet when it comes to family friendly, affordable, community real estate investment.
