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bklyngirl
COULD THIS BE MY YEAR??
Member since 6/05 15758 total posts
Name:
Gail
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Condo vs house
which do you prefer. can some people name the pros and cons for both
tia
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Posted 3/15/07 7:20 PM  |
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Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate
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MrsFlatbread
Skinny jeans are in my future
Member since 6/06 10258 total posts
Name:
Baby Momma
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Re: Condo vs house
I personnally hate community living. I feel like you have no privacy and can hear the people on all sides of you. However, the pros about a condo is that maintenance is included and you never have to mow your lawn. 
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| Posted 3/15/07 7:35 PM |
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smdl
I love Gary too..on a plate!
Member since 5/06 32461 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: Condo vs house
I found the price difference to be very little between condo vs. house.
A house is really independent from a community. Don't most condos on LI have at least a common wall with a neighboor? From my experience it's not enough privacy.
Pros for condo
Less upkeep with the yard.
Grounds are always maintained nicely
Unity of all units
Pros for houses
More privacy
More yard
More individuality
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| Posted 3/15/07 8:12 PM |
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MrsPowers
So blessed!
Member since 11/06 10348 total posts
Name:
Ivelysse
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Re: Condo vs house
Posted by MrsFlatbread
I personnally hate community living. I feel like you have no privacy and can hear the people on all sides of you. However, the pros about a condo is that maintenance is included and you never have to mow your lawn.
I couldn't have said it better.
Another gripe of mine in regards to community living is parking. I can't wait to have our own driveway and garage.
Can you tell we both are living in community living situations??
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| Posted 3/16/07 5:26 AM |
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sunnyplus3
:)
Member since 11/05 8749 total posts
Name:
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Re: Condo vs house
I have lived in both
pros for condo(mine were townhouse style)
gutters cleaned
house powerwashed
snow removal
awesome lawn & tree care
great pool & clubhouse always ready to use
nice neighbors
I had a garage & driveway in my last townhouse & extra parking for guests.
The only noise issues I had was my one neighbor would run up & down her stairs sometimes & I could slightly hear the vibration-other than that nothing.
When I lived in the apatment style condo I never heard the neighbor below me.
One community I lived in had a security gate & I felt very safe there.
cons-
my yard wasn't big enough or private enough to have big parties
there are rules about what you can plant
you can't change the exterior of the condo
my DH has commercial vehicles & you can't park them in the community overnight
There were a few other silly rules I can't remember
the homeowners association has elected officials that have figure out how to manage the money in order to keep the community in good shape, sometimes they do a good job & sometimes they don't.
I lived in condos from 1995 to 2004 mostly while I was a single mother & I loved every minute of it. I think its a great lifestyle for people that aren't into spending their free time taking care of home stuff.
ETA-IMO *if* the market does go down over the next few years, condo owners will have a hard time making money when its time to sell because the gap between condos & single families is already so small...when the market is soft more people will opt to get "more" by buying a house & condos will sit unsold like they did in the 90's.
All of my landlords in my condo rentals were people that bought them as starters, had families & needed a house but couldn't sell the condo for more than what they paid.
Of course that changed in 2004-2005, but they had to wait it out as unlikely landlords.
Message edited 3/16/2007 6:49:17 AM.
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| Posted 3/16/07 6:44 AM |
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MrsFlatbread
Skinny jeans are in my future
Member since 6/06 10258 total posts
Name:
Baby Momma
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Re: Condo vs house
Posted by MrsPowers
Posted by MrsFlatbread
Can you tell we both are living in community living situations??
Right next door to eachother!!!
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| Posted 3/16/07 8:26 AM |
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lilacwine
only love...
Member since 5/05 2034 total posts
Name:
<3
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Re: Condo vs house
Posted by KellyFG
ETA-IMO *if* the market does go down over the next few years, condo owners will have a hard time making money when its time to sell because the gap between condos & single families is already so small...when the market is soft more people will opt to get "more" by buying a house & condos will sit unsold like they did in the 90's.
All of my landlords in my condo rentals were people that bought them as starters, had families & needed a house but couldn't sell the condo for more than what they paid.
Of course that changed in 2004-2005, but they had to wait it out as unlikely landlords.
On the other hand, the baby boomers are beginning to retire and may seek to downsize their homes to condos for the "maintenance-free" living, fewer stairs to climb, etc. Just a thought.
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| Posted 3/16/07 8:43 AM |
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ali120206
2 Boys
Member since 7/06 17795 total posts
Name:
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Re: Condo vs house
We chose house over condo. The two were comparitively priced and in the complex we were looking, the common charges have risen exponentially over the past few years.
Based on what the condos are going for, we paid $5k more for a 4br 2ba cape than we would've paid for a 2br 1.5ba condo. Yes, the house needs some work but, it's a place we can see ourselves staying in for awhile.
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| Posted 3/16/07 8:54 AM |
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SweetestOfPeas
J'taime Paris!
Member since 3/06 32345 total posts
Name:
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Re: Condo vs house
DH and I looked at condos for a while in Suffolk. we even put a bid on one in Holtsville, but then backed out.
condos don't cost a whole lot less than houses. and with the monthly maint. fees, your monthly payments could actually end up being the same as on a house, depending on the house of course. and, you cannot write off the main. fees on your taxes.
pros to condos:
- usually newer than houses on LI
- you don't have to worry about yard work
- you don't have to worry about repairing anything to do with the structure or exterior
- garbage dumpsters - after living in an apt complex with them for 6.5 yrs, this is a MAJOR plus IMO
- can cost less
cons to condos:
- less privacy, although not always!
- community living, although some folks like that
- you can't build an extension
- maintenance fees! and they always go up, just like taxes
- no garage - none of the complexes we saw had a garage or a driveway. IMO, that sucks! there are some that do, but they are MAJOR $$$!
- last to increase in value, first to lose value. this is a factual statistic, no my opinion.
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| Posted 3/16/07 9:07 AM |
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MrsBlueSash
Love my sailor
Member since 6/05 5793 total posts
Name:
Christian
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Re: Condo vs house
We have both (renting out condo) and the condo was more affordable for me as single person BUT I wish I had got a small house because condos fees are ridiculous, and that was more money I could have spent toward a mortgage. So I say house over condo anyday.
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| Posted 3/16/07 10:02 AM |
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SweetTooth
I'm a tired mommy!
Member since 12/05 20105 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: Condo vs house
We thought about going the condo route, but in the end decided against it because of several factors
1)sharing at least one wall with a neighbor
2) having to get permission to do some things
3) (and most important) that with the maintenance fees, we weren't really saving any money.
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| Posted 3/16/07 10:04 AM |
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july06bride
I'm a mom!
Member since 5/05 3966 total posts
Name:
Nicole
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Re: Condo vs house
we have lived in both and prefer our house to the condo we lived in.
(This is in CT)
House in bigger than our condo was
Maintenance was included in condo-obv. not with a house
We had a great pool that no one seemed to ever use at the condo
Privacy at our house
I can go on and on about how wonderful it is owning our house- we enjoy it so much more, but all the responsibilities are on us-things go wrong, we fix it...We love that though...
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TOO many rules in our condo complex...
when you can use your dyer
how to park your car, etc... the list goes on...
It was very Clean and had all landscaping taken care of for you...snow removal as well...
it was gated-which was nice-except that we had 3 different incidences where people drove THROUGH the gate... and another woman drove THROUGH the mailboxes ....We had to go to the President's condo for our maiil for two weeks!
a lot of eldery people lived in our complex- so we did not make a lot of friend connections there
neighbors were always asking DH to fix things for them, which was cute in the beginning, but helloooo we have a maintenance dept that fixes everything for you! call them, don't wake us up in the middle of the night because your lightbulb needs to be changed!
l
uckily our neighbors were old and barely made noise- but I would imagine they hear us- that's no good either-We had company over often
NO dogs allowed in our complex
 we couldn't get our Boogie until we bought our house
Message edited 3/16/2007 10:29:29 AM.
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| Posted 3/16/07 10:09 AM |
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nov04libride
big brother <3
Member since 5/05 14672 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: Condo vs house
Posted by lilacwine
Posted by KellyFG
ETA-IMO *if* the market does go down over the next few years, condo owners will have a hard time making money when its time to sell because the gap between condos & single families is already so small...when the market is soft more people will opt to get "more" by buying a house & condos will sit unsold like they did in the 90's.
All of my landlords in my condo rentals were people that bought them as starters, had families & needed a house but couldn't sell the condo for more than what they paid.
Of course that changed in 2004-2005, but they had to wait it out as unlikely landlords.
On the other hand, the baby boomers are beginning to retire and may seek to downsize their homes to condos for the "maintenance-free" living, fewer stairs to climb, etc. Just a thought.
I agree with this--in my condo complex people, especially the elderly, are willing to pay more than a house because of the maintenance-free living. We hadn't listed ours and had a REA knock on our door to say someone was interested in buying it! For now we love not having to mow, shovel, etc. We don't have kids or a dog, so I did not care about a yard. My complex does allow pets. We also have a gym, a pool, tennis courts, and basketball courts. We use the pool frequently during the summer, and even took our nephew to swim in the baby pool.
That said, I hate hearing my neighbors. If someone moved in with a crying baby, I would move. I don't have a baby of my own, and I certainly don't want to be up all night with someone else's. I don't hear them all the time, but if someone is running the washer/dryer or major appliances during the middle of the night, you hear it.
I'm glad we bought ours because the houses in the same price range needed a great deal of work, however long term once we have kids I would want a house with more privacy and a yard.
For us it was a good starter home. We recently looked at townhomes and even though they were large, the current owners warned us (they had already gone to contract with someone else lol) that you could still really hear neighbors through the side walls. I think condo/townhouse living really depends on the people who are immediately surrounding your unit, and I don't know that I would want to take that chance again.
Message edited 3/16/2007 10:56:53 AM.
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| Posted 3/16/07 10:14 AM |
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MrsPowers
So blessed!
Member since 11/06 10348 total posts
Name:
Ivelysse
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Re: Condo vs house
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| Posted 3/16/07 2:55 PM |
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kerrycec03
Mom of 2 beautiful boys!!
Member since 6/06 13519 total posts
Name:
Kerry
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Re: Condo vs house
we choose a condo because of cost. It was significantly cheaper per month even with the maintance plus there was less stuff to do in it as with a house we would have had to replace bigger more expensive things. So far we are happy and its seems to be an extremely laid back development.
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| Posted 3/16/07 3:28 PM |
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bikramaddict
mommy-to-be
Member since 8/06 4376 total posts
Name:
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Re: Condo vs house
Posted by smdl
I found the price difference to be very little between condo vs. house.
A house is really independent from a community. Don't most condos on LI have at least a common wall with a neighboor? From my experience it's not enough privacy.
Pros for condo
Less upkeep with the yard.
Grounds are always maintained nicely
Unity of all units
Pros for houses
More privacy
More yard
More individuality
Agree completely. We looked at condos and co-ops at first, and then decided it just wasn't for us. One of the condos I looked at (a 2bed) was asking the same price as the house we bought. Another was asking 50K less than our house, but when you factored in maintenence, the monthly payments weren't much less.
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| Posted 3/17/07 1:42 PM |
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