Condos/Townhouse/House?

[snowshoe]

My wife has decided to have her midlife crisis. It's killing me and I'm angry but I need to look for a place to live in a few months. I don't want to give up my cat and the cost to rent is close to a mortgage payment for a condo. I've never thought I'd want to live in a condo but I'm starting to see some appeal now.

Any thoughts on benefits or differences between a condo or townhouse? Any tips when looking? Any other suggestions? Any one have experience with a spouse going through this?

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by snowshoe

My wife has decided to have her midlife crisis. It's killing me and I'm angry but I need to look for a place to live in a few months. I don't want to give up my cat and the cost to rent is close to a mortgage payment for a condo. I've never thought I'd want to live in a condo but I'm starting to see some appeal now.

Any thoughts on benefits or differences between a condo or townhouse? Any tips when looking? Any other suggestions? Any one have experience with a spouse going through this?

It's nice living in a condo... when you're a bachelor IMO. Don't need to worry about shoveling or mowing, underground parking, it's great. However, I'm looking at buying myself a house for various reasons. Space is extremely limited in a condo, looking to get married in the coming year and having a second parking spot (depending on the condo) is a PITA. Storage is also little where I'm fighting to store my golf clubs. Also depending on your condo if it's not concrete floors, you'll hear every single step your neighbors make.

If you plan to have a family, or just have a lot of junk a house is great. A garage to store the tools and various rooms to do whatever you want. I'm finding little reason to stay in my condo when it's not much more expensive to own a house nowadays... and you don't deal with those pesky condo fees. I'm paying almost $400 in condo fees, plus they're replacing our balcony this summer which is another $20000.

Live in a house where you control everything.

[snowshoe]

wait your condo fees don't cover the balcony replacement so you have to cough up another 20K for it??!

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by snowshoe

wait your condo fees don't cover the balcony replacement so you have to cough up another 20K for it??!

That's right... I have a buddy (we're in Edmonton) and they had to replace the all the siding on the building and more and they had to pay I think 80+ for it

[photon]

It depends on the condo board, if they're good and plan ahead they'll often have that stuff covered, but you pay either way (either a little bit at a time or all at once via special assessment). One thing to look for when buying a condo, plus what kids of repairs might be coming up.

[wooohooo]

Also watch out for the condo fee inflation. I started at like $150 about 4 years ago. But I live in a relatively older building that has sprung a few leaks here and there.

[Temporary_User]

Houses come with the extra work of mowing a lawn, snow removal, maintaining other landscaping, re-roofing, re-siding, new windows, cleaning windows, etc way too often. And the cost of all the tools that go along with this.
Sure you can pay to have someone come and do all of that, but most do it themselves meaning that if you want to pay someone to come and do it it is going to require a special trip to your neighborhood and thus cost you more.

With a condo and townhome you pay into a fund to have all of this done and because you and however many else have the same board all are paying the costs are cheaper and easier.

[REDVAN]

snowshoe- sorry to hear about your situation.

I'd say rent- I know it seems like throwing money away, but at the same time, you probably DON'T want any commitments to a new property while trying to sort out other things in your life. As a renter, you have very limited responsibility.

[TurdFerguson]

Sounds like a tough situation, sorry to hear that. I'd also say rent for a little while until you have a better idea of whats going on long-term. here is my thinking:

-Purchase has a lot of added costs that come with it (lawyers, mortgage termination fees, selling fees) that would suck to be stuck with if things all blow over in 6 months and your back to "normal". costs woulkd far outweigh the sink cost of short-term renting.

-renting gives you a a chance to test drive condo/town home life without taking the plunge.

-last point, the market is nuts right now. If it softens up at all the condos and town homes will be hit harder then houses (unless you're inner city). I got hung with a 50k loss about 6 years ago on a 300k townhouse in the burbs. Much more volatile market out there...

good luck, hope it all works out.

All that said, as soon as you know its not short-term I'd be marking a purchase if possible.

[bizkitgto]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

snowshoe- sorry to hear about your situation.

I'd say rent- I know it seems like throwing money away, but at the same time, you probably DON'T want any commitments to a new property while trying to sort out other things in your life. As a renter, you have very limited responsibility.

This struck a chord with me, as I've thought of this for a while now....has anyone done a good study in some of the inflated cities like Calgary and Toronto for comparing the benefits of renting vs owning?? I keep hearing people say renting is better in the long run but I don't see how, but I've never looked into it....there's lots of condos getting built these days for investment purposes....can anyone make an argument for renting?

[Red]

Get a duplex. Condos are very limiting and can have ridiculous rules. A friend of mine got fined for leaving boots outside the door. It was their kid and they just forgot them. Fined for leaving a car in the wrong spot. Fact, stuck in the snow. Stuff like this. By the time you pay the condo fees you can have a duplex. Your own and no condo rules to obey.

House maintenance is often over stated. I have been a homeowner for almost 20 years and not once did I have to replace windows, roof, furnace etc. Never owned a new house. Depends what you buy I guess but then again, condos have special assessments too and you have 0 control over who does the work and when. A home owner can at least plan for these big things, windows don't go bad over night.

[Regular_John]

One of my personal dealer breakers on condos/townhomes is having a private ground level entrance. To me as soon as your sharing a common entrance/hallway with your neighbours you're losing some privacy and basically living in an apartment building.

I know for others this isn't important at all, but I like to come & go as I please without having to worry about sharing elevators or dealing with hallway noise in my living room. Just feels more "private" to me when my front door connects to the outside.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by bizkitgto

This struck a chord with me, as I've thought of this for a while now....has anyone done a good study in some of the inflated cities like Calgary and Toronto for comparing the benefits of renting vs owning?? I keep hearing people say renting is better in the long run but I don't see how, but I've never looked into it....there's lots of condos getting built these days for investment purposes....can anyone make an argument for renting?

The sales pitch from realtors when you let them know you are renting is "Oh, so you are paying someone else's mortgage". You sort of are, but there are definitely upsides to renting. If the dishwasher breaks, the landlord is responsible for getting you a new one. Any maintenance such as leaky pipes, cracked window, painting, etc. is covered by them. Any special assessments for balconies, new gates, a flood are covered by the landlord. If you are in a house and the roof needs repairing, landlord covers it.

If it's short term, renting is a good hedge against declining price values. In early 2009 there were a ton of condos and houses that were owned and under water (financially, not literally). When realtors spouted the paying someone else's mortgage line, I would reply yes, but I can leave in 30 days, I don't have to pay someone 2.5% to sell my house, and I don't have to pay $30,000 to the bank when my house closes since the sales price is below what I owe.

If you are planning on keeping the place long term and renting it out, it likely will make sense. You still have to come up with 5% (possibly 20%) of a down payment. Many people can afford the rent (mortgage payment), but can't come up with the funds to purchase. As an owner/landlord you have those funds invested in the house, and can't use them for stocks, pleasure, savings, etc.

Here's a thread from 18 months ago http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=125273

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Red

Get a duplex. Condos are very limiting and can have ridiculous rules. A friend of mine got fined for leaving boots outside the door. It was their kid and they just forgot them. Fined for leaving a car in the wrong spot. Fact, stuck in the snow. Stuff like this. By the time you pay the condo fees you can have a duplex. Your own and no condo rules to obey.

House maintenance is often over stated. I have been a homeowner for almost 20 years and not once did I have to replace windows, roof, furnace etc. Never owned a new house. Depends what you buy I guess but then again, condos have special assessments too and you have 0 control over who does the work and when. A home owner can at least plan for these big things, windows don't go bad over night.

I don't live in a townhose/condo anymore, but because I was on the condo board for quite a while, comments like this really bug me.

Anyone who lives in a condo complex absolutely does have a say in how things are run, when work is done, and by whom. The fact is, the VAST marority of people who live there would rather just let someone else do all the work and complain rather than get involved and have a concrete impact on the things they are complainging about.

Anyone who complains about not having a say in the running of their condo complex is 100% at fault for their own situation.

[terminator]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

The sales pitch from realtors when you let them know you are renting is "Oh, so you are paying someone else's mortgage". You sort of are, but there are definitely upsides to renting. If the dishwasher breaks, the landlord is responsible for getting you a new one. Any maintenance such as leaky pipes, cracked window, painting, etc. is covered by them. Any special assessments for balconies, new gates, a flood are covered by the landlord. If you are in a house and the roof needs repairing, landlord covers it.

If it's short term, renting is a good hedge against declining price values. In early 2009 there were a ton of condos and houses that were owned and under water (financially, not literally). When realtors spouted the paying someone else's mortgage line, I would reply yes, but I can leave in 30 days, I don't have to pay someone 2.5% to sell my house, and I don't have to pay $30,000 to the bank when my house closes since the sales price is below what I owe.

If you are planning on keeping the place long term and renting it out, it likely will make sense. You still have to come up with 5% (possibly 20%) of a down payment. Many people can afford the rent (mortgage payment), but can't come up with the funds to purchase. As an owner/landlord you have those funds invested in the house, and can't use them for stocks, pleasure, savings, etc.

Here's a thread from 18 months ago http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=125273

The biggest thing is renting is cheaper then owning in the short term.

[darklord700]

Sorry to hear about that, Snowshoe. For short term, renting is always better. It takes money to buy and sell and you don't know what your future holds. If you meet someone else and decide to buy again, it costs a lot of money to do. You have no upside in buying in this hot market, maybe in a down market you do. But even in a down market, you probably will be just a little cash flow positive buying than renting. I know because I own a rental condo for the last 5-6 years.

[Red]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

I don't live in a townhose/condo anymore, but because I was on the condo board for quite a while, comments like this really bug me.

Anyone who lives in a condo complex absolutely does have a say in how things are run, when work is done, and by whom. The fact is, the VAST marority of people who live there would rather just let someone else do all the work and complain rather than get involved and have a concrete impact on the things they are complainging about.

Anyone who complains about not having a say in the running of their condo complex is 100% at fault for their own situation.

I stand corrected.

Never lived in one so I am only repeating what I hear, but out of curiosity I want to ask this. How can one resident influence the entire complex (100-200 residents) to fix the fence, windows or something non emergency in two - three years from now (rather then now) and the work to be done by uncle Tom that I trust and can get me a good deal? Problem is, uncle Tom is not a registered/bonded contractor or such, just a handy guy that can do the job.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Red

Never lived in one so I am only repeating what I hear, but out of curiosity I want to ask this. How can one resident influence the entire complex (100-200 residents) to fix the fence, windows or something non emergency in two - three years from now (rather then now) and the work to be done by uncle Tom that I trust and can get me a good deal? Problem is, uncle Tom is not a registered/bonded contractor or such, just a handy guy that can do the job.

You hit on two issues. That "single resident" is an elective representative of the 100-200 people you speak of. Want to be this guy and call the shots? Join the Board. It's no different than any other form of government - you elect a Premier and they make decisions for you.

As for Uncle Tom - he's free to submit a quote for this and the Board (not just 1 member) should decide on whether to accept Uncle Tom's quote. They should consider whether he's a reputable contractor that does good work and of course cost. You might know Uncle Tom but the other 100-200 people in the building don't. Worst of all, if I'm one of the 100-200 people - since you're related to Uncle Tom, how do I know you're not getting a kickback from you're uncle. Conflict of Interest.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Red

I stand corrected.

Never lived in one so I am only repeating what I hear, but out of curiosity I want to ask this. How can one resident influence the entire complex (100-200 residents) to fix the fence, windows or something non emergency in two - three years from now (rather then now) and the work to be done by uncle Tom that I trust and can get me a good deal? Problem is, uncle Tom is not a registered/bonded contractor or such, just a handy guy that can do the job.

As was mentioned already, joining the board is the best way to influence the decisions made for/by the complex as a whole.
Aside from that, just going to the meetings is a way to at least keep up to date with how things are being run, but most people don't bother.

I lived in a complex with ~150 doors, and in the 5 years I was on the condo board, we never had more than a dozen residents come to the annual general meeting, there were never more than 4 people on the board (by-laws stated the board could be between 3-5 members),and never once had a non-board member atteend a board meeting.

So it's pretty easy to have an influence on those types of things, but most people don't want to put in the work.

As for the second part, yeah someone could make all of those bad decisions, but it's a board, not a king, for a reason. For that to happen, you've got to have a rediculously bad board (something the residents only have themselves to blame for), and they're likely breaking several condo by-laws, and actual provincial laws in the process.
So yeah, it could happen, but it would be a situation the condo residents put themselves in by their own lack of initiative, and it's something that has multiple methods to remedy.

[Red]

So only board members have a say and can still be outvoted? And since anyone can join, chances are you are getting direction from unqualified (or stupid) people, no?

I am sticking to my opinion that if possible one should stay away from condos. Too much potential for headaches and annoyances that you can do little about. Buy a dulpex and call your own shots.