Brat
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
AltaRed said:
Large enough achieve efficiencies and utilize professional management.
Condos
- Thread starter Rich_by_the_Bay
- Start date
Large enough achieve efficiencies and utilize professional management.
We've got a rental condo, and I'd prefer to sell ... DW and I disagree on this one, but not because it is a condo.
In my experience, the more decisions I leave in the hands of others, the more problems we have ... I don't care for condos, and I also suspect that as the housing downturn develops a little steam, we'll see what we've seen before ... condos will take the brunt of any hit.
One challenge with a condo is that if you personally want to be frugal, you can't affect the HOA fees for all practical purposes ... you'll be in a tussle with a large number of people who probably don't have your good judgment, may make asinine decisions re: maintenance, and you're along for the ride.
If you decide solar would be a wise investment to cut your energy consumption, no luck. Don't like the color of your condo? Tough. Noisy neighbor, just like an apartment? Best of luck.
But I think this is more of an emotional, philosophical choice than a clear, objective decision based upon analysis. Just my bias.
In my experience, the more decisions I leave in the hands of others, the more problems we have ... I don't care for condos, and I also suspect that as the housing downturn develops a little steam, we'll see what we've seen before ... condos will take the brunt of any hit.
One challenge with a condo is that if you personally want to be frugal, you can't affect the HOA fees for all practical purposes ... you'll be in a tussle with a large number of people who probably don't have your good judgment, may make asinine decisions re: maintenance, and you're along for the ride.
If you decide solar would be a wise investment to cut your energy consumption, no luck. Don't like the color of your condo? Tough. Noisy neighbor, just like an apartment? Best of luck.
But I think this is more of an emotional, philosophical choice than a clear, objective decision based upon analysis. Just my bias.
wabmester
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2003
- Messages
- 4,459
Brat said:
Bingo. I've lived in three different condos within large developments, and never had a problem with the management in any of them. Upside was low maintenance and lots of amenities (I especially liked the one with a well-equipped wood shop). Downside was high density, lack of storage, and general lack of freedom.
We're in the process of selling our two-story 3500+ sq ft place on an acre. We already moved into our downsized one-story 2000 sq ft place on 3/4 acre. This feels like the sweet spot for us. Plenty of room for the dogs to run. Large enough lot that we can expand or add an out-building as needed. Enough living space, but not enough to encourage us to acquire more useless stuff.
As a retiree, I kind of like doing the maintenance, and I definitely like the freedom to build new structures, do whatever we want in terms of architecture or landscaping, have whatever pets we want, make whatever noises we want to, etc. In short, I could never go back to condo living.
