Everyday Life:
If
you move from an apartment, a collage campus or a military
base, you will adapt to condo living lifestyle quite easily.
However, if you come from living in a single-family home you will
need some orientation. The condo rules and restrictions are in
place so that the condo community can live in peace
and harmony. You may be comfortable with the restrictions that
come with condo living or you may find it to restrictive and move
on to other housing options. A common complaint made by condo
owners concerns the soundproofing between abutting units. If you
can hear noises from adjacent units (especially in the evening),
you would be wise to keep shopping.
Top
Condo and Maintenance
Fees:
All new and current condo owners must
join a condo association that manages the member condo community's
day to day operation and the upkeep of the physical condo
complex. To fund this all condo owners must pay the condo
association a monthly fee to cover all the operating expenses.
The fee covers the condo association's responsibilities to pay the
community's property taxes, insurance on all the common areas,
landscaping, snow removal, pest control. refuse removal, recreation
facilities (pool, tennis courts, etc.) and any current and future
upkeep.
Maintenance fees vary from condo complex to condo complex. The
size of the complex, the auxiliary features or amenities, how fancy
the construction, and the number of units sharing the expenses all
have a direct effect on the maintenance fees. The money collected
by the condo owners may be managed by the condo association
officers or by a local property management company hired by the
condo association. The association must keep finical records on how
it will mange the collected maintenance fees. Before making any
offer on any condo unit make sure you review the condo complex'
s financial records.
Top
Bylaws and Legal Stuff:
As
an owner of a condo unit in a condo complex you must be
willing to conform to the rules spelled out by the condo complex.
Each condo complex has its own rulings that govern virtually every
aspect of life within the community outside your own walls. These
rules are designed to keep the community living in harmony and
peace as well as to keep up the appearance of the physical complex
and its property values. You as the potential owner of a condo
unit in a condo complex will need to become very familiar with all
the restrictions. All of these restrictions are spelled out in a
document called the Condo Documents or Condo Docs. Before making
any offer on any condo unit make sure you review these
documents.
Top
The
Purchase:
A
condo is purchased the same way as a home. You apply for a mortgage
the same way you do for home. Your mortgage interest is tax
deductible as well as the real-estate taxes. However, the monthly
maintenance fees are not tax deductible.
Top
If something breaks:
Generally speaking, with a condo, you
are responsible for all repairs inside the outer four walls and the
association is responsible for all repairs outside your outer four
walls. You will need to review the condo community
association's bylaws for the detailed breakdown of the upkeep
responsibilities between you and the condo community.
Condo living will provide you with more maintenance-free
environment than a single-family home as the condo complex will
take care of much of the maintenance and upkeep that can other wise
take your time away from doing things you like to do instead.
However, you do give up some freedom to do as you like with your
condo because you and the other owners in the condo complex
are mutually dependent on one another for most of
the upkeep of the entire complex.
Major repairs and improvements in a condo complex must be paid
for by special assessments to each and every condo unit
owner in the condo complex. It is important that a healthy condo
community have a contingency fund for emergency expenses as
well as a reserve fund for future improvements and
repairs. A portion of each unit owner's maintenance fee should be
put into those funds. So review the finatial statements to see if
there have been any recent or future planed special assessment. Ask
the members of the association or the management company if there
is one. Be on the lookout for poorly managed associations.
Top
|