When buying a new home, one of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make is what kind of home you want to see yourself in. There are many benefits of choosing to purchase a condo, as opposed to a house. Houses require a lot of upkeep on your own dime and your own time.
Condos can alleviate some of those responsibilities, but allow you to have a lot of freedom over your space. Who knows, maybe a condo is just the kind of place you need.
1. Yard maintenance is covered
If you don’t have a green thumb, you don’t have the time, or you aren’t able to care for a luscious yard, never fear. Condos allow you to have a green space that is totally cared for by someone else.
Whether you are in an apartment-style condo with a community green space, or a house-style condo with your very own back yard, the general care of your yard will be covered in your monthly condo fees. This includes lawn mowing, leaf raking, and snow removal. It also includes tree and hedge trimming and any other landscaping and beautifying of the grounds.
2. Building maintenance is covered
Not only will your yard look stellar, your building – both exterior and some interior – will be kept up to standards for you as well, concerning maintenance. This includes roofing, siding and window cleaning on the outside, and things like your boiler and your elevator and intercom maintenance (if applicable) on the inside.
While the interior decorating and visual maintenance is up to you to do with as you please, most of the major mechanical and structural work is maintained and covered in your condo fees, which relieves a lot of stress off of your shoulders.
3. Amenities are available for use
This is a difficult topic to generalize, because every condo is different. While some condo complexes have almost no amenities, some have a ton. Condos can come with pools, workout areas full of equipment, and game rooms or common rooms. Some have pool tables, foozeball tables, and dart boards, while others might have board games, cards, or even shelves with books that can be borrowed library-style.
There may also be community coffee areas or a community kitchen available where people can host get togethers with their families and friends. The higher the budget, the more amenities you’ll find in your potential new home.
4. It’s a good starter property
Some condos can be cheaper, which makes them a good home for people who are entering the market for the first time. It allows them the opportunity to ease into home ownership. They own their space, but can leave some of the maintenance up to someone else, which can relieve some of the stress of being a new homeowner.
It also allows new homeowners to split major maintenance costs that their building may need, as opposed to having to cover everything out-of-pocket, as they would have to do if they lived in a regular house.
5. Sense of community
Condos provide a space which can be very private and safe. Apartment style condos are locked and may even have a concierge, and some condo complexes are gated which provides added security as well. Condos may also have hired security surveillance which provides added safety, and is better for families and vulnerable people.
Condo communities may also have groups and clubs that people in the complex can join. These people live close together, either in side-by-side houses, or in a building of apartments, and because there are often community green spaces or common areas, there is often a close-knit community feeling.