pros and cons of a small house vs condo

June 9, 2018 5:43 AM

First time potential home buyer here, I'm having trouble deciding whether to get a small house (<1000 sq ft) or condo in the northeast US city where I live. My price range and the housing stock in the area where I'm looking limit me to a smaller rowhouse typically spread across 3-4 floors or a condo and I'm asking for some help in narrowing my search. No kids, 1 cat, hopefully retiring in ~20 yrs.

Right now my must haves are: good sunlight, if a walkup condo building then no higher than 3rd floor, room for a king sized bed in a real bedroom, at least 600 sq ft total

must not haves: kitchen in a basement, too close to a bus stop (our buses talk to say that they are turning etc.), very tight winding stairs, excessive hoa fees (I've somewhat arbitrarily picked $350/month as a max, and I don't need amenities like pool/doorman/parking)

I've read about some of the minuses of condos (controlling or mismanaged HOAs, the annoyance of volunteering on an HOA board, surprise assessments) but I'm not sure that I want to spend the time maintaining an actual house and dealing with contractors and maintenance. Houses appreciate faster here, but realistically I'm looking for a place to live longterm so I'm not factoring that in. Regardless of whether I get a house/condo I'm going to be relatively fiscally conservative, so not worried about budgeting for upkeep. An agent here says that I can't get financials for an association until after an offer is accepted, so it's a little challenging to do research on how well funded reserves are, etc for condos. What else should I think about when trying to decide which to buy?

posted by tangaroo to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

I think the cons of a house spread over several floors would be that as you age, you may find it hard or impossible to get around. Same for a walk-up condo. Are you planning on selling at some point?

For me, the advantage of a house over a condo would be the lack of neighbor noise, but in a row house, that might not help much.

Are you a woman living alone? How safe is the neighborhood? A condo might (depending on the setup) be a little safer.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 5:59 AM on June 9, 2018

I own a condo that I no longer live in, and have dialed back my participation in (former board member). For me, the single biggest liability of condo ownership, and something I will never subject myself to again, is having to make every decision by committee, and to balance a bunch of people's often very different tastes, goals for the property, and personal values.

I constantly felt like I was living in a joke contrived by some long-dead property developer. Think seriously about your tolerance for negotiating with other people over the minutiae of window replacements, or how comfortable you are with other people making decisions on your behalf that can potentially have a significant financial impact on you. You may be strong-armed into capital expenditures you don't feel are necessary, or have ones come up that you and the board were unaware were necessary, but need to be dealt with.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:20 AM on June 9, 2018 [15 favorites]

You could probably hire a property manager for less than the condo fees. But I'd start shopping, make a spreadsheet, and rank the places you see, and do a cost comparison. If a condo costs, say, 150 more a month, that's 1800 a month that could have gone to paying down principal. I'm not terribly well prepared for retirement, but I own my house, and not paying rent makes a huge difference.
posted by theora55 at 6:43 AM on June 9, 2018 [2 favorites]

My condo board has caused me some real problems, including making a decision to replace the park area right next to my house with a giant concrete parking lot/driveway monstrosity. They broke condo rules about disclosure to do it, and a group of us are trying to do something about it, but we’re probably stuck with it, though it significantly reduces the value of my unit. So I completely agree about not subjecting yourself to the whims of a board.

Also, a condo doesn’t free you from contractors and maintenance. I’m not sure how condo rules vary, but everything inside my place is still my responsibility. Plus I have the extra layer of needing board approval for any decisions I make. I recently had a hell of a time finding a plumber who was willing to jump through my condo board’s hoops. And if you get a crazy board, they can change the rules any time.

I am looking to relocate in the next few years, and the only reason I’m even considering a condo is that I’m not sure I can afford a house in the area I want to move to.
posted by FencingGal at 7:01 AM on June 9, 2018 [4 favorites]

I’m a woman living alone in a 3-floor row home, no kids, 4 cats (long story), mid-40s so probably retiring in the same time frame. Here’s what I looked for and focused on when buying my house.

• I chose a townhome because I knew I didn’t want to spend my fairly small amount of free time maintaining a yard.
• I looked in areas of the metro with the qualities I valued the most: quiet, lots of nature, bike trails, some shopping relatively nearby (Target, groceries, etc)
• I looked up the costs of trash, sewer, insurance, etc. and used that total as a benchmark for what a reasonable HOA should cost
• I wanted a house that I could afford by myself, but which the HOA bylaws would allow me to rent out or have a roommate if I needed one
• I refused to consider any houses that didn’t have all my must-haves
• I deliberately went for houses that were constructed within the last 5 years because I wanted to benefit from better materials and greater energy efficiency

When I was finalizing my choices of houses on which I might make an offer, I made a point of going to those neighborhoods at different times of the day and week, and just getting a feel for it. For example, 9am on a Saturday, 5pm on a Wednesday, 10pm on a Sunday. I wanted to know what kind of noise level I could expect, if there would be a ton of kids running around, if someone would be blasting music late at night.

So, I wound up in my lovely townhome which I adore. It’s a 1890 sq. ft. 3BR/3BA with a 2-car garage and a deck. The HOA covers exterior maintenance, trash, lawn care, snow removal, and exterior insurance. The amenities included in the community are bike trails and a clubhouse with a pool and a small gym. I am very fortunate in that the HOA is well-managed and, more importantly, that residents actually seem follow it for the most part.

One benefit is that because the HOA covers the exterior, my homeowner’s insurance is extremely inexpensive—it’s about $120 a year. The HOA arranges to touch up siding, repair roofs, resurface driveways and so on without my input, and then notifies residents of upcoming repairs with a week or two of notice (usually in the form of a flyer taped to your garage door so you’re sure to see it).

But I am still responsible for the contents of the house, and in the 9 years I’ve lived here, I’ve replaced the water heater (normal lifespan), gotten the furnace fixed, and developed some wear and tear. I’ll need to repaint, replace one of my bathtubs because it’s acrylic and developing a crack...stuff like that. Replace my carpet because the cats are clawing the crap out of it. But all those things are part of living in a house.

I have considered the issue of aging in a house with a lot of stairs in it. My ambition is to make sure I stay in good physical condition so that it isn’t a factor for as long as I can manage. I accept that it is extremely likely that I will eventually have to move to a single-level home, but if I wanted to, my community does have single-level homes and even a senior home nearby, so I wouldn’t have to leave my neighborhood unless I preferred to.

Favorite features of my house:

• Double sound-proofed walls. Holy shit, best feature EVER. I may as well be on the moon. I don’t hear anything my neighbors are doing unless it is right up against the wall. One of my current neighbors had a dog with a howling problem the first year they moved in, but the dog has since chilled out and it’s not a factor anymore (thank God).
• Snow removal. It’s really nice to not have to worry about shoveling my driveway. The service gets triggered for snowfalls over 3 or 4 inches, so there are occasions where I may still need to shovel (e.g. a few 2” snowfalls in a short time frame) but i almost never have to. I know that as I get older, this will be even more valuable.

My HOA was $160/mo when I moved in and is now $225 for the same services. Like I said, I ballparked the individual costs of these things and know that I’m still saving money, but be advised that prices go up over time, and budget accordingly. And even if you can afford to plunk down a chunk of money for a surprise repair, it doesn’t hurt to create a savings account or some kind of fund for it anyway, just so you have the money set aside. I will have to replace my flooring in a few years (the carpet needs to be replaced, and a couple of the floorboards are a touch out of place from the foundation settling) and I know I will be able to afford to finance that, *but* it would be nice to have the cash.

When I bought the house, I also could not look at the HOA details before I made an offer. BUT in my offer, I had a contingency that if I didn’t like anything about the HOA, I could withdraw the offer without penalty. If you find a townhouse or condo you like, make sure that contingency is in your offer.

That’s all I can think of for now. I love living here, and I am really glad that I was honest with myself about my enthusiasm for maintenance (not much) and chose a place where I don’t have to think about the lawn or the exterior. I know a decent chunk of my experience is attributable to luck, because I couldn’t know that my HOA was good or my neighbors were nice until I moved in, but you can’t mitigate all the risk. But it’s been a very good experience.
posted by Autumnheart at 8:52 AM on June 9, 2018 [7 favorites]

I lived in a condo 15 years ago before I bought my current house. Never again for all the reasons ryanshepard outlined and more. No control, skyrocketing HOA fees, unwanted assessments, poor management, and noise, noise, noise. Ugh. People are different though so what I hate others may not. Chances are good, as well, that your condo will only have one wall with windows for sunlight.

Do keep in mind however that it's not uncommon for single family homes to be in a neighborhood governed by an HOA. I can't speak to what kind of fees are involved, but they certainly wouldn't cover things like certain utilities (that a condo HOA would). And I've heard horror stories about ridiculous regulations. "You can't hang that orange suncatcher bauble in your window because the bylaws clearly state NO orange decorations! God forbid you would ruin the consistent and peaceful look and feel of the neighborhood!"

I vote house.
posted by SquidLips at 9:14 AM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

I will note that one of the positives about my row home, even though it is an interior unit, is that I have windows on opposing sides and therefore get tons of natural light *and* excellent air flow. Having windows on only one side wouldn’t allow for that, so it’s something to consider regardless what type of home you go for.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:47 AM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

As a single woman who is not handy, the thought of maintaining a house over the decades fills me with dismay. There's so many things that you may not even know to recognize are going wrong. At least with a condo, you are only responsible for interiors. And, yes, in a lot of single-family housing, there are HOAs which are nightmarishly nitpicky. I hear about this from my home-owning friends with some frequency.

I'm also not sure why the assumption about what condo housing must look like? It varies. I'm considering a place right now which has a windowed galley kitchen and a windowed bathroom in addition to the windows in the living room and bedroom, which are on the same wall. A rowhouse by definition is more likely to have such a setup, and it will also be exposed to neighbor noise in much the same way.

But you may feel differently about the prospect of external upkeep. To me, that's the single biggest issue. If you are handy and knowledgeable, it may not be so daunting.
posted by praemunire at 10:11 AM on June 9, 2018

I'm an exceptionally non-handy (and small) woman who has owned two houses. I outsource my lawn-mowing and snow removal, which I had been able to do on my own at the previous house, and have a super-reliable handyman on call to handle interior maintenance and simple cosmetic upgrades. Obviously, these things cost money, but they would still cost money in terms of condo HOA fees.

Stairs are an issue if you expect to remain in the house post-retirement. I've seen how people with even minor mobility issues fare with the unusually steep stairs in my house, which was a wake-up call for my own future (i.e., I can't count on remaining in this place).
posted by thomas j wise at 11:05 AM on June 9, 2018

I think people are seeing “condo” and assuming “basically like an apartment in an apartment building”, since OP did not specify whether she meant an apartment-type condo or a townhome (e.g. row home, duplex, quadruplex).

Either way, maintenance and services cost money. The main benefit of an HOA is the bulk discount you get when the whole unit/community signs up. An association fee shouldn’t cost *more* than the services would collectively cost if you contracted as an individual. I’d be questioning pretty hard what the HOA was doing with their money if that were the case.

But yeah, whatever goes on in a home that needs fixing, there are professionals to fix it. I have found Angie’s List to be pretty reliable in finding quality service professionals.

And, too, if you’re still fairly young, I wouldn’t necessarily discount a place based on stairs. Ultimately, yes, one will have mobility issues as they age, but that could be 5 years from now or 25. If you buy a house that fulfills all the needs you can reasonably predict to have for the next 10-15 years, I’d say that is a reasonable time at the end of which you can reassess your housing needs, without wasting a bunch of money on mortgage points or lost equity.

Just don’t buy anything with a feature that already bugs you, and don’t buy with the idea that you will live there for a few years and then flip it. That’s where most housing regret tends to happen.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:24 AM on June 9, 2018

I live in a condo, and everything ryanshepard said is accurate. Day-to-day, it's a great place to live, but there are periodic bursts of activity and great annoyance related to HOA governance and property maintenance. I'd rather deal with neighbors than yardwork, so I probably would buy a condo again.

You may find it helpful to do some research on condo finances generally - they do not work like personal finances. That will give you things to look for when you do receive financial info, and questions to ask. (Low HOA fees look great to buyers, but they should also be saving up for big expenses, and ideally have some idea of when to expect those expenses.)
posted by mersen at 4:33 PM on June 9, 2018

I live in a Philadelphia rowhome in the Tacony or Wissinoming neighborhood depending on who you ask.

Benefits - no HOA. HOAs are a pain in the bunghole. I have a small front yard and a back alley with garage access. The yard is small enough that i could hand trim it with scissors, i usually just use an electric weed whacker. I am not near a bus stop (which is good to stay away from not because of the Caution Bus it Turning robot or Welcome to Route 56 robot, but because people often smoke while waiting for the bus and so it makes having your windows open smell like cigarettes) . brick maintenance is not bad. Rubber roof maintenance is not bad. all other maintenance you would have the same in a condo. Old stock townhouse builds are much more solid that newer stock condo builds in a lot of parts of the city.

Downfalls - air flows between the townhouses in the vent space below the roof so i can smell my neighbors if they smoke inside. you have no say in what your neighbors are like so you should do some reasearch to make sure they are not hoarders for instance because that filth can affect your attached property and you dont have an HOA to back you up. Need to be aware of lead paint (check windowsills and trim). Your property might appreciate, or it might hold steady. IF you look through my question history youll find one from 2010 where people were telling me to avoid buying in Point Breeze. IF i had bought in Point Breeze, I would have tripled my money and sold and blasted off back to my beloved Jersey homeland by now.
posted by WeekendJen at 10:51 AM on June 11, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks for the input everyone, lots of experience that’s helpful. there are both the giant skyscraper type condos and 4 story homes split into condos here, and relatively few townhouse type deals. It’s a seller’s market right now and I have the flexibility to wait it out for the right place, leaning towards the small house. Safety is pretty much fine in the neighbourhoods i’m considering, and I’m looking to stay For at least a decade.
posted by tangaroo at 7:10 PM on June 12, 2018