condo vs apartment?

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,501
5,907
136
so i'm trying to decide between buying a condo or renting an apartment.

apartment would be 500 feet from work in a downtown urban area (pretty safe) and 1200$ a month. condo would be 45 minutes bus ride from work in a subrub area (very safe and well to do) and maybe 80$k with a 250$/month HOA fee. many stores and vendors near the condo, less so for the apartment.

i am thinking that since i am having a hard time deciding, maybe i should try the apartment first for a year and see if i enjoy it. the extremely short commute would be amazing, i could roll out of bed and be at work in less than a half hour which would be unbelievably nice.

for anyone who has lived in a condo before, is it better than an apartment as far as quality of life goes?
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,396
30,476
146
For me it's all about the convenience of life/work. While a gentle stroll from home to work sounds like a no-brainer over the 45 minute bus ride, it sounds like the other important necessities of life: food and material needs, are convenient to the suburban condo. At $80k (+$3k/year on HOA) to own vs $1200/month on the rental, I think the condo is the better option.

I actually don't mind long PT (reading time), as long as it isn't too long. Buses suck compared to trains, but depending on your area, it's likely no big deal. If the bus ride means you can have walking life for your daily needs, I think the condo is the way to go.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
21,462
5,937
136
Living with an HOA can be challenging, and expensive. Special assessments are the real killer. They "discover" that all of the buildings need new siding but don't have the money to pay for it, so the homeowners get billed for it. You need to study their financials and review past and pending repairs/maintenance.
I've done a lot of work for HOA's (over a million bucks) and they often have no concept of how to maintain the property they're in charge of.
 
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