If you’re thinking of buying a home, a condo can seem like a smart choice. They’re often less expensive than single-family detached homes and can offer many amenities. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite reasons for purchasing a condo.
Amenities
Condominium developments often offer amenities that aren’t typically offered with single-family homes. Most developments offer the use of a neighborhood pool, clubhouses, grilling areas, neighborhood parks, fitness facilities, and tennis facilities. Typically your regime fee helps cover the cost of maintaining these areas.
Termite Bond and Homeowners Insurance
Many condos require you to pay either a monthly or quarterly regime fee. We know that many don’t like the idea of paying additional fees but they’re incredibly helpful for condo owners! These regime fees typically cover the cost for your termite bond and general homeowners insurance. Some can even cover the cost of your flood insurance. By collectively paying these fees, they’re usually cheaper than purchasing these individual insurance plans as a single-family homeowner.
Desirable Location
While purchasing a home in a highly coveted area like the beach or mountains, owning a condo is an affordable way to own a property in those areas. Single-family homes in those locations could run in the millions of dollars, but owning a condo could be a fraction of the cost. Of course, there will be regime fees (and sometimes additional HOA fees) added to your costs, so be sure to speak with a real estate agent to run a true cost comparison.
Investment Opportunity
Many people purchase condos as an investment opportunity, and for good reason! Some are interested in purchasing a condo as an investment in the hopes that the price of the unit will appreciate over time or to use it as a source of rental income. Many choose to capitalize on its rental potential in either short-term or long-term leases.
For example, a beachfront condo may fetch many thousands of dollars a week during the summer vacation months. Similarly, condos located at ski resorts can bring in similar rental fees during the winter months.
Maintenance
One of the biggest advantages of owning a condo is that individual owners are not directly responsible for maintenance on the building or common areas. For many buyers, this could be highly desirable! Your regime fee usually covers all expenses related to the repair and maintenance of central services, parts of the building (aside from the individual units), grounds, and community facilities.
If you’re interested in purchasing a condo, give our office a call! One of our licensed and trained real estate agents can answer any questions that you may have.
