I like my condo. Even though part of why I live in one is cost, another part is that I hate dealing with maintenance. I think it would've been a big transition to go from apartment living, where none of that is my problem, to a house where I'd have to coordinate roofers, gardeners, pool guy, etc. By living in a condo I can outsource a lot of those problems to the HOA, and (in theory, maybe not in practice) benefit from economies of scale
I think people think they don’t like condos. I currently live in a condo I own and while not without challenges overall I like it. I think people have unrealistic pessimism for hoas. In Seattle there are a ton for town homes being built, split lot and connected, most without any hoa. When they need work I bet you’ll see a lot of neighbors suing neighbors to fix and replace shared elements. I would never move into shared living space that didn’t have some sort of hoa to manage any the shared space.
I think people have unrealistic pessimism for hoas
I dunno, while I'm in no real rush to paint them all with a broad brush, there's certainly some validity to the some of the ire towards HOAs that the HOAs themselves rightly earned. The one I'm under certainly has. They wont be missed.
Shared living spaces require more coordination with neighbors, either directly or through an HOA. I don't like coordination, so shared spaces are not my preference. Having to run important repairs through a consensus process makes things take longer and become more expensive.
If you can't coordinate with your neighbors directly, and resort to the courts, you're likely to end up in the same place when you can't coordinate with your neighbors as HOA. Although, sometimes, having established procedures can smooth things over.
Single family detached homes without an HOA may not scale (probably doesn't), as you say in another comment, but that doesn't mean we only think we don't like the options that would scale. I haven't lived in a condo, or in an HOA, because I have had choices and I'm not going to pick a choice I've got enough information to determine I'll dislike.
> I'm not going to pick a choice I've got enough information to determine I'll dislike.
You've been duped by the loud anti-HOA crowd and their scary stories, then. For most people, living in a condo is hassle-free. It's cheaper to be many when doing repairs. And someone else coordinates everything so one doesn't have to think about maintenance.
> And someone else coordinates everything so one doesn't have to think about maintenance.
Is that someone else going to move my stuff out of the way when the repairmen come to fix the ceiling under the leaky roof? Will that someone else actually let me know when they'll be swinging by? Will they use a quality repairperson or their cousin? Will it take them so long to get someone out to fix the roof, that more rooms need ceiling repair? How are we paying for this coordinator's time?
Roof will probably not leak nearly as often as in a house, as stuff is being actively maintained. I've never had to think about the roof or the walls, the heating, the water, garbage, etc. So one still comes out way ahead.
But yeah, no one can stop you from dreaming up weird scenarios in your head. Doesn't mean you have a point, though..
Trust me, I do - I have experience of living in a condo and it's subpar to a detached house.
Don't get me wrong, I've been living in condos for the last 8 years in various places and it's doable - it can even be nice. But I'd never buy a condo: I'd just spend more or move to a cheaper location where I can afford a detached house with a large plot.
Having a private garden is great, not crossing people when getting home is great, not hearing people around you is great, not having to deal with the useless administration is great, not having to pay them fees is great.
The thing that bothers me the most about where I live is that even detached houses don't tend to have big plots (makes sense in a developer driven market: buy a ton of land and cram as many houses as you can in there), so you're still too close to other houses.
I understand it's a luxury but it's one I'm happy to put all my money in
Do you have kids? Among my friends group there was a very stark change in home-type preference between when people were childless and when they had kids.
I do not. But I have neighbors who do. My wife also grew up in a condo. Every living situation has different trade offs. Maybe condos don’t work for some people. I think for most people, particularly young people they make a great first home.
My wife and I live in a townhome and we hate it. The noise through the walls, especially if you have inconsiderate neighbors, is a huge pain and you have essentially zero control over it.
It is surprisingly easy to mess up things. In "condo" I rent, noise is from balcony or the hallway. And the renovated bathroom. All other walls perfectly decent for most of the time...
Ofc, occasional loud situations, but that is no different from monsters that have parties outside their house.
I think a lot of modern construction sucks. My condo was built in 1980 and I almost never hear my neighbors. It is also a fairly well designed building where both vertical and horizontal neighbors have aligned spaces for sleeping eating and living. Along with side shard walls being used for closets and bathrooms.
My townhome is actually an old WW2 military hospital that got gutted in the 90's and turned into townhomes. I can hardly hear anything from outside since it was apparently built to survive bombing, but the walls between units allow a ton of sound through.
My apartment (what Americans would call a condo I think) was built in 2019 and I never hear a sound. Have tested playing loud music and I can’t hear it at all from the hallway. It just depends on how much the developers cared when they built it.
As someone living in a condo with and hoa I completely disagree. I get yearly budgets, bi-yearly building inspection reports. The hoa has a fiduciary responsibility to the building and is required by law not to let things decay. Without the hoa communal living wouldn’t work, and not everyone can have a single family home, especially in urban centers.
I think this heavily depends on your local regulations.
My grandparents had a condo once and because the people in the association didn't want to pay, they endlessly deferred maintenance until it was 40K a unit. All because they didn't want to fix leaky windows 10 years beforehand.
My home city is filled with examples of this kick it to the next year approach to maintenance.
Most people are that way. They view a bucket as a solution to water dripping in through the roof.
