Advantages of Condo Living

2019 September 24

If you are like me, the title of this blog has you thinking of the stereotypes that are associated with Condominiums (elderly, shared walls, no kids, one step closer to the nursing home). I have quickly learned that thinking this is the type of living only for your parents or your grandparents after the kids have moved out is completely wrong! Condo living is growing at a very rapid speed for the largest segment group of our population “The Millennials”. Condo living is not any of those things. There are many advantages to condo living. Here are a few that seem to make the Millennials choose this type of living over the traditional home-buying:

1: Traditional Maintenance –

With condo living, the exterior maintenance is usually covered by the association. This means for us that the association will take care of the Landscaping, Snowplowing, Trash Service, and Exterior Maintenance of the roofing and siding. Many of the Millennials don’t have time or don’t want to take part in this part of homeownership, they would rather spend this time doing things that they enjoy.

2: Proximity to Activities –

Condo developments are generally near many of the activities that are important to the residents, such as shopping, restaurants, businesses, and walking/biking trails.

3: Shared Costs –

With Condominiums, many of the large costs are shared between the residents. These costs come out of the monthly dues. Instead of having to shoulder these costs all on your own, the residents all pay into an account that is used for the large projects, such as re-roofing.

4: Smaller Footprint –

Many Millennials don’t have the traditional aspirations of starting a family right after marrying. With this thought, condos are traditionally smaller, which is great for singles or newlywed couples as they do not have a need for the larger single-family residences.

5: House Poor –

Most of the people buying condos right now also do not want to be house poor. People are choosing the lower cost of a condo so they can do the things that they want to do. People are more interested in travel or extra-curricular activities than to spend their time with the duties required in homeownership.

These are a few of the advantages to condo living that we are seeing at the top of buyers lists. This in no way is replacing the traditional condo buyer, yet! Many of the buyers are still the empty nesters that need or want to down-size from the family home where they have raised their families. This is still the largest segment in the condo market, the shift in the market is occurring as we speak. Many options are available to you as you search for your perfect home, maybe condo living is right for you. Don’t rule it out until you weigh all the pros and cons to this up and coming lifestyle change.