My wife and I are looking to move to Norman in the next year and are now considering condos.The price range we are lokking at we haven't found what we are looking for in a house AND neighborhood,however we have come across several condos in our price range that are in neighborhoods we like.Here is our problem we have never lived in a condo.Can anyone enlighten us as to both the advantages and pitfalls in condo living as opposed to houses? Thanks in advance for any help.
Owen '05-'26 122-54-16 .677 (Foundation)
Wilkinson '47-'63 145-29-4 .829 (DYNASTY 1) 3 NC
Switzer '73-'88 157-29-4 .837(DYNASTY 2) 3 NC
Stoops '99- PRESENT 179-46.793 (DYNASTY 3) 1 NC and still WAITING
At OU tradition is about more than just one coach 861-319-53 .720
Scattergun toting Posse member
It's like a stacked trailer park. YWIA.
For the good old American lifestyle: For the money, for the glory, and for the fun... mostly for the money.
Ya ever lived in an Apartment With More rules than you can shake a stick at ?
No way In hell Could I live in a box , With folks above , beside and below .
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If God wanted Men to look women in the eyes, He wouldnt have gave em Boobs !
If you have large pets, it sucks if it has a small back yard.
You are moving into a college town, college students live next door and like to throw parties. that can go either way, unless said parties are sausagefests
Your neighbors will get tired of the headboard violently hitting the wall for 30 seconds.
Spek RoyalOriginally Posted by royalfan5
Ya said pretty much what I said with Less words !
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If God wanted Men to look women in the eyes, He wouldnt have gave em Boobs !
I lived in a condo for 3 years. It's like a shoebox that never goes up in value.
It's like living in an apartment, but you actually own it. I would rather rent than own another condo. Never again.
Don't hang your TV on a shared wall. Your neighbor throws his wife into that wall and BAM.
Boomer Sooner
Apartment living but with equity ownership. Not sure how Norman is, but Florida seriously overbuilt condos and they did not appreciate in value at all for years. Also, the condominium board consists of elected owners and governs what you can do and in some cases must do outside of your condo. You will be required to pay an association fee in addition to your mortgage. This pays for the common areas such as parking, pool, roofs, landscaping, etc. The association fee can be raised at any time by majority vote of the membership. Check to see how much of the reserves are funded by association fees. If it is a low percentage then you can expect to have a levy when roofs need to be replaced, exteriors painted, parking areas repaved and restriped. If you fail to pay the association fee or any levy, the condo association can, and usually will, start foreclosure proceedings. That will seriously p i s s off your mortgage company. Condo living is not something I will ever partake in again.
Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and good with ketchup.
Look at smaller homes in a good neighborhood.
Seriously.
The fans on here are known for their objectivity, fair play, open minded welcoming of others, debating in an upfront, firm, but respectful manner.....TexasLidig8r 11/21/04
Yup Like a TENT in the park !
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If God wanted Men to look women in the eyes, He wouldnt have gave em Boobs !
i grew up in a condo in Tulsa
for the most part it wasn't bad, but yeah, it's like an apartment, you hear your neighbors, etc...
some of the newer condo's can be made with a lot nicer sound proofing materials so it isn't as bad...
might ask froze, i think he has a condo/townhouse...
“If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.”
Bud Wilkinson
Yes, he does. He has a townhouse.
It's appreciated by 50% in the last four years.
Yeah, sometimes I can hear the neighbors. Generally, if you're not an *******, your neighbors like you and will ask you before they're going to have a loud night. Heck, they even ask me before they do.
Advantages:
I haven't mowed a yard in four years.
I haven't had to paint an exterior wall in four years.
I haven't had to shovel snow in four years.
I haven't had to rake leaves in four years.
I had sex with the girl next door a few years ago.
I had a pipe burst three years ago. Didn't cost me a dime to get fixed.
Now, I do plan on moving into a detached home at some point, but the townhouse suits me right down to the ground right now.
"The choices we discern as having been made in the Constitutional Convention impose burdens on governmental proceses that often seem clumsy, inefficient, even unworkable, but those hard choices were consciously made by men who had lived under a form of government that permitted arbitrary governmental acts to go unchecked." INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983) (Burger, C.J.)
I would say it depends on what kind of condo it is.
apartment condo = avoid it
townhouse condo = go for it
"The mark of a great player is in his ability to come back. The great champions have all come back from defeat." - Sam Snead
I've lived in the same pandemonium...er...condom...inium as a renter from '83 to '87 and an owner since '87.
Upside: It was appraised at 82K and I bought it on foreclosure for 26.5K.
I don't have to mow a lawn, clean pool, or change exterior light bulbs.
Downside: (Gotta minute?)
Depending on state/local ordinance, you may NOT be able to BBQ over open flame (gas or c'coal) on your patio or balcony. I can't, and I owe it all to the Section 8 housing residents around Texiz that said, "Hey! el fuego ess no hot enough for los fajitas, lemme joos add some gasolina to heem." There goes another block of subsidized housing and a few welfare bums. Not necessarily a bad thing.
You may have a "Junta" that runs the place like Stalag 17. They will raise assessments, impose special lump-sum assessments, etc, at will, and may favor those who bought as investments rather than as a place to live.
Parking can be a problem, especially if you have guests over.
You will not be permitted to keep your boat or travel trailer there, in all but the rarest of instances.
One a-hole neighbor can make your life a living Hell, and there's little you can do about it.
Renters in the place are often a problem.
Pool rules may be so restrictive that you can forget about a romantic dip with the lady after, say 10PM.
If you are in Building 2, and Building 5 needs a new roof, ALL may be "taxed" via a special assessment to meet the cost.
Some folks, especially those from foreign lands, buy these places to warehouse college age kids attending a nearby school...chaos, racket, your parking slot usurped.
Then there's the resident nutcase who insists on feeding/attracting stray cats by the dozen, birds by the thousands (who will coat your vehicle AND you with poop.)
There will be a person who calls the management "anonymously" to beyotch if you even sneeze loudly.
There's the upstairs couple who either practice highjumping or the NFL version of the Kama Sutra regularly.
There's the downstairs bunch, from Upper Baboonsbuttistan, who cook their native foods, like Goat Spleens with Garlic/Limburger Sauce. The fumes rise, you see.
There's the punk kid who revs his souped/f---ked-up rice rocket at all hours, as he raises the volume on his car stereo. Complain and you are labeled a racist, have your windshield broken, door egged, etc.
There's the neighbor's cat, illegally allowed to roam, who will leave pawprints and claw marks on your car, partially-devoured rodents on your doorstep, and strong odors on your patio/balcony. Complain, and you hate poor little animals.
The authorities will decide to widen or repave the avenue and you will have noise, dust, and and tar on your conveyance for three years.
The local transit authority will establish a bus stop on your corner. Diapers will be changed...and left... on the hood of your vehicle. Litter will abound, and window-peeping will be rampant.
Enjoy!
Oh, whatevAr you do, avoid membership on the Board. I got drafted and spent three years at that, then was voted in as President WHEN I WAS NOT THERE!!!! Seven years later, I told them to KMA!
LF
Fair and Balanced
The ex lives in a condo. I wasnt impressed for ALL the reasons stated above. Get a house.
I can remember helping her plant flowers and monkey grass around her fence to her patio and she said she was suppose to get it all approved. I laughed it off thinking that was ridiculous. You own the condo. Sure enough some of the board members out for a walk came up to us and said that they approved of what we were doing. Thanks but we didnt ask your opinion. I can see the need I guess if you get some odd ball doing crazy stuff to the outside of there place but that rule never sat right with me.
Last edited by Petro-Sooner; 6/6/2007 at 10:04 AM.
The general negative response gives me a certain amount of trepidation about going CONDO.
Last edited by stoopified; 6/6/2007 at 11:23 AM.
Owen '05-'26 122-54-16 .677 (Foundation)
Wilkinson '47-'63 145-29-4 .829 (DYNASTY 1) 3 NC
Switzer '73-'88 157-29-4 .837(DYNASTY 2) 3 NC
Stoops '99- PRESENT 179-46.793 (DYNASTY 3) 1 NC and still WAITING
At OU tradition is about more than just one coach 861-319-53 .720
Scattergun toting Posse member
I will caution you to make sure that owner-occupancy is high.
It's over 80% here.
"The choices we discern as having been made in the Constitutional Convention impose burdens on governmental proceses that often seem clumsy, inefficient, even unworkable, but those hard choices were consciously made by men who had lived under a form of government that permitted arbitrary governmental acts to go unchecked." INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983) (Burger, C.J.)
getting a house isn't necessarily a guarantee that you'd be free of all that invasion of privacy. Depending on where you live, a homeowner association can be as bad if not worse than a condo association, because they have a larger area that they can make rules and limitations for.
"The mark of a great player is in his ability to come back. The great champions have all come back from defeat." - Sam Snead
Exactly, Scott D. Try living in a historical area.
As others have said, it depends entirely on the type of "condo". We purchased a condo/townhome for the same reasons you stated (couldn't find the right house in the neighborhood we wanted). We have only one shared wall, a smallish back yard, no association, 100% owner occupied, and there are only 8 of them total. It's in a very up-and-coming part of town and we expect a fairly nice return when we do finally find the house we want in a year or two.
So, it certainly wasn't our first choice, but it was better than overpaying for a house, or renting, or getting a house in a neighborhood that is flat or even on the decline.
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