Been living in my condo going on 12 years.
Mine is on the walkin level, and back is tree level.
Screened in back porch.
Beautiful view!
I'm on the end unit, so enjoy the privacy.,
Blessed with great below me and above me neighbors. Quiet, no dogs!
No mortgage payments, thankfully, but do pay a monthly maintenance fee.

I'm here to stay until :o)

{{!gwi}}

I live in a villa--which are sometimes called condos. It is one level, an end unit and has a 1-1/2 car garage, which Is very handy if I could ever get it empty enough to park the car in it.

In the almost 7 years I've lived here, I've never heard my neighbors once. Of course, this is a 55+ active community and most people are tucked in by 9 :-)

With condos you will most likely have a HOA fee. Mine is $307 a month I believe. That may seem like a lot but we get a lot for it.

Is there anything specific you'd like to know? Right now I'm looking for a condo in the Clearwater area so I will be closer to my daughter/sisters. I need to do a few things here and get it on the market. I'm going to rent (condo, NOT apartment) this time.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have, so fire away!

I'm just sort of rolling the idea around in my mind. A few weeks ago I had a knee injury. I'm OK now but for a few days it was hard to walk.
Even though my home is small, there is a bit of yard work.
And I love my garden. But there might get to be a time where I would like to not have to do it.
Of course, I can always hire a good yard person. But a lot of these condo buildings have very cute looking little condos. The HOA fees of the ones I've looked into online include all utilities, one even includes basic cable.
And unlike some apartments with a rapid turnover, condos are an investment so I'm thinking there is some safety and stability in that.
Just thinking it over :)

I'm interested to hear everyone's responses since I just bought a condo this week. I lived in a single family house for 35 plus years, sold it two years ago and have been renting while waiting for the right opportunlty to come along. I am excited about the condo since it seems to combine the best of house and apt. living. These are duplexes so you only share one wall with your neighbor. There are small yards which you don't have to maintain but you can plant stuff if you want to. It's also a 55 and over community but kind of plunked down at thee edge of a typical suburban street with very nice houses. I have two bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a full basement, laundry on the first floor, a deck, front porch, and one car garage. I'll let you know how I like it and post some pictures too.

Many investors buy individual condos and rent them out, so be sure to find out how many are actually owner occupied before you buy.

Glenda your home is beautiful!

Thank you!

The condo's are getting old. They were first built as an apartment complex. We have 167 units in a wooded area.

I bought when the development turned into condos.

They were built 1986.

We built our single family home north of Chicago in 2001. We also bought a vacation rental condo on Maui that year -- our first experience in 'group living'.

I hope we can stay in our (single level) home for many years to come, where WE decide what we want to paint, remodel, repair, plant, etc., and WE decide when it's needed, and WE decide who to hire/fire.

There is no 'maintenance free' housing; somebody decides how to spend the money you pay in association dues. A *volunteer* board isn't always talented, wise or watchful. There's a tendency among owners to 'leave it to George' about the running of things -- and you have the usual nit-pickers to be found on any 'committee'.

Ours is the smallest (849 sq ft) 1 BR 2 Bath ocean view unit in a complex of one and two bedroom condos -- 316 of them on 23 acres with pools and a lot of landscaping to be maintained. We've mainly had good boards., and we currently have a decent resident manager. There are some unique challenges because of the tropical and vacation rental nature of the property, but many would be the same at any condo complex.

I don't see us ever living full time on Maui, nor in a gated adults-only situation. We wouldn't want to pay fees to support pools or a golf course or 'clubhouse'.

There are so many different types of condos that it is almost hard to answer questions about them. For example I live in a 100 year old mansion that was turned into condos--only 3 units. It got me into a neighborhood I couldn't have afforded otherwise.

lol..our first place was a condo (we paid a whopping 16 grand) it was nice, 2 br 1 ba, and postage stamp kitchen...we had a blissful time until dd1 arrived...we managed, put extra wood in on the balcony so she couldn't get thru (didn't stop her from throwing toys down)
2years in ds1 arrived...thankfully the bed room was big enough. for a trundle bed and crib....year 4? surprise! b/g twins...sadly we sold,,,that little place at one point, was well over 60 grand! haven't checked lately what san diego prices are....

there are days I'd love to downsize but have become so used to the house in mi we've had for 26 years don't know if I could move....my cousin recently built in a community what they call a villa...3br/ basement (Nebraska tornado) and loves it...

what you do have to be aware of are assn. fees and rules...and some places can be quite either expensive or the rules harsh..for instance one place required you had to have lined drapes with the lining in white??? very high end....

Yeah, the one I looked into demanded white lined drapes so from the outside all the windows would have white coverings.
There are gorgeous condos, though, I'm just not sure if I'm wanting to give up what I have. Yet.

We live part time in a condo and the other half in a single family house a thousand miles away. Ours is also in a 55-and-older community. I love, love, love living on the first floor. The first condo we owned was on the third floor and I did NOT like lugging groceries from the parking lot, in thru the lobby, and up the elevator! This works out well for us and we leave a car here so all we do is hop a plane and fly 2 hrs and 15 minutes south. We do not ONLY snowbird...we come and go throughout the year, spending about 50% of our time in each place. I actually appreciate having a much smaller area to clean, etc. You do tend to get confused about which things you have in which home, especially pantry items that you sort of keep an inventory of in your head. Our monthly maintenance is $350, and includes cable and water. Most condos in our area include cable in their monthly fees, which was a surprise to me.

I lived in a condo for over 20 years in a golf community. It was gated with a guard, and over 55 (my husband qualified at the time9. During that time our maintenance steadily rose until, at the time). By the time I sold it, I was paying 1,900 dollars quarterly (most condos here pay quarterly), and the services (gardening, lawn maintenance, common area maintenance and cleaning, declined, and it began to look shabby to me. We moved in when it was new, and the people who moved in at that time kept there property well but after the financial crisis, there were foreclosures and some condos were trashed by there former owners. I was lucky enough to find a buyer at a decent price, but there's lots of competition within a condo community and with nearby condos when it comes to selling, especially when someone is forced to sell quickly or for financial reasons.

We considered doing a condo for our later years but decided to stay put as long as we can. Around here the fees are 3 to 4 a month and we can hire yard work and a housekeeper twice per month cheaper than that. Maybe some day we might have too but I can't see any reason to do it. We will probably go from our home to assisted living.

I live in a farmhouse on what used to be step-uncle's farm, which I oversaw for a while after his death, and buyer rented house to me, which includes sheds and barns into which I can stash stuff ... and a big garden, something over a mile of row, it looks like this year.

I figure that I can live here as long as I can drive, then it'll be living in the city, likely an apartment ... have never owned a home and don't think that I'd want to be that tied down, plus leaving responsibility to sell with son.

Being independent, I don't think that I want an association telling me what drapes, paint on door, etc. to have.

ole joyful

I lived in an attached townhouse that was legally a condo. For the first four years, it was wonderful. I had all of the space of a house, the amenities of a clubhouse community and none of the outside maintenance. Then, my neighbors on one side rented their unit to someone who had multiple roommates, played loud music until 2 a.m. - 3 a.m., started up their vroom-vroom motorcycle every morning and smoked pot. The police, the condo board and the landlords were all contacted and nobody seemed to care or take action. It was the most miserable time of my life until I could sell my place and move.

There are many kinds of living arrangements for folks who are aging, and or want to get away from the responsibilities of home ownership.

I live in a Retirement Community which is owned by two local families who have lived in this area "forever." It is small compared to many others. I don't have the specs right at hand, but we have villas with one or two bedrooms, all ground level, no steps, with or without a garage. We also have duplexes, each has two bedrooms, 2 baths and a garage. Each unit has a front porch, and yards are planted with a variety of shrubbery. If you choose to you can have a small garden. There are also two three story apartment buildings, with suites, or one or two bedrooms. These were added about 8-9 years ago. On the premises we also have Assisted Living and a separate Alzheimers unit. Quite a variety of choices.

I have a 2 bedroom villa, with garage, which is the end unit of a triplex, and have been here almost 11 years. There is a feeling here of "Community" not so much like a business. Villas and duplexes were originally rented or you could choose a Life Lease. That was my choice. My LL ended a year ago, and I am here now until....I do pay a monthly maintenance fee.

My front porch.

Recently In updating my FF, something went awry and I lost a lot of pics, including the exterior of my villa. Gotta get on to that and get them back.

Sue

We own a condo in Florida that is a free standing ranch house. We are currently renting it, and are always in contact with the renters.
The house next door is also a rental. The man had a motorcycle. Many complaints came in from the neighbors and when it was time to renew, the board told me he could not unless he got rid of the motorcycle. He did.
They are also strict about leaving cars out on the driveway, and a boat or camper is not allowed to be stored outside. Our tenants had to get rid of one car so they could store their RV in the garage.
Lots of rules. You need to read the fine print. I do like that the board is string and active. They would never put up with loud music or pot smoking.