But like you said, if you’re saving $300-$700 a month in HOA dues, that goes a long way towards a higher mortgage payment. In addition, like you said, you can control your own utilities costs. Sure, you have to pay for your own hazard insurance, but I’d rather be independent and in control of my expenses than sharing them all with a building full of statistically less frugal Americans.

Condo owners have responsibilities exactly the same for the interior. It’s only the shared exterior that is cheaper. But it’s not cheaper if someone else damages the building and you have to pay for it.

Our retaining wall issue is for our neighbor’s parking pad, but we are responsible for 40% of it.

Also Barb1954, in a house you can expand. That isn’t possible in a condo, even though you do have to replace cabinets, tile in shower, etc when it gets old.

I believe you do spend $6k on your house, but $6k in exterior only? That’s the problem. Our friends spent $20k on remodeling their kitchen interior, but that would have to be done either way so homes/condos are expensive.

But the extra $6k in fees for what?

You don’t replace the roof every year. And when roofs are replaced typically there is a special assessment. Also hot water heaters are your own responsibility. So is the furnance in the condo. You also are responsible for the pipes behind your walls. So it’s owning the house but not the siding, roof, yard, etc.

Barb1954

Do you think you’ve spent $120k on just the exterior of your house Barb1954? In condos you are responsible for the interior like bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms. I think that people spend less on maintenance than in Condos. You forget a portion of every month goes to reserves.

Also when we bought a condo had a special assessment on our condo for $20k. That was paid by our seller, but our neighbors had to pay it for a retaining wall issue.

Second in CA when we left they were about to assess a $10k window repair in our Association. These are fees above and beyond the normal fees.

Plus since it’s going up to $700/month it should soon be $8400/year. What is that mortgage-wise?

Ouch, $700/month is what some people pay in a mortgage.

Barb1954

Also do not forget that we live in the burbs 6 miles outside of town. My DH and I do not complain about gas because we’re in a great spot. #1 school system, $200/month HOA, and sure we have maintenance like a regular home but it’s well worth the minimum HOA.

By the way our friends own no parking and so they have to fight for street parking. And one of them has to drive to their job outside the city. So they cannot live without car, besides being a doctor they are on call.

So it can be a struggle. I think they like city living, which is fine. But a SFH in the city might have been a better option.

Plus don’t forget that how many people want to pay $700/month in HOA fees? Kit do you or would you? What do you pay? Now remember that they have no yard, no pool, nothing. This is just a plain building.

Also as heating prices rise, their HOA will exponentially go up to afford it because everyone is using up heat at 80+ degrees in winter. There is no conservation when you don’t see the bill. But the building HOA sees the bill and says, the only way to keep up is raise HOA by $X.

The real question here is why did they buy a condo if they really wanted a single family house? At 33 and being first time home buyers, I think a single family house makes more sense than a condo. My wife and I bought our townhouse (condo) at 23 and would like to move up to a single family home by the time we’re 30. We’ll need the space too when we decide to have a family. It would also be nice to have a yard I can call my own too.

When we bought it a few years ago there were a lot of people who were boasting about how much space they got out in the ‘burbs and how they must be saving more money than us. Of course, now all we hear from them is “Gas gas whine foreclosures gas oil falling home values car gas where is my government subsidy?” It’s also easy to see that their larger houses encouraged them to accumulate more junk and that the additional size hasn’t made their hour-long commutes any happier.

It all comes down to generally being happy here. I would gladly move the damn sports teams out to the suburbs, though.