Types of Condos

Hi, I wanted to do a video on condos, and specifically types of condos. There are people that don’t really like condominiums and won’t move into them because they, “Oh, it’s claustrophobic.” I don’t know, when you walk into a detached home, you’re inside of walled in rooms, it’s the same thing as a condominium. I lived in a condominium for years and loved it because I was able to live close in city urban environment, walk out my door, and it was wonderful. Everything was there, grocery shopping, retail shopping. Restaurants and bars galore, proximity to transportation, parks, museums, it was wonderful. I really, really enjoyed it. And there’s different types of condominiums. You might be more of a big box condominium, which was what I was in. It was… I think it was eight stories. Maybe there was 10 units per floor, so 80 units total. It was a decent-looking building. It was brick, red brick with big windows, but it was a big box. And my unit was a little box in a big box, but I loved it. It was clean and modern. I walked in, we had a concierge in the lobby during the daytime hours to receive packages, that was wonderful. Go up the nice elevator, shut the door to my apartment, I’ve got my privacy.

0:01:41.4 S1: It was a beautiful apartment. And fortunately for me, I had quiet neighbors. That is something to think about, is shared walls, but I never had a problem, and I don’t think I ever caused a problem. My unit was on the back of the building, which at first blush, you might think, “Well, that’s a mistake,” because I had a view of, yeah, what was technically an alley, but you’d have to have seen it, there was a courtyard in the back of the building for all of us unit owners, it was beautiful, gazebos and fire pits and grills, and it was lovely. It was an alley, so I did see some other… The backs of other buildings, and there’s some trash dumpsters back there, but it was always kept clean. And a couple of blocks down the alley was this beautiful church, and it lit up at night. I thought my view is beautiful on the back side of the building, in the alley. It was quiet on the back side of the building. That’s one thing you need to think about. Maybe on the front side, it’s a little noisier, I guess it depends on the windows and it depends on the street, and what goes on on the street. I was in a pretty busy section of town, so I like being on the back side of the building, it just felt private. And I love my unit and I love living in that box.

0:03:00.9 S1: Now, there are some other people that might think, “No way, can’t do it, I don’t wanna live up and down an elevator,” and they might prefer what you might see in a lot of urban settings where, formally, it was a row home, and it was three levels, and now it’s three condos. And maybe the condo fee is minimal because it doesn’t have a bunch of amenities and a gym and a rooftop pool, and maybe that’s okay, you don’t want all those amenities, and you have a building that looks like a house, and maybe that’s cool, and maybe that’s your aesthetic, and maybe you’re walking up steps, maybe you don’t have an elevator, maybe you do. I just think that when it comes to condominiums, there’s a lot of different things that we need to think about, not just location and where is it in proximity to what I like to do and work, and being social and having fun, but also, what type of condo is it? Is it a big box? Is it a little box? I’ve seen some wonderful-looking eight-unit condominiums, 10-unit condominiums, 16-unit condominiums. So it’s a bigger building, but it’s not a giant box, it’s not 100 units. It’s on a mid-rise or a high-rise.

0:04:15.6 S1: It’s a low-rise, I guess they would call it, and maybe it’s two or three stories. Maybe that’s what you would like to do for condominium living. Maybe it’s the two-unit condo, the three-unit condo, maybe it’s the big building. Look at all of it. Tour a lot of condos. Think through some of the amenities that you get or don’t get with the different types of condominiums. And place yourself in different settings in your mind. If you have a pet, of course, is the building pet-friendly? If it is, how is it gonna be getting my pet up and down a high-rise in the elevator? Am I not gonna like that or is that just okay? How is it going to be with noise? And with shared walls, if you’re at the top of a three-level condominium in a converted room, maybe that’s gonna be really wonderful ’cause you don’t have to worry about any noise above you, and you just have to be quiet for the people below you.

0:05:10.8 S1: Lots of different things to think about, of course, parking if you have a car. So think about everything, think about the type of condominium that you wanna live in, and then go and really look at that and don’t yield. If you really want a certain style of condominium, don’t be deterred, go get it. Of course, check in with me with any questions on financing for condominiums or any other interest rate questions, anything at all related to condominiums. I hope this video helped. I hope it prompted some questions. And good luck on your condominium hunt. I hope you find something soon.