Condominiums - What are their Disadvantages

Condominiums are all about communal living, which can be good or bad depending upon your personal views. This type of communal living doesn't refer to the failed experiments of the sixties wherein hippies packed into a structure and shared everything. Instead, the modern condominium community is all about sharing common spaces as well as rules, rules and more rules.

Condominiums come in all shapes and forms. Condos can be found in a single high rise building in a downtown area or in an apartment complex type of layout in a planned community. The structure isn't the determining point. Instead, the issue is how the properties are owned.

Unlike a stand alone home, the property lines on a condominium are the walls of the structure. Essentially, you own everything inside the condominium as your individual property. Everything outside the condominium is owned jointly with the people who own the other units. These areas are known as common areas and are subject to group rule.

Every condominium has a homeowners association in one form or another. The association has rules set out by the original developer regarding landscaping and so on. Members of the community are then elected to the board of the association, whereupon the immediately become a focal point of aggravation from individual owners and often wonder why they took the thankless job.

Disadvantages of Condominiums

Purchasing a new residence involves many issues and condos may be on your radar. Before you buy, keep in mind there are disadvantages to condominium ownership. Condominiums are simply a collection of units in a structure or structures. All property on the interior of the unit is yours with few limitations. Everything outside of the unit, however, is considered to be in the common areas and subject to administration by the homeowners association for condominium communities. As with any bureaucracy, this can lead to problems.

1. Parking - One of the biggest pet peeves with condominiums is parking. While this may sound petty, it becomes a big issue over time if a particular situation occurs. One would think a condominium comes with assigned parking. In many developments, however, this simply isn't the case. Instead, parking is on a first come, first serve basis. Over time, this situation can become extremely aggravating. With guests in the neighborhood, you may eventually find it difficult to getting parking!

2. Restriction - Condominiums are all about uniformity. If you prefer to express your individuality, the rules of a condominium may drive you insane. Since people live close to each other in condos, there has to be a number of rules to keep the peace. Many condominium associations, however, seem to go overboard with rules and one can often feel like a prisoner. You may be restricted from having pets, particular types of material in your units, renting to others, making noise outside during certain times and so on. Before taking the plunge on a condominium unit, you absolutely must read the rules and regulations for the association.

3. Association Fees - Homeowners' associations need money to keep the gardening up and so on. As a unit owner, you are responsible for paying monthly homeowners' association fees. Before taking the plunge, you need to make sure you understand the current fees. You should also look back in time to see how much the fee has risen over time. Paying an extra hundred bucks or so a month probably will not kill you, but what if the monthly fee is five hundred dollars?

The problem with the association and condos in general is the issue of uniformity. If you desire to change the exterior of your condominium in some way, you must comply with the rules of the association. This means you cannot paint your property a different color, do landscaping and so on. For some people, this isn't a problem, but others are frustrated they can't express themselves.

The decision to purchase a condominium can be a complex one. While there are distinct advantages, the devil is in the details. Make sure you understand what you are getting into before taking the plunge.

When deciding whether a condominium is a good option for your next purchase, you need to carefully weigh the restrictions of a particular association. If you consider yourself an individual and want to show it, a condominium is probably a very poor choice for you.