Moving out of your house can be an exciting milestone in your life. If you’ve never lived the “small life” before, it might look like there are a lot of unknowns about condos to worry about. We’re here to put those worries to rest. Life in a condo as opposed to a single family home isn’t terribly different, and if you’re interested in really getting to know a city, condos are better. Whether you’re looking for homes for sale in Miami, FL or in Phoenix, AZ, choosing a condo is a great way to get to know the area.
When it comes to moving from a house to a condo, there are a few pros and some cons that you’ll want to keep in mind as you transition from living in a horizontal neighborhood to a vertical one.
Communities go vertical, but don’t fundamentally change
We really want to press this point because it’s easy to get worried about not fitting in with a condo community. It’s almost easier to make friends in a condo community than in a traditional suburb or rural township. Living in a condo means you’ll be interacting with your neighbors on a regular basis, whether it be riding the elevators together, enjoying rooftop pools, running into one another at the gym, or simply holding open the front door as a courtesy. Once you go vertical, you’ll see how easy it is to form friendships with your neighbors.
There’s going to be background noise.
As good as noise insulation is these days, you’ll still have to deal with a few noisy intrusions into your home from time to time. Every now and then there will be people walking down the hall, the elevator bell ringing out, or the muffled music of your upstairs neighbor. If the condo is in a busy city like Seattle, WA, you’ll also probably hear car horns or emergency sirens. We do want to stress just how well modern condos handle noise cancellation, but don’t expect to have your peace and quiet on demand.
You’re going to be close to everything.
If you’re thinking of buying a condo for sale in Austin, TX or Los Angeles, CA, you’ll have most city amenities within a ten-minute walk. We’re not talking just about restaurants and cafés either. This includes post offices, grocery stores, and shopping centers. You’ll save money on gas, and you’ll get to know the streets better when you walk instead of sitting in traffic.
You Have To Follow The Rules
You might think that by leaving a house for a condo you’ll be escaping the rules and regulations of your local homeowners’ association and you’re wrong. People in condos have to follow the rules too. For those of us who are inherently rebellious, this can be a fact of life that we just have to deal with. Read the fine print of what you can and can’t do with your condo if you’re reluctant to follow anyone else’s rules but your own.
Garbage Chutes
This is a weird thing to get excited about, but we feel we need to mention it. Garbage chutes are a big pro of condo life. No longer do you have to haul your garbage bags out the front door and down the street to the nearest dumpster. Just open the door to the chute, shove the bag in, and let gravity take care of the rest.
You’re going to need to get rid of some of your stuff
With a few exceptions, condos are much smaller than houses. If you’re downsizing from a house to a condo, you can either cram all your old stuff into a smaller space, or you can parse through it and throw out what you don’t want/need anymore and keep the rest. You should be doing this regularly, regardless if you’re moving from a house to a condo or not, but if you need to downsize, then getting rid of some of your stuff is enough.
You’ll have a concierge
Most condo towers have a dedicated concierge that will generally make your life much easier. They can accept packages for you, help you move stuff up to your floor, and answer most questions you might have about the building and the area. Your friendly neighborhood concierge is like your condo’s on-staff superhero.
You won’t be paying as much for utilities.
This holds true mainly for heating and air conditioning. With a house, you have to pay for all the heating and air conditioning yourself and cover multiple rooms and floors. In a condo, you only have to worry about your space, which is definitely smaller than your old house. An added plus to consider, your neighbor’s heat will radiate into yours during the winter, and if you live on the top floors of your condo, you might not have to worry about heating at all!
You get to take advantage of amenities!
Nowadays, a lot of condos have indoor gyms and pools that residents get to use on a whim. For anyone who treats their workout as a serious part of their day, having a gym only a walk away is a godsend. The pool speaks for itself. How nice is it to take the elevator up to the rooftop for a dip on a hot summer afternoon? If you’re looking for condos with the best amenities, check out condos for sale in San Francisco, CA!
Living in a condo is a lot like living in a hotel, only it’s customizable. If you want to live in a condo that’s close to the beach, the best malls and department stores, consider relocating to Miami.
Now that you’re ready to move from a house to a condo, reach out to any of our agents and find the right vertical neighborhood for you!
