In this video we look at the pros and cons of living in a condo, as well as if condos
appreciate in value and what you need to know when living here.
That's starting right now.
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So today I'm joined by Karen McDonald community manager with Brookfield Residential.
And what we're gonna talk about today is the pros and cons of living in a condo
So Karen what are some, I guess let's start off with some pros.
What are some pros in terms of living in a condo?
Well you would have your maintenance-free lifestyle of course and single level living.
But let's when you say maintenance-free obviously you don't maintain but there is a price for that.
Of course, with anything it's that's maintenance-free, you would pay condo fees.
And in that depending on what type of building you live in,
it would be you know your landscaping, all of the snow removal, maintenance fees
reserve fund in the building, it could include some common utilities as well
too here in a condo that's pretty typical. It could include some fees if
you have amenities in the building as well too. So any number of those
things would be included in your condo fees. Okay no so let's keep keep on the
track with some pros, so obviously maintenance-free living.
Single level living for apartment style living as well too. If you're looking
for a townhome a lot of them have attached garages so having that attached
garage, parking. And the lock and leave aspect of everything, just being able to
travel and know that you're secure your home is secure. And not open to
you know people knowing you're away with the lawn overgrowing, or mail piling up, anything like that.
So how about the cons?
Well the cons would be, again very personal, but it is multifamily living. You're attached to
other people and so living with other people could cause some issues depending
on the type of building. Sound attenuation could be something that
you'll have to deal with and consider when you're buying. So knowing if you're
in an apartment, are you on the top floor so you only have people below you and maybe to the sides.
Townhomes whether you're interior home, you have two people on the sides.
And really knowing how it's built. So knowing how construction is
what kind of materials are best used for reducing
that sound transfer between homes. And I guess the biggest thing is, what is your
level of acceptance of noise. There's a lot of people because in any kind of
multi-family home even if you're in a single-family home and they're you
know zero lot lines they're very very small distance apart you probably hear
your neighbor in a single-family home but considering that you're attached and
you have shared walls, there's going to be some sound transfer regardless.
I remember when I was renting, yes that was the case cuz I was, I don't know playing,
I don't know video games or whatever too loud and my neighbor would always come
by and be like yeah you gotta turn it down. I think that's what you have to determine
as well too. If you live like a mouse and you're very quiet,
you like absolute silence, you're gonna want to take into consideration where
that home is stay within a condo. Is it on the top floor,
probably best and so you have the least amount of neighbors possible. Just the
same as in a townhome could be an end home. Well from a sound perspective why
would be what are some like if you don't like that much noise you're saying the
top floor because I think the only person that you probably hear is the
people on the bottom. Yeah likely yeah, I mean probably is this there's a lot more
of the impact noise, the stomping that you would hear in any kind of building
as well too, because that deep bass kind of is harder to kind of build against.
I'm talking it's not just wood buildings that's also concrete buildings.
Concrete's porous it can travel through.
You know sound can do that so I think it's just determining your level of
acceptance of that and what you're willing to accept. Now considering that
it's not always going to be the case because a lot of builders take that into
consideration and they're gonna choose the best type of flooring that's good
for any kind of reverberating sound. They're gonna choose the best kind of
insulation in between homes as well too. So they're gonna do their best to reduce
that sound transfer but it is a factor, it will happen whether it's somebody
that's banging on their walls maybe hanging pictures, somebody that's playing
video games forever, and has like cranked up it that might be an issue as
well too so take that into consideration that there
will be some sound transfer. Hopefully very little. How would you be able to
research some of those so whether it's sound whether it's position whether it's
where you want to to be in or whether you know if you like the east or the
west or the Sun coming in at a certain direction? Is there any way you can do a
little bit of research on your part before you actually make that decision
to purchase? Yeah well the internet you know like it's filled with all sorts of
information that you can research on your own to know. So when
you're talking to a builder you can say well is this vinyl plank flooring or is
it laminate flooring, is it hard, what hardware has a high reverberation, same
with laminate, you're gonna hear that echo right and so that's why a
lot of the times a vinyl plank is used because it's better for sound
attenuation it has some underlay it as well too so I mean doing your research
knowing what what they're building with and how that's going to affect the noise.
There's ample information for you to look up. I think one of the pros and
cons that we also want to touch on I guess is the ability to customize. So if
you're the type of person who does very doesn't really want to customize very
much right you lock it and leave it kind of thing yeah I think a condo would be
perfect that would be a pro for you but it could also be a con for somebody's
like well I want to take this wall out or I want to add this room or anything
right. Yeah and a lot of times within condos/townhomes we have to stick
to this framework, you know within this square box, this is what we can do with
it now some builders who did that they can move things around. A lot of times in
big buildings you have you know support structure that needs to stay in in place.
So that's why builders come up with a number of different floor plans that
will hopefully suit what you're looking for, so that you don't have to do a
lot of moving around of walls or anything. Some builders are a lot more
agreeable to moving walls and doing that kind of thing but there are some
restrictions it's not like a custom single-family home where you can kind of
move things around just as you want to because you're attached to other people
again so that has to affect other people and it's safety structures first
and foremost. Perfect, do you have thing else add in terms of pros and cons of living in a condo?
I think it's really again it's where you're where you're at in life.
Where are you? Where are you living right now? Are you are you renting? You
need to get out and move into something that's your own or you don't need as
much space in your single-family home. It's such a personal decision. Just know
what you're able to compromise on and it may not be that much even you may find
something that's exactly what you're looking for but barring you know endless
you know budget and money you're gonna have the world to work with, there'll be
some compromise. Just be willing to factor that in as well - great
well the question of the day I have for yous do you live in a condo and why?
What are some the pros and cons that you found? Let us know in the comments
section below. If you want to know more about living in a condo and
actually buying a condo check out our video playlists here as well as our
playlist on all the things that you need to know about condo fees check out here.
And don't forget to subscribe to keep learning from the experts.
I'll see you in our next video