Quick Tips for Buying the Right Condo Unit

Buying a condo unit is not the same with buying a single-family house. The ownership status, responsibility, and restriction are all different. There are drawbacks and benefits that you may not get from the other types of property.

And although the money you spend may not be as much as if you buy a house, purchasing a condo is still a major decision that needs careful preparation.

Here are some quick tips for you!

Scouting the Amenities

Living in a condo unit means having access to luxuries and amenities that are generally unaffordable if you were to build them by yourself. Swimming pool, gym facility, jogging track, and spacious parking lot are the typical facilities of a condominium.

Reading a brochure or an advertisement is not enough. You have to visit the condo by yourself and see if all the offered goods suit your need. For instance, one condo may highlight how high-end its pool is. To people who love to swim, that facility is valuable. But if you are not a swimmer, then what is the purpose?

In some cases, the location of the condo itself is its strong feature. If you happen to work in a business district, and you want to live close to your office, the chances are that the property’s price there is exorbitant. However, in that situation, condo units are often the best deal that you can get.

Requesting the Paperwork

In case you do not know, the ownership of a condo is shared among all the unit owners. As a consequence, you cannot either renovate or modify your place if it violates the condo association rules. And in most cases, improvement is nearly impossible because it requires a very complicated process of approval. So if you do not mind staying in a building that will look the same for years, we may proceed.

What you have to know from a condo unit is that how the association runs the building. You have to learn about the maintenance fee, delinquency rate, and insurance status.

You may request the maintenance fee from the condo seller. If you use a realtor service, you can inquire about the association rules from him/her. But if the condo is still at a pre-construction stage, like Mirabella Condos, you can partake in setting up the condo rules. Typically, if you are among the first buyers, you will get a prominent position in the owner association. You can get the unit at a much lower price than if you get it from resale. You may also need to customize a lot of things in the unit’s interior.

The delinquency rate is measured based on the condo owners’ responsibility on the fee. If a condo has many delinquent owners, the delinquency rate is high. You may not get a direct impact of that status until you want to sell your unit. A condo with high delinquency rate tends to be cheap.

A condo unit has two types of insurance: the master insurance, and the individual one. The master insurance covers the risks of the whole building, while the second type is for individual units. You have to inquire about this matter to your realtor so that you will not get surprised by how the insurance status impacts your expense and the investment value of the unit in the future.

Getting in Touch with the Neighborhood

Living in a condo means living close to other people. If you have issues with privacy, then a condo unit is not recommended. And to get to know the people who are going to live next to you, you have to confront them by yourself.

Visit the condo during weekends, and see how people interact with each other. You do not want to live in a neighborhood that does not welcome new people. Do not put yourself in a difficult situation because it may affect your life quality.…