Condominium units give buyers individual ownership of their personal apartment or town home, and provide shared ownership of all public spaces. Reply. Most retirement communities start out by giving you a self-sufficient living space to use, whether that is an apartment, condo, or house. Each has advantages and disadvantages and the experience of living in each can vary greatly. When you become less able to care for yourself independently, then you get to transition toward a place that offers more care. Here are some of them: Fear of heights – Before deciding to move to a high-rise condominium, make sure you’re not afraid of heights. SK Hash. Your living space in a townhouse is usually more vertical than horizontal. Ongoing Costs . Even its supporters have their reservations. Is mobile home living worth the risk? After I got married and had a child, moved to a rented 950 sq ft condo nearby. Condos tend to be affordable. I used to live in a 4200 sq ft house of 5 beds/ baths with parents. Living with a roommate not only splits the expense cost, but it can also share the responsibilities of maintaining the condo unit, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, and a lot more. August 9, 2016 at 4:11 am . The thing is, only the potential condo owner can tell which floor level is best for residential living based on his lifestyle and preferences. Before buying a condo, it's important to understand the differences between living in a condo versus a single-family home and to determine if the condo lifestyle is right for you. A condominium or co-op owner has to pay not only a monthly mortgage but also the maintenance fee. If you have health issues or struggle to go up and down stairs, this presents some challenges. Now that you have the positive aspects of living high-rise in mind, it’s time to pay attention to the disadvantages. Soon after they move to a condo, many owners face the hell and find the true meaning of life in a condo. In an expensive unit, this can run into thousands of dollars over the course of a year. For all their advantages, condominiums also have a number of disadvantages that should make potential buyers weigh their decision carefully. There are several disadvantages of owning a condo, and here are some of them. Quite often they are in urban areas, close to shopping, restaurants and other amenities. With the high price of single family homes, condominiums and townhouses are becoming more attractive to many buyers. Roommate Disadvantage: The wrecking roommate Sharing a condo with a roommate is all fun and games until you find out that he or she is a trainwreck. Two- to three-story townhouses are common. In the past condominiums were not necessarily considered to be a good investment for a variety of reasons, however that image has since changed dramatically. Advantages & Disadvantages of Condos & Coops. Though the price for a condo can range from very cheap to ultra expensive, the average price is much lower than the same amount of living space in a house. However, what many owners often forget is that living in a condo implies sharing everything (floors, walls, ceilings) with your neighbors. This means you may have to walk up one to two flights of stairs to get to upstairs bedrooms or living areas. For many buyers the first initial choice must be made between the two basic types of residential real estate purchases – the house or the condo. Choosing between lower, middle, and upper floors can be tough since each floor level has its set of benefits and disadvantages. Living in a small townhouse or condo sounds like a good choice for me, especially considering that it is only me and my two dogs. Differences Between Condominiums and Homes There are so many decisions to be made when you decide to buy your own home.