House or condo

[bokelley]

I am done with living in a house. It is just two of us.
Way too much space, the lawn, the flower beds, the suburban life. I am done

I want a condo with floor to ceiling windows. 1 bedroom, high rise, door man. You name it. I think I am over the Midwest suburb life. I want the city!

Do you prefer a house or condo?

[alotofyarn]

House. I like having my driveway with no shared walls. I hated fighting for parking and hearing my neighbors pee when I lived in apartments. I pay people to take care of my yard.

[SuzySunshine]

We have talked several times that if we didn't have kids we'd have a condo or a townhouse, I hate that the yard work takes up our precious weekends/DH time and I'm not a flower person.

[HouseofWool]

If I didn't have kids, I'd totally go for a condo. While I like not having shared walks, I much prefer an urban lifestyle. I cannot handle suburban sprawl.

[Ladybug]

Go for it! I can totally understand the appeal. We love having some outdoor space after having a postage stamp yard downtown. Of course it's a lot more work and stress too.

All of our family lives out of state so we needs pace for people to stay over night, typically at least one week minimum.

[bokelley]

Ha. Us too that is why we want to go from 4 bedrooms to one. No family. Put them in a hotel. lol

[OrionGrad]

We loved living in a downtown condo when it was just 2 of us. I loved having a doorman and being just steps away from the gym.

The only think I didn't like was getting big loads of groceries into our place. (Parking in the garage and taking multiple trips was such a pain!) Now that grocery delivery is so common, you wouldn't even have to deal with that if you didn't want to.

[bobk]

Two points:

Big difference between shared walls in a house vs apartment/condo. Houses usually have think masonry between them. We've lived in two house like that and unless you're house is silent and the neighbors are exceptionally loud, you don't hear much of anything.

You're not limited to these two options. Most cities have a few neighborhoods or inner ring suburbs that have smaller homes and yards which are easy to maintain, while being walkable to many amenities that you might have downtown. It can be a good compromise, although usually pricey.

[Bittersweet]

House. I like having a large garden and lots of outdoor space. I even enjoy shoveling and mowing the lawn ... at least at the beginning of each season, haha.

[Vanquisher]

Condo life isn't for me. People suck. I pay someone to maintain my yard.


Heidi

[Curegirl]

I like the ease of an apartment (but only on the top floor) so you can just call up maintenance if something goes wrong but I like the space of a house because I'm claustrophobic and antisocial.

[ladymoreta]

It sounds like you'd love it! Go for it! I hate yard work, and that was the first thing we hired out as soon as DH finished residency.

[JDAZ11]

House or condo

The only thing I really hate about not living in a house is not having a grill. I am bothered a bit by the girl that lives above us - she is a heavy walker, and I remember a few times being annoyed by my upstairs neighbor in one NYC apt. But in another some man shot himself WHILE I was home directly above me and I didn't even hear that.

I have to say that in the winter it's super nice to worry about shoveling etc. and a doorman is a must. This is the first place I've lived without one and it's annoying.

[MAPPLEBUM]

I guess you'd call our apartment a duplex. It's a 3 apartment home. It works well. At this point I think I'd be lonely without being able to hear neighbors. Not that I want to interact with them but I like knowing they're there. Yard is a must. DH tends beautiful vegetable and herb gardens in the summer (horticulture degree) and we love to grill out and bonfire. But our apartment is centrally located too. All I have to do is turn the corner and I have a wealth of bars, restaurants, biking/running trails, and the lake. So I guess we'd consider a condo with rooftop garden, but there's no way we'd pay for that at this point.

Esp since we still have absolutely no desire for kids I can't imagine we'll be moving into a house / suburbs anytime soon.

[houseelf]

house ownership is way overrated.

In residnecy we had a quad style condo and it was great for that lifestyle. Once my kids are raised, I'm going back to easier living, either a small ranch or a condo. Life is too short. I get my outdoor fix running and hiking and biking. I have looked at Landominiums before (separated condos). That might be the best of everything. Be very careful about which association you choose. Some are expensive, bankrupt, or overly prohibitive. Think of hired services on a private residence as your your "association dues".