Condo vs. House

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Fez Hammersticks

Fez Hammersticks

スーパーバッド Zero Cool
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If you had the choice right now with a condo in a high-rise or a home out in some affluent 'burb, what would you choose and why?
 
I'd choose a condo strictly for the 'no yardwork' factor.
 
house. you can add on to it, and I enjoy fixing stuff.

although there are some positives to owning a condo (as abm said).
 
Depends on your situation. I'm married with 2 little ones, so our house is perfect. If i was single again, I'd definitely be living in a loft in the pearl!


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- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk..... Cause I'm a balla'!
 
no question, condo. for my lifestyle, I need to have no maintenance, good location, etc. It'd be nice to have a concierge, or any of those other features but they're not necessary. Its nice to be able to go downstairs and be near public transportation options, nightlife, restaurants, etc.

if i were married with kids and didn't need to have fun, I'd get a house in the burbs. trips into town would be "experiences" instead of an everyday, easy occurrence where you integrated into the culture.

When you live in big houses too, you tend to accumulate random crap as well.
 
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A condo is simply an apartment. The maintenance costs can be very spendy and now that so many people in them have dogs (I read an article in the Oregonian about pit bull problems in Portland condos)... I dunno, just seems like a hassle.
 
I'm looking at houses right now. A yard is a big deal to me so I'm not even considering condos.
 
I live in a 2br apartment here after living in a house, then a townhome, and the wife and I love it. We were able to drop from 2 cars to 1. Then again, my kids are both under 2 and we dont' have dogs
 
I'm sick of giving my money away for rent every month. Now is definitely the time to buy. Houses are super cheap. It's really a no-brainer for me, personally.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
no question, condo. for my lifestyle, I need to have no maintenance, good location, etc. It'd be nice to have a concierge, or any of those other features but they're not necessary. Its nice to be able to go downstairs and be near public transportation options, nightlife, restaurants, etc.

if i were married with kids and didn't need to have fun, I'd get a house in the burbs. trips into town would be "experiences" instead of an everyday, easy occurrence where you integrated into the culture.

When you live in big houses too, you tend to accumulate random crap as well.
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As a married guy with kids, I HAD to point that out. :lol:
 
Condo owner- I travel so it is nice to leave the apartment for extended periods and not have to worry about it. Just lock the door and peace out for a month or two.
 
Bob Dobalina said:
As a married guy with kids, I HAD to point that out. :lol:
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yeah, the subtle jabs are the best.

the burbs are just so fucking vanilla (I did grow up in the burbs and we would always be bored) I'd rather live in a vibrant community with soul...if I was raising kids I'd probably want to live in the burbs after a while though...but I think as a kid it'd be fun to live in the city where you can go walk around for parks that haven't been put up by a neighborhood development department in the last few years. or even the little things like getting on a bus or light rail and just exploring or living life. Suburban life consists of going to home depot for that "sick bbq pit" you're building then eating out at a chain restaurant. maybe grab some stone cold creamery. then go home and crash out on your couch watching amurrican idol.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
yeah, the subtle jabs are the best.

the burbs are just so fucking vanilla (I did grow up in the burbs and we would always be bored) I'd rather live in a vibrant community with soul...if I was raising kids I'd probably want to live in the burbs after a while though...but I think as a kid it'd be fun to live in the city where you can go walk around for parks that haven't been put up by a neighborhood development department in the last few years. or even the little things like getting on a bus or light rail and just exploring or living life. Suburban life consists of going to home depot for that "sick bbq pit" you're building then eating out at a chain restaurant. maybe grab some stone cold creamery. then go home and crash out on your couch watching amurrican idol.
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Born, raised and now live in the same amazing urban neighborhood. My kids are now 3rd generation at the neighborhood schools. Could NEVER live in the suburbs. Just because you have a family and want a house doesn't mean your stuck out there.
 
I've only lived in co-ops/condos when I've had no other choice. It's a sucker's bet. When you invest, you're throwing your lot in with every other person in your building. I prefer autonomy.

As for our living situation, we've made two different decisions. In Denver, we live in an inner city neighborhood that's a combination of Eastmoreland and NW 23rd (to put it in Portland parlance). We're lucky that it has the best public elementary school in Colorado, but come middle school, we have to go private. We have a smaller yard, but there are a couple of parks nearby, and once we get home, we don't drive to run any of our errands.

In LO, we're tied to our car. We can walk to downtown LO, but it's at least a 15-20 minute walk, so it's not super convenient. We made the tradeoff to live on the Lake. If we end up moving back full time, we'll likely move a bit further north because of the acreage available as well as the older houses (I prefer houses built between 1910-1935). At that point, we'll be all car.

Living in the 'burbs doesn't have to be Will Farrell's life in "Old School", regardless what xericx thinks.
 
for the most part, it is though. its a soulless existence as even now upscale neighborhoods are basically tract housing. No personality to a neighborhood...cool, nice huge house, but everything is part of a "master plan".
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
for the most part, it is though. its a soulless existence as even now upscale neighborhoods are basically tract housing. No personality to a neighborhood...cool, nice huge house, but everything is part of a "master plan".
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We'll agree to disagree. I look at these "loft" apartments (a joke if you've ever lived in a real loft) all over the Pearl and think the same thing. Soulless is a frame of mind. It has nothing to do with the house you live in or the car you drive.
 
maxiep said:
We'll agree to disagree. I look at these "loft" apartments (a joke if you've ever lived in a real loft) all over the Pearl and think the same thing. Soulless is a frame of mind. It has nothing to do with the house you live in or the car you drive.
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yeah, but you can walk outside and hop right on a train or bus or walk to some real culture instead of having to drive 1/2 hour, park, etc to experience life. Its fine if you like to stay home a lot, as I stated, married with kids...staying home probably has a lot more appeal than being mobile, eating out, going to events, etc..sure you can do it in the burbs but after a while it becomes a hassle and you settle into the typical suburban mindset.
 
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EL PRESIDENTE said:
yeah, but you can walk outside and hop right on a train or bus or walk to some real culture instead of having to drive 1/2 hour, park, etc to experience life. Its fine if you like to stay home a lot, as I stated, married with kids...staying home probably has a lot more appeal than being mobile, eating out, going to events, etc..sure you can do it in the burbs but after a while it becomes a hassle and you settle into the typical suburban mindset.
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A cliche is a cliche, no matter if you're living downtown or living in the burbs. Details Magazine is the Applebee's of the urban set.
 
I really like condos but even if the economy was stable how could you buy one as a real estate investment when a condo tower is going up just a block or two away? This market gets saturated and fast.

An example; this is the future vision of South Waterfront and every block is slated to be a condo or apartment tower:

South_Waterfront_Development.jpg
 
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Fez Hammersticks said:
I really like condos but even if the economy was stable how could you buy one as a real estate investment when a condo tower is going up just a block or two away? This market gets saturated and fast.

An example; this is the future vision of South Waterfront and every block is slated to be a condo or apartment tower:

South_Waterfront_Development.jpg
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As an investment, they're even shittier. BTW, if you're looking for an investment, buy the worst house in the best neighborhood you can afford. Don't be tempted to fix the inside before you've addressed the outside first--roof, flashings, gutters, siding, windows, foundation and yard slope. Know if you see a home pre-1978, paper wrapping on pipes and tiles will have asbestos. The paint will have lead. Price in those remediations costs (some can just be covered, others have to be completely removed. Once you've made the house safe and dry, focus on the systems--electrical, HVAC and plumbing. Only when that is done, do you work on the interior finishes.

The homes before 1910 generally weren't well built. The homes between then and pre-war were well-built, but the exterior and systems are generally a mess. Houses built in the 50s through the mid-70s are ugly, but they were built like tanks. After that, engineers got involved in the homebuilding process, durability went down because everything went to minimum standard.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
yeah, but you can walk outside and hop right on a train or bus or walk to some real culture instead of having to drive 1/2 hour, park, etc to experience life. Its fine if you like to stay home a lot, as I stated, married with kids...staying home probably has a lot more appeal than being mobile, eating out, going to events, etc..sure you can do it in the burbs but after a while it becomes a hassle and you settle into the typical suburban mindset.
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I wonder what % of people who live downtown in condos (etc) actually do that, vs the % of those who live downtown in condos (etc) who don't vs those who live downtown in condos (etc) who live downtown in condos because they like to tell people they can just walk outside and "hop right on a train or bus" and get some "real culture" instead of driving a half an hour to a park to 'experience life'.

It's probably about the same % of people who owns trucks and 4x4's and never use them off road, AND probably at a much lower % then the people who pull out that cliche during conversations on a message board, only because they heard it repeated enough times that they want to sound clever when they say it.
 
julius said:
I wonder what % of people who live downtown in condos (etc) actually do that, vs the % of those who live downtown in condos (etc) who don't vs those who live downtown in condos (etc) who live downtown in condos because they like to tell people they can just walk outside and "hop right on a train or bus" and get some "real culture" instead of driving a half an hour to a park to 'experience life'.

It's probably about the same % of people who owns trucks and 4x4's and never use them off road, AND probably at a much lower % then the people who pull out that cliche during conversations on a message board, only because they heard it repeated enough times that they want to sound clever when they say it.
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Bingo.

Sorry, but I got this message:
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to julius again.
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julius said:
I wonder what % of people who live downtown in condos (etc) actually do that, vs the % of those who live downtown in condos (etc) who don't vs those who live downtown in condos (etc) who live downtown in condos because they like to tell people they can just walk outside and "hop right on a train or bus" and get some "real culture" instead of driving a half an hour to a park to 'experience life'.

It's probably about the same % of people who owns trucks and 4x4's and never use them off road, AND probably at a much lower % then the people who pull out that cliche during conversations on a message board, only because they heard it repeated enough times that they want to sound clever when they say it.
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yeah, i'm sure they end up eating a chili's whenever they're hungry too. Face it, the type of person who lives in a downtown condo is very different than a person who wants to live in an "upscale suburban neighborhood".

priorities are different. if you buy in for location, you're buying in for the convenience for what the area offers. downtown, you have culture, nightlife, and ease of access to the lively sections of town. In the burbs, you're there for space, convenience, good schools and "safety".
 
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EL PRESIDENTE said:
yeah, i'm sure they end up eating a chili's whenever they're hungry too. Face it, the type of person who lives in a downtown condo is very different than a person who wants to live in an "upscale suburban neighborhood".

priorities are different. if you buy in for location, you're buying in for the convenience for what the area offers. downtown, you have culture, nightlife, and ease of access to the lively sections of town. In the burbs, you're there for space, convenience, good schools and "safety".
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They're sheeple, just like the suburban dwellers you despise.
 
sure, but they definitely have different priorities. there is a certain lifestyle associated with living in a busy, high demand area and one for living in the burbs. To say they're the same is rediculous.
 
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