When we got married we were staying in a one bedroom condo that was suitable for the moment, but didn’t offer many accommodations nor did it leave room to grow our family. It didn’t take long and we were house hunting. During that process we saw many homes; and while we definitely saw some we liked, none made us think “dream home.” The homes that were within in our budget at the time were generally 10-20 years old and many were at that point where substantial work would need to be done real soon.
After several months of searching we came to the realization that we either had to spend more money than we planned on or we were going to end up in a less than ideal home. During this same time period we began investigating new homes and it was rather surprising to see how competitive building a new home was compared to buying a pre-owned one. That said, we soon learned that there are many hidden costs involved in each so comparing the price is a bit trickier and takes a lot of work (more on that to come in a future post).
At the end of several months of looking for a home, which included an unsuccessful offer to purchase, we were getting tired of the process. It was at that moment we came across a wonderful 3 bedroom 3 bath condo in an excellent neighborhood. This condo came close to matching what we were looking for in a single-family home. It had the space, a decent sized yard with a deck, and was in really good shape. Moreover, it was one of two units in the association so we had a 50% say in anything that was done. The best part was that it was 50-100k cheaper than the single-family homes we had liked and the association fees were only $90.
For us, going the condo route at that time in our lives turned out to be a really good decision financially. We were able to put 20% down on the purchase to avoid PMI and that left use with a very manageable monthly mortgage payment. There are many other factors that go into buying a condo or home, but I would encourage anybody who is on the fence about a condo to do some looking and see what is available on the market. For us, it has been the catapult to the position we are in today: preparing to build our dream home.