What's The Advantage Of Single Family Houses Over Condos?

Whether you're looking to buy for yourself or as an investment, condos can be tempting because of the lower initial cost. However, single family houses have several advantages over condos.

Avoid Maintenance Fees

You may think that buying a condo avoids paying rent but that's rarely exactly true. Most condos have a monthly maintenance fee that can come close to apartment rent in some areas. The maintenance fee goes towards paying any condo staff, routine maintenance in the common areas, and capital expenditures such as roof replacements.

Some single family houses may have a homeowner's association with monthly or annual dues, but these fees are almost always lower than a condo association charges since each homeowner does their own maintenance on their entire property. Plus, you can almost always find a home with no homeowner's association and avoid the fees altogether.

Get a Mortgage More Easily

It's often easier to get a mortgage on single family houses. Many of the government-backed programs for first-time homebuyers require the purchase to be a single family home. Some mortgage lenders worry about condo association maintenance fees or the financial strength of the condo association. More things for the lender to worry about equals more risk, and many solve that risk by not lending for condo purchases.

Finally, condo loans often aren't as profitable for banks. Since the loan amount is usually smaller, they can't make as much money in interest, so when you do find a bank willing to give you a mortgage, it may be at a higher rate than you'd pay to buy a single family home.

Better Privacy

When you buy a condo, your unit is under your complete control. Unlike an apartment complex, you won't have maintenance workers coming in with very short notice. The problem is that you still have a ton of neighbors in close proximity.

No matter how well a condo is insulated, you won't have the same quiet as you would in a spaced-out single family home. Only a single family home lets you not having to worry about watching a late-night movie or having your neighbor keep you up at night. In addition, you can just pull in and out of your driveway without walking through common hallways and having nosy neighbors knowing every time you come and go.

To learn more about single family houses for sale, contact a local real estate company today.