In our opinion condos in general are not conducive to modern family life, parking can be expensive which leads to the unpredictable sticky point for us. This point is the monthly association and dues. In our Chicago area research, especially for older property, the association dues do not fall in line with the unit cost. With low interest rates and minor upgrading costs the unit is attractive UNTIL you add the dues of $300 – $400 per month. The cash flow matrix becomes ‘out of wack’ in our market. On the other hand we see an improvement in cash flow with townhomes usually because the maintenance expense is spread among more units. We like older established areas with LOWER or stabilized property taxes and association dues. For us, lease options work very well in the townhome market. Do not let this news discourage you regarding condos, this is our opinion and your mileage may vary.
In our opinion condos in general are not conducive to modern family life, parking can be expensive which leads to the unpredictable sticky point for us. This point is the monthly association and dues. In our Chicago area research, especially for older property, the association dues do not fall in line with the unit cost. With low interest rates and minor upgrading costs the unit is attractive UNTIL you add the dues of $300 – $400 per month. The cash flow matrix becomes ‘out of wack’ in our market. On the other hand we see an improvement in cash flow with townhomes usually because the maintenance expense is spread among more units. We like older established areas with LOWER or stabilized property taxes and association dues. For us, lease options work very well in the townhome market. Do not let this news discourage you regarding condos, this is our opinion and your mileage may vary.
Eric & Rosa
[addsig]
Cool. Thanks for the opinion!
You're right, the maintenance fees does through a wrench into the cash-flow works. But they are tax-deductible, no?
Tax structure – (credits, rebates, loopholes, shelters, etc.) we leave that up to our hired professional.
Eric & Rosa
[addsig]
Ok. But what I mean is that $300 may be $225 when tax deductibility is taken into consideration.
But I'll look into the townhouse idea.