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?
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! --- - 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.
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 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.
Wow! Houses are going for $10k in Baltimore...http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-baltimore-region-housing-market20110821,0,5171792.story
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.
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.
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".
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.
