How many of you gays and gals own or live in a condo?


I have a job promotion which I am considering taking, but its in a whole different city/state. The state where the new job is at Denver, Co.

Right now I live in the burbs of Austin, TX and I have an 150K home (when I got it new 4 years ago) which by all means if my home was in Denver it would be an easily 400K home.

I been looking really really hard at realtor.com and looking and new'ER homes in the Denver surround areas and alot of them @ the 150K price mark looks OLD, RUN DOWN and POS. I by all means want to move to Denver, but I am hesitant on a home to buy where my wife & kiddos would be happy with for a long time. I really do not want to spend over 165K mark and looks like CONDOS in the Denver area seem to be affordable and also NEW, not old and run down on some of the homes that I searched in Denver area.

So my question to you guys is how many of you love the condo lifestyle? Any of you have a family that live comfortable in your condo?

The condo I am looking at is 1/2 the sq ft size of my home here in Austin, so yes I will be getting rid of alot of my shit. On the good end,, no huge yard maintance and taxes are wayyyyyy lower in Denver. Anyone here like to share thoughts?? I perfer not to rent. I would love to buy instead and make an investment/equity in time. I never could really understand givin my hard working money away to leaseing companies. Thanks all for any suggestions.

BTW I have 2 kids (2 & 7 year olds) and THE wife and NO PETS.
Condo I am looking at is about 1600 sq ft, 2 story 3 bed rooms 2 baths. 1 game room (for my theater / stereo room) . I dont think it has a garage though.

So condo no? Yes?

 

sorry to post in wrong section. ADMIN may I ask you to put this in HOME & GARDEN section? Thanks a bunch!!

 

It is a different lifestyle, and welcome to Denver's high cost of housing. Moving into Denver "cold", I think a condo might be the way to go. If you don't like yardwork then the loss of the yard is a gain, gives you more time for activities with your wife and kids - trips to Cheesman Park, etc......

Denver does have some older "gentrifying" neighborhoods, but it is probably too risky to make that gamble long-distance moving in. Get your condo, get settled, figure out the school district issues, and then think about your next house - five years down the road, when the younger is in school, and the older is hitting the end of middle school......

 

Condos are decent and I think this one sounds more like a townhome. Try to get a corner unit and make sure that association dues are decent and cover the homeowners policy. It's not a bad way to go at all.

 

I live in a downtown condo in San Diego and love it. But... if I were you, I'd rent for about 3-6 months until you get a better understanding of the real estate market and neighborhoods in Denver. If you buy something long distance, you'll be stuck in it for a while. There are SHITLOAD of good apartments CHEAP (relatively) that give $100 deposit plus one month of rent free type of incentives for you to sign a lease. If you want to move short term, just rent for a little bit before buying.

It may be a little more hassle but I think a better choice overall. Perhaps you can reserch school districts so you at least move to the school district that you want to stick with so your child doesn't have to change schools.

Also, Realtor.com doesn't list ALL the available listings. You have to unfortunately hook up with a realtor to get access to the local MLS.

 

Opps sorry all, what I am looking at is a town home,, my bad . But yes I will be looking 4 one that will have a garage so I can have area to store my and sons mountain bikes ect.

 

Since you have a wife/kids I think you will have a hard time adjusting from a single family home that is twice as large as the condo you are looking at buying.

 

Townhome>condo. I've lived in those two and a house. A house is nicest but more money. I hated living in a condo and hate visiting my parents in a condo. But yeah you're talking about a townhouse and those are great. They're like little connected houses. You might be able to smell what they're cooking next door if you're next to their kitchen.