HawthorneVillager.com

I'm a single guy living in an end unit village home.
I'm considering downsizing to a condo apartment, as my theory is the utility costs would be much less, and I'm finding it hard to justify heating and cooling rooms and floors I'm no where near.
Currently my gas bill is really cheap, but my hydro and water bills are questionable.

I understand condo fees come into play, and part of my calculation will be based on the value of them.

If anyone has some insights or experience with these costs and condo living, please share.

They will be less, but not significant enough for it to be the only justification for moving. I have clients who pay as little as $60/mo for hydro in the Greenlife buildings - so likely $100 or so less than you pay. However, they have to walk to the elevator to get outside and to the parking garage to get their car. They also pay condo fees for shared common space they likely don't use. Point being - moving to save $100/month on utilities is probably not worth it. It'll cost you $20k or so to move, so the payback is 20 years down the road.

_________________
Hunter Obee
Sales Representative
Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty
Diamond Award Winner - Top 3% in Canada
http://www.TheHomeHunter.ca
905-878-8101

Thanks for your insight

I do like the proximity to my car, and having a garage to store my hobbies (motorcycle).
My thought process for downsizing was, the condo would cost less up front (ie: smaller mortgage, pay it off quicker), plus the savings in utilities would help towards reducing my overall housing costs.
Of course, fees would have to be factored in there.

Retrodiver,

We looked at condo’s for our downsizing and condo fee’s killed that route for us, not utility bills. Only if we had mobility issues would I consider one. We looked at it as another bill that won’t go away and will always get bigger. Utility bills are a part of a home owners life but you can control what you use and how much you use to a certain degree. Also with a condo as it ages, the fee’s will go up not based on inflation but rather on what the condo has mandated for a reserve fund plus each year they must factor in future costs to replace major items. As a home owner you too will factor in future repairs but I would prefer to keep my money in my own pocket and pay when only needed.

Here is a good article from the globe on fee’s, granted its talking about Toronto but this can apply to any condo

www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/my- ... e12265036/

opie

Hydro costs are the least of your worries when living in a condo. I was forced to move from a condo in Mississauga to a new townhouse in Milton 3 years ago. The main thing to worry about condos is the ever increasing maintenance fees. I lived alone and my maintenance fees had escalated to $850.00 per month when I sold. This fee covered everything except my phone, cable, contents insurance, and property taxes. It was a wonderfully maintained building with lots of landscaping and in city centre but I, as a single person, was actually subsidizing the cost of utilities of the other dwellers in the building -- some apartments had 6+ adult people living there plus children and babies. Maintenance fees are assessed based on the square footage of your apartment and not on the number of people residing in it.

Another important factor to consider is that many condos are rentals and that brings a whole lot of problems with it..... (vandalism, unruly, dirty, and irresponsible tenants, noise, people constantly moving in and out, and being surrounded by strange smells and different ethnic cultures, etc. etc.) These are all things one normally doesn't think about when shown a beautifully decorated condo with all the latest bells and whistles and sales agents are certainly not going to discourage you and lose a sale by pointing out all the negatives of the condo lifestyle.

Also, if you do decide to move into a condo, make sure to enquire whether there are problems with their management company and board of directors. It's a well known fact that condos everywhere are plagued by very serious problems and constant complaints with their boards. Many board members and management companies have actually been sued by their condo corporations for fraud, mismanagement, and misappropriation of funds.

The resale value of your condo can be negatively affected by all the above factors. So you would be wise to be very careful in weighing all the pros and cons before making any rash decisions.

I lived in a condo townhouse, and I loved it when one day they just sent everyone a letter that basically said "Hey, we underestimated the cost of that fancy sprinkler system you we installed, you each owe us $200. We'll be taking that out in two weeks. Thanks Bye"

That's when I decided to move. Condos are the biggest scam going. You own your property and still pay rent. What?

Opie, Hunter, and All Star are bang on with their comments.
Stay where you are, unless you prefer to avoid 3 storey town's stairs due to mobility issues
Condos are great for a particular purpose, but saving money isn't one of them, unless you are downsizing quite a bit in terms of purchase price and square footage, AND you're looking short term so you can actually estimate the condo fee risk during the time you're there.

_________________
Fred De Carolis
FREDHELPS.COM or on Facebook
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