Consider a Condo for your Next Rental Apartment

The vast majority of people never bother to consider the world outside of rental apartments, which are easy-to-rent, but carry a premium for their convenience. Let’s discuss how you can get a better deal for your living situation by considering condos, which require you to bear a bit more responsibility, but can end up getting you amazing real estate deals.

Condos

A condo is like a rental apartment, but instead of one person owning the entire building, each unit can be owned by different people. As a renter, you don’t have to worry much about these implications, so here are some surface-level observations about condos…

Pros

• Usually have better service than a comparable rental apartment. This is because the owners have to pay common charges, partially which go to the doorman. It’s a more tight-knight community with the staff and residents.
• Usually come furnished, since there is an actual owner of the place, and they might have left some things behind. This can be very useful if you don’t want to buy much furniture.
• Usually are cheaper than a comparable rental property, and have better appliances, finishes, amenities.

Cons

• If the owner doesn’t take care of the property, appliances can break, flooring can start to crack, etc.
• If something breaks, you can’t just ask the building to fix it for you. The owner is technically responsible, in which case if you’re renting from them, you have to initiate fixing things.
• Move in fee and application costs are higher than a rental apartment.
• Since there is an application process, you usually have to apply to the place a month ahead of move-in, instead of the few days turnaround that rental apartments have for apps.

Neutral

• There are generally more families here, since families would otherwise have to pay a lot of rent for a large place, in which case paying for a mortgage and buying a place is more worth it.
• Owners generally prefer longer leases, since that way they don’t have to deal with touring and listing their property, and also having to review applications for new residents.
• Since owners are listing the property instead of the building, there is less price liquidity, which can lead to under or over pricing of the place. Obviously if it is underpriced, this is your chance to get a good deal.

So TLDR, if you’re willing to bear some of the responsibility in maintaining the apartment and you have a more flexible move-in date, you should definitely consider condos. The cheaper pricing for nicer comparable rental apartments, along with the service and sense of community are definitely worth considering.