Condominium fees are high but they take care of building-exterior maintenance. HOA fees are less but you are responsible for exterior maintenance. So which is better, owning a house or a condo?

There comes a time in every homeowner’s life when a condo starts looking good. Whether it’s age-related health issues or simply the desire to lighten your load, the idea of letting someone else deal with the headaches of homeownership becomes appealing.

In this article we discuss the practical aspects of owning a condo and present a financial analysis comparing the two options.

Practical Aspects

The biggest advantage that a single-family home has over a condo is just that: it’s a single-family home. You don’t share any walls or floors with your neighbors. You don’t hear them walking around, you don’t hear their too-loud music or TV or fights or children or other annoying sounds. Nor do you have to worry that you might be too loud.

Another advantage a house has over a condo is the ease with which you can own a dog. With a condo, several times a day you have to take the elevator down to the ground floor so Fido can do his business. Depending on how much green space is available and how responsible the other pet owners are, you might have to tiptoe through a minefield of used dog food to find a clear spot. If you own a house with a doggy door and have a fenced-in backyard, you don’t even have to think about it.

Then there’s the issue of trash and groceries. With most homes it’s a few short steps from the garage to the kitchen. With many condos, bringing in the groceries can mean several trips up and down an elevator and out to the car, maybe through the rain. You have to take the trash out more frequently because there’s no garage with a big trashcan where trash can accumulate until the garbage truck comes. Also, you may have to put trash in your car and drive it to the dumpster.

Financial Issues

First let’s establish what is covered by condominium fees and what is not. If the air conditioner breaks or the garbage disposal stops working, can you call maintenance and tell them to come fix it? No, it’s a condominium, not an apartment. You are responsible for everything inside the condominium. The idea that all of your problems go away when you trade your house for a condo is just a fantasy. For totally carefree living, you would have to rent an apartment, move into an assisted living facility, or live in a hotel.

Based on that, our condominium vs single family home economic analysis will focus on exterior maintenance. We will assume that for a single-family home you pay for everything to be done outdoors without lifting a finger in order to make it comparable to owning a condominium.

Listed in the table below are typical single-family home exterior maintenance items. Costs are national averages for a typically-sized home, converted to annualized monthly equivalents (where applicable). Depending on various factors such as your actual home and lifestyle, you may not need some of the items listed such as snow removal or exterior paint (i.e., brick). We chose to err on the side of inclusion for comparison to average condominium fees.

SINGLE FAMILY HOME EXTERIOR MAINTENANCE COSTS

ITEM	NATIONAL AVERAGE COST	PERIOD	MONTHS PER YEAR	EQUIVALENT ANNUALIZED MONTHLY COST
Lawn Mowing	$200	Month	6	$100
Snow Removal	$250	Year		$21
Lawn chemical treatment	$60	Month	8	$40
Tree/shrub/flower maintenance	$60	Month	6	$30
Lawn irrigation (water)	$35	Month	6	$18
Exterior lighting (electricity)	$3	Month	12	$3
Gutter cleaning	$200	Year		$17
Exterior paint	$7,500	5 Years		$117
Roof replacement	$14,000	15 Years		$78
Homeowner's Association Fees	$180	Month		$180
TOTAL				$604

For us personally living in Florida, we don’t have any need for snow removal. And while the national average for HOA fees is $180 per month, ours is only $70 per month. We also take care of our own shrubs and flowers. That puts us down around $450 per month. For a fair comparison, you might need to make some adjustments to suit your own situation.

Next, we need to know the national average for condominium fees. Monthly condominium fees vary widely from as low as $50 to $1,000 (and beyond). The national average condominium fee is $300 per month.

Condo vs Single Family Home

You can live in a single-family home and have all the exterior maintenance done for you for about $600 per month, or you can live in a condo and have the same thing for about $300 per month. These figures are based on national averages and can vary widely depending on the situation. 

The biggest takeaway is that if you really sit down and do the math, exterior maintenance on a single-family home costs more than you think. Remember how we started: “Condominium fees are high…". Turns out, all things considered, they’re actually not. 

You may do all the exterior maintenance yourself and don’t want to pay someone to do it, either directly as a homeowner or indirectly as a condominium owner. That’s fair, and it is a popular determination as evidenced by the fact that in the U.S. single-family homes outnumber condominium units by 3 to 1.

Finally, another thing to consider is there are ways to mitigate the disadvantages of owning a condominium. If you don’t own a dog, that takes the dog issue off the table. Regarding the grocery and trash issue we brought up, there are condominiums with attached garages. Finally, if you steer clear of mid- and high-rise condominiums and get a townhome instead, you only share a wall with your neighbor.

Bottom Line

If you are determined to stay in your home forever even when you are no longer physically able to take care of it, there is a way to do that. You pay people to do everything. You hire a landscaper and a maid and a handyman and whatever else you need. However, even that can get old. You still have to think about what needs to be done and when, and make sure it all gets scheduled and everyone shows up and gets paid. Serious age-related health issues can make even that seem overwhelming.

We are blessed to live in a country where we have so many options available to us. No single answer is right for everyone. There are pros and cons to both condominiums and single-family homes. In the end, it’s up to us to weigh the advantages and disadvantages and make the right decision for ourselves.

Photo credit: Freepik Eggstack News will never post an article influenced by an outside company or advertiser. Our mission is to help you overcome uncertainty about retirement planning and inspire confidence in your financial future.