For more than a year, Tirza and Jay Womack looked for a single-family suburban home to their liking. Most were too big, many were too expensive. On a lark they decided to see what was available downtown, near where Jay works. Within three days they decided on a one-bedroom condominium on the 41st floor of a building in Sandburg Village.
“We saw literally over 100 houses, some brand new and some 50 years old,” says Jay. “We walked into our condo and it clicked.”
That was two years ago. Tirza now has a job in the city, too. What they like best about their living arrangement, they say, is the convenience of the location and the freedom from home maintenance.
“It’s fantastic,” says Jay. “Within one block we can eat dinner, see a movie, go to the dry cleaners and the pet store. We can walk to the waterfront and the zoo and the museums.”
“We’re home from work in 20 minutes, have our dinner and go off again,” says Tirza. “We don’t have any restrictions on us, like washing exterior windows or painting the house. It’s such a carefree lifestyle.”
The couple is beginning to outgrow the space now, so they might consider another move-to a larger condo.
Twenty-five miles or so southwest, in Naperville, Erica and George Pill spend most evenings and weekends working in the yard. Their one-acre lot has a swimming pool, fish pond, patio and a number of lush flower beds.
“It is work but it is also our relaxation,” says Erica. “The harder we work, the better it is and the better our reward. Our friends enjoy coming over in the summer to sit on the patio on a lovely balmy evening and we get enjoyment from their enjoyment. When we have a weekend free, the last thing we want to do is go away to the country. We have everything we could want here.”
The Pills have also extensively renovated their four-bedroom ranch since moving in five years ago. They have moved walls, added a den and finished the basement.
“The house is nothing like it was when we bought it,” says Erica. “We like to put our own personality and character wherever we live.”
A single-family home is the optimal living arrangement for the Pills and their two children, they say. They own their own piece of scenic woodland and each family member has his or her own getaway space. The neighbors are warm and friendly yet far enough away to keep privacy intact.
“I can appreciate other people’s viewpoints, but I couldn’t imagine opening my apartment door and looking down the corridor to someone else’s door,” Erica says.
There you have it. Two sides of the housing coin. But which is better for you-a single-family home or a unit within a condominium community? Obviously, there are pros and cons to both. We asked several professionals for guidance in making that decision. Here, they say, are the questions you should ask:
1. How do you spend your time? Of all the issues to be considered, the No. 1 is personal lifestyle, the panel agreed. A house requires more upkeep and possibly more dollars, but you generally have the freedom to do or not do what you want to customize it. With a condo, maintenance chores are done for you at a price. You’re buying into a community and are expected to fit into its parameters.
“When you’re buying you have to go through a bit of an analysis of yourself,” says Charles Vernon, vice president and managing broker of the City North branch of Baird & Warner. “Perhaps you work 20 hours a day or travel for business. Perhaps you enjoy the security of having 24-hour door personnel or you don’t want to own a car. Then we would put you in the direction of a condo. If you enjoy having pets and children, these are good reasons to look at a single-family home or townhouse.”
“Empty nesters tend to go into condos once they have raised their families and sell the big house,” says Robbie Breyne of Realty Executives in Naperville. “Young couples go in because they are affordable and hope to build some equity to step into a house. So do single executives who like to travel and don’t need a huge yard.”
2. How strong is your sense of community involvement? Depending upon whom you talk to, condos are either great social meccas or cold and autocratic. Single-family home neighborhoods can be closely knit or closed to newcomers.
“From a sociological point of view, all types of housing, whether a single-family home, two-flat or condo, can be good places to get to know people or to feel totally isolated,” says Phil Nyden, professor of sociology at Loyola University and chairman of the sociology and anthropology department.
In our mobile society, many people prefer to cultivate positive relationships with their neighbors, he explains. They live far away from families and like the security of knowing they can call on someone nearby when they need help.
“High-rises are notorious for being alienating places,” Nyden says. “I once lived in a 20-story building and it took me three months to discover I was living next door to someone I went to college with. Smaller buildings are more likely to have a sense of community.”
“Many condos have regular gatherings and events to create a social atmosphere,” says Breyne. “You often don’t get as much privacy as with a house, but today lot sizes aren’t as big as they used to be. There are also some single-family communities and golf club communities built around ponds and common areas where you go outside with other people.”
Nyden advises prospective buyers to determine their personal need for community, or absence of it. Then ask sales agents, board members and neighborhood residents questions about the existence and involvement of block clubs, community organizations and homeowner boards.
“Some boards tend to deal with nuts and bolts,” he says. “They pay the janitor and repair the roof. Others go further in making it a socially nice place to live.”
“Buying into a group of homeowners can be very comforting,” says Vernon. “If something goes wrong, you’re not going it alone. The group makes the decision. On the flip side, you’re just one voice out of whatever. In a large complex you could be one out of 300. In a smaller building you might be one out of nine or 10, so your vote has a different weight.”
3. How much home can you afford? Condos tend to be less expensive than single-family homes, particularly at the entry level. Your income might make the housing decision for you.
“I tell people to buy a condo rather than waste money on rent,” says Breyne. “They say, `But the condo I can afford is like an apartment.’ That’s true, but you have a tax deduction and you’re building some equity. You can move up.”
While you’re tallying your housing dollar, don’t forget the extras. Single-family homeowners will find a slew of utility bills in their mailboxes and will need to buy a lawn mower, snow blower or shovels, probably a hose, hose reel and other gardening paraphernalia. Condo owners pay a monthly assessment, which can range from as little as $50 to as much as several hundred dollars. The assessment usually covers water, sewage and trash disposal. You can skip the hose reel but you might have to ante up for a garage parking space.
That assessment figures into the affordability equation dearly, says Breyne. Lenders include the assessment along with the mortgage payment and tax bill to determine the amount of mortgage you can carry.
She explains: If at 8 percent interest on a 30-year fixed mortgage, a $150-a-month assessment will buy $20,442 more house. In other words, “someone looking at a $100,000 condo with a $150 monthly assessment could look at a $120,000 house if the taxes are in kind.”
4. Where do you want to live? Location, if it is an important issue, can also dictate your choice. Certain housing types are more plentiful in some areas than others. Evanston, Oak Park and Naperville, for instance, have a strong mix, but if you want to live in the city near the lake, a condo may be the only affordable option.
Along the northernmost North Shore, in Winnetka and Kenilworth, the condo selection is limited. Those that are available tend to be deluxe and pricey. Condominiums in older, landlocked suburbs with little room for development tend to be conversions without a lot of amenities.
“If someone says, `I want good transportation and I have a dollar limit,’ his need for convenience might mean we’re talking condominiums,” says Mike Stern of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Evanston. “Or maybe he wants a premium location. He can’t afford the homes that start at $250,000 and go up but he can get into the condo down the street for $150,000 and be in very good company.”
5. How much maintenance do you want to do and how much control do you want over the quality of that maintenance? Face it, some condo boards are picky, picky. No bird feeders. No dogs. Window treatments must be white on the street side. How much of that can you take? Or do you appreciate the conformity?
If you live in a single-family home and want to fence in your yard, the process is fairly simple. It takes more time for a board of condominium homeowners to agree that the fence is necessary, allocate funds (probably out of next year’s budget), choose the style and color, send out for bids and oversee the job.
“If the assessment runs $100 or $150 or $200 a month, people often say they could hire someone to do the work (to a single-family home),” says Breyne. “But with a condo you don’t have to bother doing it.”
“Some people prefer the budget method,” says Stern. “They pay every month and know things are taken care of. Others want the freedom to defer maintenance or do what they want without having to work within the guidelines of the association.”
A final word from the pros: In making the decision about which to buy, there are no absolutes. Both condos and single-family homes are viable housing alternatives, but for different reasons.
“As we go through the different stages of life and our priorities change, there is something to fit in at each stage,” says Stern.
