Condominium, House, Or Rental Apartment - Should You Buy Or Lease?

What is better. Buy a condominium, a house, or rentmuch use you will have of those benefits.
an apartment. This is the problem facing anyone whoRemember, the costs of building these things and
wishes to make a change in their living arrangement.replacing same are included in your fees.
It is not an easy choice to make.You may have a fee in your maintenance total of
First take a look at renting an apartment. Themore than $100.00 per month just for things you
apartment is owned by a landlord who, for all intentsmay never use or take part in. Then again if you
and purposes, is in business to make a profit. He orown the house you could easily pay more than
she builds an apartment building with the expectation$100.00 for a gymnasium, golf course etc.
that he can cover all of the costs of insurance,One way to look at what is best is this. How long do
heating, water, hydro, superintendent, andyou expect to live in what you buy. If you buy when
maintenance and cover the replacement cost fromthe real estate market is at a low and sold after a
the rent that is charged.few years when it was at it's high you will possibly
Now take a look at the condominium choice. A groupmake a very nice profit. If you want to stay in your
of owners get together under the guise of thenew abode for a long term of say 25 years, that
developer. The building is constructed and everyonehuge profit you may make could disappear when you
moves in by purchasing an apartment. They do so byfactor in the mortgage interest you paid over that
getting a mortgage on their unit. To cover thetime period. Now add in the 25 years of taxes, and
expense of operating the building they use a systemrepairs you made, or the condominium fees you paid.
called maintenance fees. That is a fund that allYou do the math.
owners contribute to based upon the square footageNow look at renting, long term. You pay the rent
of their apartment. Not only does it cover all of theeach month. You may rent with services thrown in
costs of maintaining the building and grounds but itlike hydro, heat and water. A light bulb burns out, the
covers the replacement costs of everything as theytoilet develops a leak, the kitchen tap starts to drip,
wear out. There is nothing allowed in the fee forno problem, call the super. The landlord pays the
profit.taxes, fixes the roof, replaces the furnace and the
Finally we get to the house. A stand alone, detachedmany other things that go out of kilter. You pay the
structure on its own lot of land. You get a mortgagerent each month. The day you decide to move out
from your broker and buy the home of your dreams.you walk away nobody gives you a penny.
You pay for all of the repairs and maintenance asIf you look at the three, renting an apartment
they occur.demands the least money outlay per month. If you
One way or another taxes will be paid by you onecalculate the cost of the house or condo, add in the
way or another. So what is best.interest, add in the maintenance over twenty five
The condominium at first looks over-priced becauseyears and then deduct that amount from the selling
the maintenance fees are based upon a span of 25price you will arrive at the profit/loss of the purchase.
or 30 years. If you did due diligence with theNow assume you will rent an apartment and put the
detached house and put aside the same amount youdifference in cost between the condo/house aside
would put aside while owning the condominium, lesseach month into an investment account for twenty
the management fees, you should end up with thefive years at a compound interest of 5 per cent
same costs with either one. If there is a communityannually. You will be shocked at the result. This result
center or a private golf course or tennis court or anydoes not rely on an up/down real estate market to
other activity facility you need to decide just howproduce either.