Why Owning (and Buying) a Florida Condo Has 'Turned into a Nightmare'

https://archive.ph/2024.10.03-172923/https://www.nytimes.com...

I can’t believe anyone is so foolish as to buy a condo, it’s a mistake only second to buying a vacation timeshare.

bell-cot 2 days ago |
At least around here (SE Michigan), there is nothing particularly wrong with condos. Perhaps we have less-bad regulations, to allow properties to get into such dire shape? Or we just have far fewer high-rise condo's, where the realities of structural engineering and maintenance are so much less forgiving?
PaulHoule 2 days ago |
From my point of view it is a political science problem. I can’t see the board of a condo being effective at dealing with any real threats. In a corporation you have the same agency problems but it is easy to vote with your feet with a stock, not so easy with a condo.
howard941 2 days ago |
You're right. Surfside condo on the east coast failed to maintain the premises, half of it collapsing followed. Our godawful legislature rushed some measures in to close the barn door after the horse already left and now people are trying to fill reserve funds and pick up the pieces. A lot of people are being assessed out of their homes.
PaulHoule 2 days ago |
I heard people in China were fascinated with that condo collapse in Florida because they don’t trust their condominium associations either.
In China they’ve got their version of the 2008 financial crisis where you have a mortgage on a condo that hasn’t been built yet and might never be built!
delfinom 2 days ago |
That's why co-ops (corporation owned buildings that you buy into) > condos.
bell-cot 2 days ago |
Based on a fairly modest n of folks I know - but some of them having served on their condo boards - I'd say things are notably higher-functioning around here. Maybe it's the lack of part-time "vacation home" owners? Maybe it's the colder weather discouraging delusional optimism and enforcing responsibility?
nothercastle 19 hours ago |
It’s just that condos are expensive to own and maintain and most people don’t understand and can’t calculate expected monthly costs. On a house you can diy to greatly reduce maintenance costs but on a condo you have to pay a licensed and expensive professional plus a management company on top.
linguae 2 days ago |
In some areas many people are generally priced out of owning single-family houses or townhouses, leaving condos as their only available ownership option. Yes, I’m concerned about high HOA dues and special assessments, which is why I’m hesitant to buy a condo. However, there are still differences between owning a condo and renting an apartment. It’s not foolish to buy a condo, especially in areas where the alternative is the precarious nature of renting.