Is it Cheaper to Rent an Apartment or to Buy a Condominium?
The length of time a consumer intends to live in a specific location plays a major role in determining whether buying or renting a condominium is cheaper. Generally, renting is a lower-cost short-term solution, whereas purchasing a condominium can save money in the long term. It is important that potential buyers know that purchasing a condominium may incur costs not found in a typical home purchase.
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Short-Term Renting
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Short-term renting, as the name implies, is best suited to terms of six months to a year and provides a helpful stepping stone for workers transitioning from a role as a student into the adult working community. Furnished suites offer new workers the chance to avoid the costs of furnishing a new residence. Since the furniture belongs to the landlord rather than the tenant, it is also cheaper when the short-term tenant moves on to greener pastures because of lower moving transportation costs.
Renting in the Long Run
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Renting over the long term becomes a less attractive scenario because ultimately, the renter is not accumulating any lasting assets with his or her investment. Long-term renting can also be problematic because fluctuations in the housing market may cause the rent to increase. Renters who lease a property during a hot housing market can find themselves paying too much relative to other rental properties in the area once the market cools, since most landlords are unlikely to decrease an established rent.
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Advantages to Buying a Condominium
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Condominiums offer a double value in that they provide both shelter and value as an investment asset. Condos are usually smaller than a house and cater well to buyers in transitional phases of their personal lives, such as newlywed couples looking for their first residence or retirees. New couples can use investment in a condominium as a springboard towards the eventual purchase of a full-sized house of their own. Retirees may choose a condominium as an option for downsizing to a less expensive home, freeing up some of their previous home equity for living expenses or travel. Condominiums are also attractive to singles, who generally do not need as much space as larger families.
Condominium Drawbacks
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There are drawbacks to condo ownership, even ones that go beyond what a buyer would experience when purchasing a stand-alone house. Condo regulations may place limits on the types of exterior renovations -- such as painting or adding a deck -- in the interest of an overall uniform look for the entire condo complex. Condo owners may find themselves burdened with communal maintenance fees, which can sometimes dwarf similar costs for individual homes. The larger, more heavy-duty systems employed by condominium complexes may cost more to repair, even when split amongst all owners equally. For example, a deteriorating underground parking lot would likely cost far more to repair than an equally damaged home garage. Condo owners may also be expected to pay upkeep fees for communal areas such as plazas, gardens and fitness rooms.
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