# Home values: condos vs. single-family **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 24, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-values-condos-vs-single-family/836002 "2019-06-24T23:13:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-values-condos-vs-single-family/836002/21 "2019-06-25T23:40:20Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > How does “taking care of the trash” differ between a condo and a single-family home? You still have to take your garbage out to the big can. What happens to the big can (e.g., do you have to wheel it out to the curb?) is more an issue of the garbage service rules than the type of housing. > > For me, in terms of long term condo value, the big unknown is the competence of the condo association as well as unexpected big repairs to common property. The condo board screws up and gets sued into the ground by someone who knows what they’re doing. You’re on the hook. The condo pool breaks open and floods a bunch of stuff. You’re on the hook. > > While these are not everyday events, they do happen. Around here there have been several condos that just flat out cratered. Maintenance work was skipped so everything started leaking. Roads caved in. Etc. > > With a single-family home (and no HOA) you don’t have to worry about stuff like this that takes place off your property. You clip me out of context. Garage parking, snow removal, seasonal repairs, liability, and other things are benefits of my condo association. Don’t you have to worry about any freezing precipitation on your sidewalk and steps every morning after a snow? My step father was shovelling a 90 foot driveway at the age of 90. Eventually you need to get into a condo, if you’re lucky that is. And I don’t need to wait til 90 to find out. I’m not handy with things anyway. I’m already hopeless as a condo owner. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-values-condos-vs-single-family/836002/22 "2019-06-25T23:50:43Z")
> [@EdelweissPirate](#): > > While I appreciate these replies, they all seem to be addressing the question, “why do single-family houses appreciate faster than condominiums?” > > That’s not my question. I doubt the premise: if houses appreciated faster than condominiums, then condominium prices would generally (over long time scales) fall relative to house prices, and I haven’t observed that. > > I don’t see that the premise can be true over the long haul, because it predicts price disparities that don’t seem to actually exist. For example, this blog post shows that in the Honolulu, HI area, condos and single-family homes have appreciated at nearly the same rate over the last 33 years: > > [Hawaii Living – Condo Or Single-Family Home? - Oahu Real Estate Blog | Outstanding Info](https://www.hawaiiliving.com/blog/hawaii-living-condo-single-family-home/) > > Now, the Honolulu Board of Realtors is not exactly my first choice for unbiased economic analysis. And obviously, every market is a little different. Still, this is what I was able to find. > > I don’t see that condos appreciate at a different rate than do single-family homes over long time scales (e.g., 15-30 years). As far as I can tell, that claim is generally false. > > **This is my primary question:** is the claim as false as it appears to be? > > My secondary question: if the claim is generally false, how did it take root? It can be generally false but true for limited local conditions. The actual statement seems to be “Homes are hotter than condos” Realtors are not under a decree that their claims must be scientific. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-values-condos-vs-single-family/836002/23 "2019-06-26T12:23:45Z")
A tree falls on my house or whatever, that’s on me and my insurance company. That’s an expected part of owning _anything_ and something I can plan for. A tree falling somewhere else and being stuck with part of the bill is something outside of _my_ control. And I am well aware that condo associations run a fund to handle unexpected costs. That’s so well known it hardly needs mentioning. But these funds are sometimes inadequate or mismanaged. I don’t mismanage money. I hate to be under the control of people that do mismanage. And I have zero interest in being financially responsible for tennis courts, swimming pools, common buildings and on and on. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-values-condos-vs-single-family/836002/24 "2019-06-26T17:56:25Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > A tree falls on my house or whatever, that’s on me and my insurance company. That’s an expected part of owning _anything_ and something I can plan for. > > A tree falling somewhere else and being stuck with part of the bill is something outside of _my_ control. > > And I am well aware that condo associations run a fund to handle unexpected costs. That’s so well known it hardly needs mentioning. > > But these funds are sometimes inadequate or mismanaged. I don’t mismanage money. I hate to be under the control of people that do mismanage. > > And I have zero interest in being financially responsible for tennis courts, swimming pools, common buildings and on and on. I am going to answer but I have to get to a tennis lesson (from our “Pro.” He was the mixed doubles champ at the US open in 2003) and then some water polo, and then of course, tapas outdoors with live string quartet at the “Shell” and Pinochle at the “Colonels retreat” ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-values-condos-vs-single-family/836002/25 "2019-06-26T18:59:36Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > And I am well aware that condo associations run a fund to handle unexpected costs. That’s so well known it hardly needs mentioning. > > But these funds are sometimes inadequate or mismanaged. I don’t mismanage money. I hate to be under the control of people that do mismanage. > > And I have zero interest in being financially responsible for tennis courts, swimming pools, common buildings and on and on. Condo associations work together and the books are open to all members. If money is being mismanaged you are free to spot it and bring up the problem. If you live somewhere with an HOA you have the same problems…maybe even worse. And not sure where you live with condos with all those amenities because where I live they have none of that (some very few may have pools but that is decidedly uncommon…not even a work-out room most places). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-values-condos-vs-single-family/836002.md?page=1)