UGH
I don’t want to smell anyone’s dinner but I really must grill.
And yes about sufficient reserves and we deal with that with our current HOA.
Honestly, my biggest concerns are smells (I am super delicate to the point of a sickness).
And a bit about noise as I am hearing impaired but I FEEL movement and that upsets me.
I am thinking about buying an island…
@kiddie, my parents had a condo in FL that had very fancy outdoor grills built into what I guess you might call a cabana near the pool. People could either eat there, or take their grilled food back up to their condo.
In NJ I believe the no grill in condos and apartments came about in the 1990s. If I recall correctly there was a fire in an apartment complex in Edison which spread and became more dangerous as propane tanks on balconies exploded.
This was the event that triggered the law I believe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison,_New_Jersey_natural_gas_explosion
We have a ground floor condo in Florida. The view isn’t as good as being higher up, but I love that our parking space is right in front of our door. I don’t relish the idea of of multiple trips up an elevator with groceries.
We also have strict rules about what can go on our small patios/balconies (building is only four stories tall). Most annoying is the “no towels” rule. It’s the beach, people! But, I do appreciate that it maintains a nice aesthetic to have those rules in place.
No grills allowed either. I’m sure we’ll miss that when we live there full-time, but it’s surprising to me that is a deal-breaker for so many,
Three years ago, I moved from a home on a dirt road on 5.5 acres of land where I could not see any other homes, in the mountains of Vermont, to a 2 bedroom apartment in five story building in a city. I am renting, so not a condo. I live on the 3rd floor and have an end unit. There are a total of 40 units. This was a MAJOR change in both setting and type of home.
As in everything with life, there are pros and cons. I miss my beautiful home that we had designed for us and the gorgeous views we had of the mountains and ski trails. I don’t really have any view now, other than the street and surrounding neighborhood. But I don’t truly need a large home and honestly the amount of space I have now is all I need. I do miss having the garage that was part of our home and being able to park and carry things through the mud room right into the house. While my building does have a garage under it (and an elevator), I can’t afford or justify the parking fees and so I park on my block. I don’t use a car that much, but I do grocery shop once/week, as I always did in VT too, and so getting all those bags up to my apartment takes a few steps in terms of trips and going through a series of locked doors, etc. I do miss my flower gardens and large deck. However, I have a very small balcony (really wish they had made it even a little bigger) and I get a lot of enjoyment with filling it with flowers in containers and hanging baskets, and have a very small table and chairs on it. What I can’t have here and do miss, is a barbeque. They are not permitted, nor would there be enough space. Mine is in storage. In Vermont, I grilled on our covered porch year round and frequently. I’ve gotten used to not being able to grill, but wish I could. One of my adult daughters lives 5 blocks from me in a 3 story building and it has a huge yard and patio (for all) and has grills on it and so they just invited me over for a barbeque next week, in fact.
I rarely hear other people. I do have an end unit though. Occasionally, I may hear voices in the hallway. It’s pretty quite overall, but I guess not as totally silent as rural Vermont.
It’s true that when something breaks in the apartment, I can call someone to fix it and not have to pay. That is always nice.
It’s true that there is FAR less storage (we used to have a full walkout basement the size of our home and it was very full, plus a two car garage and simply more rooms/closets. But I think my apartment has adequate closets. I have to pay to rent a very small storage locker in the basement. While I downsized a LOT to move here, I still had things that do not fit in my apartment and am paying for a storage unit elsewhere.
Here, I can walk to things. Where I lived before, not at all (other than to go for a lovely scenic walk!). Here I can have access to a lot also by subway.
I lived in a tiny town so that wherever I went, lots of people knew me. Here, anywhere I go, including in my own building, nobody knows me.
Anyway, there are a lot of plusses to apartment living. And of course, some to having a single family home too. Right now, with no kids living at home, an apartment is all I truly need.
D1 lives in a coop on the 19th floor. It is the top floor of her building, so no one above. She also has a hugh terrace with a couch, dining table and chairs, lounge chairs and a barbecue. Also lots of plants. In the times I have been there, and have stayed a week cat sitting while they were away, I have never heard anyone in another apartment. It’s a full service building, so 24 hour door-people, etc.
She has no complaints at this point. She did a major renovation before she moved in. She visited each of the people in the apartments on her floor and introduced herself and gave them a bottle of wine and explained that she was having work done. No problems.
She and her partner both came from house living with back yards, etc. She loves her home now. And I do not blame her.
I have condo envy sometimes. However, when we first lived together and lived in a high rise we could smell everything people were cooking around us and on our floor and it was a real gag fest sometimes. That being said, I think it’s ideal for retirement, you have people around, maintenance crews, etc.
Smells, neighbors noise, lack of grilling and excessive rules would be tough for me.
Convenience, amenities, maintenance people would be the pros for me.
Several friends have moved into hi-rise condos with lots of amenities. They have people who will walk their dogs, bring up their groceries, park and bring around their cars, etc. it’s convenient, but not my thing.
I have to chime in because if all the comments about never hearing your neighbors and neighbors not bothering you. This is probably a combination of the construction of your building, and having quiet, polite neighbors. I have had a couple very bad experiences that make me hesitate to ever move into a situation where I shall walls with other people, if I can help it.
The first one was a high rise apt, where my bedroom shared a wall with the bedroom of my neighbor. This individual had a very hard time waking up for work in the morning and so had multiple alarms blasting every ten minutes for about a half hour until he finally managed to get out of bed. Of course I did not need to be up until an hour later. I did try talking to him about it but he said that it was the only way he could get up. Building management was no help. I think they really couldn’t understand just how loud it was at 5:30 am in my bedroom. I moved from there as soon as my lease was up.
The second one was a townhouse condo where my next door neighbor was a single man who became an alcoholic after he became disabled and lost his job. First, he fell into my door and broke my screen door right off the hinges. Then his water tank broke and he was too drunk to notice so it flooded my unit. The police actually helped get into his unit to shut the water off. Finally, he passed out while smoking and set the chair he was in on fire. Fortunately, the smoke detectors caught that one before it got too bad. It all ended one morning when I woke to see a hearse outside. I am not making this up. This all really happened. The big problem with these units is that you can’t pick your neighbors.
Oh my!
We had a townhouse that we rented out after we bought our first house. Apparently the adjacent unit also became a rental and the tenant set up a drum set in the bedroom that shared a wall with the master bedroom of our unit. And they had a big dog with a massive flea problem…
In a coop we can actually pick our neighbors. 
I live next door to a guy who loves opera and likes it loud. He told me when we moved in. He said if it was too loud just let him know. I have been here for for 4 years now and I haven’t heard anything through my wall and my bedroom is next to his apartment.
The funny thing was my front door was squeaking a lot because it needed to be oiled. D2 was coming home late night, I guess it was making a lot of noise whenever she came home. My next door neighbor came over with a bottle of oil to help me fix the door. I felt bad, but he was very nice about it.
I find older buildings tend to have better insulation. In my apartment building it is required for the floor to be 3/4 covered with carpet.
I would like to downsize in a few years but not to a high-rise. I wouldn’t want to have to rely on elevators. My MIL has a third floor condo and that seems about right. More secure than ground floor, but not too high to use the stairs most of the time (which she did until about 80).
I wouldn’t recommend living on a very high floor, make sure it is walkable in case of emergency (or fire drill).
I grew up in rental apartments but have, against my will, lived in detached houses for 25 years. Unfortunately, when you marry a man whose only experience with “apartment” living was a college dorm and you have 5 kids, you wind up in a house.
Now that the youngest is leaving for college, I am begging every day to downsize but H wants to die here. You may hear about me on Crime and Investigation TV, lol, because I don’t.
I hate the maintenance of a private house. H refused to let me have the yard astro turfed or, my preference, concreted over. The thought of gardening nauseates me and I hate having to rely on H to do household work because since he can, he refuses to let me hire anyone but then he never does it.
I have lived in buildings ranging from 5 to 33 stories, although never above the 6th floor. Only one had a doorman. I so much prefer being in an apartment. I have never lived in a condo but I represent many condo and coops in personal injury actions, so I am very familiar with them. Some have rules that are obsessive in their intricacy and detail, while others are very lax. Coops can screen buyers and renters, condos have less ability to do so. I highly suggest obtaining a copy of the house rules of any condo or coop you are considering to see what you can and can’t live with. Some have rules about what colors you can paint your walls, if you can have a washer dryer or dishwasher, how long visitors can stay, who can use any gym or rec room, etc.and some or none may be deal breakers for you.
For me, I would love to be in an apartment again.
Seems like that could put a damper on resale value. Even if you have no immediate plans to move, re-sale value will ultimately matter very much.
If my husband refused to actually do the work, then there would be no “not letting” me hire someone. DH hates doing yard work, so he has always hired it out. He complained about the cost, but he knew he wasn’t actually going to get out there and do it himself.
Maybe there could be a compromise for you and your DH. You buy a zero lot line home (he gets his detached home) where the HOA does all the yard maintenance (you don’t have to stress about yard work and appearance). That’s what we did a few years ago. Our tiny front yard is taken care of through our HOA dues. We pay $25 every two weeks to have the little back yard mowed.
I’ve noticed several of our neighbors putting in the fake grass lately. They sure have improved on the technology.
Most towns that I know of have zoning regulations that would not allow you to concrete over an entire backyard. Around here if you add any substantial amount of impervious surface you also have to install drywells to store the runoff if it rains.