I met my husband at about the same time he was going through a divorce and moving into a condo. He rented it for a couple of years until the time was right to buy it. So, my situation was a little different. When I eventually moved in with him, I didn't give up my house. (Until a year after we were married) So it wasn't a decision we made together to downsize. I found it hard only haveing 1000 sq feet of living space at first, but I like it now, except I would like more closet space. Our floor plan is open, so it looks bigger than it is. Unlike most condos, the first floor apartments in our building have huge decks so it makes up for not having a yard. We are on the water and love where we are.

But, Diane is right. It has its good points and bad.
I love not having to shovel, drag barrels out on trash day and having a mail slot right outside my door. No lawn to mow. And since I owned a two family home, no tenants to deal with.

I DON'T like so many rules. Communal living isn't always easy. I also don't like others making decisions (the trustees) that involve how we spend money, etc.

I would recommend to anyone thinking of buying a condo to first DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
1. Know where/what you are buying.
2. Ask questions.
3. Find out about the condo association.
4. Ask to see the condo docs.
5. Find out about the financial stability of the assoc.
6. Know the rules up front, such as pet policy, visitors,
parking, water heaters, maintenance.
7. Know what the condo fees are.

Hannelore, Being in RE this should be relatively easy for you.

I don't like downsizing my possessions. I have found thi difficult. We've had two or three mishaps with water heaters letting go above us and a pipe that burst. One of these episodes resulted in a major flood in our unit in which we had to replace all our new rugs, the ceilings, paint the whole unit. We had to live on the cement floors and without our ceilings for months while dealing with insurance companies and contractors.

We've had two major incidents of raw sewerage backing up into the seven first floor units. With this kind of thing, you have parts of your walls cut out because of bacteria. The first time this happened we were not insured for raw sewerage backup. The second time this happened almost did me in even though we had insurance for it this time. And each time, things got ruined and we were forced to downsize and get rid of stuff.

There was no way of knowing this would happen and it is happening more and more, also in single family homes.

Another thing to consider in a condo is assessments. If the place needs a roof or any major thing that comes up, you can get whacked with some pretty heavy assessments.

If we had it to do over, I don't think we would buy a condo again. And, you can't just up and sell it either, because you have to pay the assessments first.

But, I don't want to take care of a big house at this stage of my life. Don't want to wash windows and hang curtains all the time, etc. It's nice to come home, park the car and just go inside and let someone else do the maintenance.