Hannelore, It's the condo fees that are almost like rent. Those are monthly fees for maintenance, water bill, insurance, snow and trash removal, etc. When I say assessments, that's something else above and beyond. For instance, the Board of Trustees we had didn't do the right thing with the money way back when. To keep the condo fees down, they put things off. As a result, when we got some new folks on the Board and things had to be done, there was not enough money in our reserve fund. (another important thing to know.) We have three buildings. The garage in one of them needed a new floor and major overhaul which cost over a million dollars and the roof on our building had to be done. Well, this is done through special assessments. We were assessed over 10,000 last year. Most smaller places, the assessments aren't as big, but again, we had major work to be done. The first sewer back-up, not only did we not have the right coverage (because of the insurance company, but that's a whole other story,) but the condo itself didn't have the right coverage. They helped the 7 families a little, which was done through an assessment so it cost us plenty anyway. Even when you have the insurance, it is awful. I better not get started on insurance companies.

I would rather have gone to a smaller house than a condo. I also wouldn't convert to a multiple dwelling because I owned a two family home for 27 years. Don't want that hassle again. When things are going well here, it's really nice. My husband is also a gardner, but we have the huge patio and he does he flowers and loves it. No lawn is great. There really is a lot to consider.