Jeff Cochran wrote in message . ..
On 24 May 2004 09:17:10 -0700, (Jeff Bello)
wrote:

I am busy single professional who does not have time for home
maintenance. I was thinking about buying a condo, but homeowner's
dues are pretty substantial in the condos I am looking at, which would
seem to greatly decrease the advantage of buying over renting.

What I am thinking about doing is just buying a house and paying for
maintenance of the grounds (and exterior if needed). This would still
be substantially cheaper than the $500-800 homeowners dues monthly I
am looking at. Does this seem like a reasonable alternative for
someone like me who just does not have the time to do maintenance?

1) Where the heck do you live with $500-800 monthly homeowner's dues?

2) Buying always beats renting, when you're done renting you have
nothing to show for your payments.

3) Go for it. Buy new for the best ease of maintenance.

Jeff

It sounds to me like the OP was looking at CO-OPs not condos. In NJ, a
CO-op sells for less than half a comparable condo, but the monthly
fees are 3x as much. I don't know the logistics of what a co-op is,
but that's what I have seen. Typical condos that sell in the 100-225k
area have a monthly fee of about 100-200 per month.

Bobby