Pros and Cons of Living in a Condominium against living in a house

[j.adore]

Based on what I've seen, townhouse yung magkadikit na may shared gate and only 1 driveway.

Subdivision is one big area with roads tapos ownership is house and lot na sarili mo bakod.
There are subdivisions na same designs ang mga bahay. It depends on the developer.

Sometimes, there are townhouses inside subdivisions.

[spiltmillc]

[textspeak!] 7.5M for townhouses with 3F and lot area size na 40-50sqm

Meron din naman mga mura, I guess nasa location lang din. BF Paranaque reasonably priced pa. I got my place for 6.3M, but it was originally 7.8M, natawaran ko lang sa owner mismo. Gated village, bungalow 300sqm. DP lang and a 15year bank loan tapos 20k monthly. Its a modern house pa, no issues. Association dues is just 600/mo.

I just had the whole place repainted cause di ko gusto yung color. aside from that wala na ko ginawa. I have before and after photos.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6gi5r2bzdm51rhs/AADtvuNLiLtu2TbOVsKO60t4a?dl=0

Grabe naman yung 7.5M na townhouse tapos 50sqm lang. luging lugi ka naman sa ganon! parang tamang mag condo nalang. kahit pa 3 floors.

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ I think the 40-50sqm she mentioned is LOT area. So if three floors yung townhouse, I guess roughly 100-120sqm ang FLOOR area..

[spiltmillc]

bagaholic_chewy 4-50sqm is the lot area. but thats still too small. sagad sagad yung house on all sides. no space na for a garden. And even if 3 floors, 120-150 floor area, 7.5M is still too expensive. Since townhouse pa limited din ang ventilation cause magkakadikit yung houses and your sharing a wall with your neighbor. Ang hirap din mag move around the house lalo na if your starting a family, babies running around, akyat baba ang laundry, etc. Medyo out of the question mag townhouse if its the same price as a house and lot. Parang mas ok mag Condo or house and lot.

[bagaholic_chewy]

I think considering the location e nasa ganyang rates talaga ang mga townhouses. H&L in that location may cost more than double the townhouse cost. So again, lalabas yung condo/townhouse near workplace, etc vs H&L where you'll have you desired space (garden, etc) but you need to travel an hour or two to/from work, etc.

[Kristalle]

Meron din naman mga mura, I guess nasa location lang din. BF Paranaque reasonably priced pa. I got my place for 6.3M, but it was originally 7.8M, natawaran ko lang sa owner mismo. Gated village, bungalow 300sqm. DP lang and a 15year bank loan tapos 20k monthly. Its a modern house pa, no issues. Association dues is just 600/mo.

I just had the whole place repainted cause di ko gusto yung color. aside from that wala na ko ginawa. I have before and after photos.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6gi5r2bzdm51rhs/AADtvuNLiLtu2TbOVsKO60t4a?dl=0

Grabe naman yung 7.5M na townhouse tapos 50sqm lang. luging lugi ka naman sa ganon! parang tamang mag condo nalang. kahit pa 3 floors.

Hi. I like the new color. May I know what exactly is it? Could prove useful for those plan to repaint their homes in the near future. Also, saan pong BF kayo? Where and how did you start when you were shopping around for the house that you now lives in? Meron kayang mga nasa around 5M? Is it accessible to the main road and eventually to the highways? I once visited a friend in BF Resort LP, malayo pa sila sa main gate, like kilometers away pa ata that I felt it was really remote place. If 6+M and in installment, how much and naging DP nyo?

[spiltmillc]

Hi @Kristalle!
The new color i used is called Luna Moon from Boysen. Its a mid gloss white. The black is just regular matte black paint from Davies.

Its in BF Paranaque. Yes very accessible naman to main roads and highways. BF Paranaque is different from BF Resort. BF Resort is in Las Pinas na, its medyo near cavite already. Malayo talaga yon, even I rarely go there! Haha! The main roads and highways in the area are Sucat, Alabang Zapote Road, SLEX & Skyway.
The place is actually very accessible with the help of the Skyway. I work in Ayala, Makati while my husband works in Greenhills. It only takes me around 15-20 minutes to get to and from work even during rush hour. Nice din cause theres never any floods here.

I started looking for a place around April of last year. Lahat, Condos, Town houses and Houses. I started looking in Makati then QC, then Paranaque. Piniaka reasonable prices in QC and Paranaque. But we went with paranaque cause of the suburb feel and safety of the gated villages. Wala naman I just went through Sulit.com daily looking for houses i liked. Tapos since i dont like dealing with brokers i made it a point to get in touch directly with the owners. You can do that by asking the guards of the villages if there are properties for sale inside. Eh since associations naman yun, the guards have contact numbers of the owners. That way you can skip on talking to a broker. I would go around every weekend looking for a place. Matagal actually. April 2013 ako nag start, i found my place mga dec 2013 pa.

There are still houses at 5M in the vicinity, kailangan lang talaga mabusisi at masipag ka maghanap para maganda yung makuha mo. Theres also this site, binalik balikan ko for almost a year till i found what i wanted. http://www.homesearch.ph/index.php/bf-homes-paranaque-philippines.html

[Kristalle]

^thank you so much for sharing sis. Very informative and helpful.

[meimei]

@spiltmillc, wow i think you got a good deal! 300sqm H&L at BF Homes for 6.3M?! Pretty good.. talaga may 5M pa sa BF?!

Kaso ang concern ko lang is yung traffic and baha (maybe not in the subdivision itself but the surrounding areas.. di ba bahain diyan?)... pero tempting ha.. 5M for H&L in BF..

[spiltmillc]

@Meimei no naman. Ang nagbabaha lang that affects us is in SLEX somewhere betwen sucat and bicutan, but skyway naman doesn't flood so no problem there. With regards to traffic, it gets traffic when i leave for work late, ganon pero bearable because of the skyway din.

Yung mga 5M in BF are not brand new houses, they are old houses na fully renovated. Not bad sa totoo lang, new pipes, new electrical wiring, new roofs. Pero like i said you need to be mabusisi when picking a place. Since renovated nga sila. Brand new houses are not bad din. They start at around 10M here.

Great investment na din cause yearly ang laki agad ng taas ng value ng property.

[j.adore]

Although it's good to consider historical flooding, di pa din yun assurance kasi pag may super storms eh it floods in places where it normally doesn't.

[amethyst028]

Question, kapag pinarent ko ang newly constructed kong unit at nasa EDSA sya. Mga magkano ko kaya pwede iparent yun per month?

for price comparison hanap ka sa mga online ads. search for the name of your condo and same sqm niya then compare. im sure naman may mga other units sa building niyo na pinapa rent.

tips lang pag ipapa rent don't over develop. like super papagandahin niyo yung unit. kasi more or less same lang ang price dun sa mas simple ang unit. kasi most tenants are looking for affordability din. pwede may edge yung sa inyo ng konti pero huwag yung over over kasi mas matatagalan ang ROI.

[zaji731]

Question, kapag pinarent ko ang newly constructed kong unit at nasa EDSA sya. Mga magkano ko kaya pwede iparent yun per month?

You can search online for rent ng comparative units. Try olx (former sulit.com) or if your developer has its own, which is normally the case, you can ask your PMO.

[Kristalle]

I spoke too soon about my glowing review of living in a condo! Right now, we are totally regretting it because of our inconsiderate upstairs neighbors. The unit directly above us, of course have the same layout as ours, so they should know better. But, in their bedroom, directly above mine, their children keeps stomping their feet at unholy hours, most often from 5-7 AM and when those bullies get home at 4PM which goes on until 10PM. I have made numerous complaints with our guards and admin office to NO AVAIL. They said they always talk and advise the pesky neighbors upstairs but as soon as they leave, the stomping, banging noise returns. IT IS SUCH A NIGHTMARE. Sleep-deprived and stressed out because of these inconsiderate upstairs neighbors from hell.

So, for potential condo-buyers/dwellers, if you can do so, pls. ask around first with your neighbors if there is a unit above yours how many people are living in that upstairs unit directly above you, and if there are kids, beware. Also, if you can find one, i suggest you live at the topmost floor with no upstairs neighbors. Trust me, you will have a hell of a time, if you don't heed my advice. Right now, all I can dream about is KARMA for those neighbors pestering our tranquil living and hopes that they also get an upstairs neighbors as rowdy as them to have a dose of their own medicine.

[bluish_mommy]

^perwisyo yan grabe ah.

natatandaan ko naman one time sa condo ng cousin ko sa QC. we often visited her in her unit, napapansin namin lagi yung isang unit from hers laging nakabukas ang pintuan, para bang tinatanaw lahat ng mga dumadating at naglalakad sa hallway. tapos yun pala, sila yung nagluluto ng amoy tuyo/daing. binubukas nila yung pinto para hindi mangamoy sa unit nila, yun ang kwento ng cousin ko.

[carlavinoya]

I spoke too soon about my glowing review of living in a condo! Right now, we are totally regretting it because of our inconsiderate upstairs neighbors. The unit directly above us, of course have the same layout as ours, so they should know better. But, in their bedroom, directly above mine, their children keeps stomping their feet at unholy hours, most often from 5-7 AM and when those bullies get home at 4PM which goes on until 10PM. I have made numerous complaints with our guards and admin office to NO AVAIL. They said they always talk and advise the pesky neighbors upstairs but as soon as they leave, the stomping, banging noise returns. IT IS SUCH A NIGHTMARE. Sleep-deprived and stressed out because of these inconsiderate upstairs neighbors from hell.

So, for potential condo-buyers/dwellers, if you can do so, pls. ask around first with your neighbors if there is a unit above yours how many people are living in that upstairs unit directly above you, and if there are kids, beware. Also, if you can find one, i suggest you live at the topmost floor with no upstairs neighbors. Trust me, you will have a hell of a time, if you don't heed my advice. Right now, all I can dream about is KARMA for those neighbors pestering our tranquil living and hopes that they also get an upstairs neighbors as rowdy as them to have a dose of their own medicine.

Sis, confront mo na lang sila personally. It happened to us din many times pero hindi sa condo. Noong nag aapartment pa kami, yung mga katabing unit namin maiingay. Nagpapatugtog sila ng malakas, ang lakas ng volume ng TV. Buti sana kung araw eh, kaso gabi at madaling araw! Ang ginagawa ko, kumakatok talaga ako sa pintuan nila para magsabi. Meron pa, yung sa ibaba namin, may bata around 3 years old araw araw umiiyak ng umaga. Nakakaistorbo kasi ang lakas ng iyak. Paano ba i-sound proof ang condo?

[Kristalle]

^sis di ko magawa kahit gustong gusto ko dahil baka kung ano magawa at masabi ko esp. since sobrang passionate na din namin dahil lagi kaming puyat dahil sa kanila. nagtapat din sakin ang mga guards, 4 na mga teeners na daw ang mga anak ng may-ari na yun na maiingay at 2 daw dun ay teenage guys siguro  nga daw naglalaro ng basketball sa unit during the times na nagcocomplaint ako which are from 5-7AM and then between 4-10PM. Actually yun din ang reklamo ko, may parang mga tunog ng basketball, playing basketball and all..constant sya..banging, stomping sound talaga lalo na pag nagsara na ko ng window and door para mag aircon. Imagine kulob and then the banging sounds from upstairs.

Worst is, we've invested heavily na din sa unit, napaayos na din namin and all..so we can't just leave and look for  a new one.

[zaji731]

^sis di ko magawa kahit gustong gusto ko dahil baka kung ano magawa at masabi ko esp. since sobrang passionate na din namin dahil lagi kaming puyat dahil sa kanila. nagtapat din sakin ang mga guards, 4 na mga teeners na daw ang mga anak ng may-ari na yun na maiingay at 2 daw dun ay teenage guys siguro  nga daw naglalaro ng basketball sa unit during the times na nagcocomplaint ako which are from 5-7AM and then between 4-10PM. Actually yun din ang reklamo ko, may parang mga tunog ng basketball, playing basketball and all..constant sya..banging, stomping sound talaga lalo na pag nagsara na ko ng window and door para mag aircon. Imagine kulob and then the banging sounds from upstairs.

Worst is, we've invested heavily na din sa unit, napaayos na din namin and all..so we can't just leave and look for  a new one.

Hi sis, can i ask which condo are you staying in? Thanks!

[be_Jenuine]

sis @Kristalle & @bluish_mommy, nako ang sakit sa ulo ng mga ganyang neighbors walang respeto sa kapitbahay. Hindi man lang maging sensitive akala mo pagaari nila yung buong building

[snowberry]

Why don't you write them a complaint letter (or sort of pakiusap)  sis,  cc Admin ?. At least naman siguro kung may formal complain eh mahihiya na sila .

We lived in a subdivision  and one time may nag rent sa house sa tapat namin . Then naglagay ng videoke business . Talagang hindi kami magkarinigan. I immediately complained to the association and yun ipinatanggal naman . Nakiusap ang may ari pero dedma ako dahil hindi naman dapat yun sa residential area.

Actually, whether sa condo or sarling bahay ang tirahan mo , if the neighbors are inconsiderate problema talaga.