Single family homes or Condo?

The demand for housing in Bellevue Wa is high. But buyers are still feeling pressed out of their desired area with low inventory and interest rates adding to the pressures. Current average price for a single family home in Bellevue Wa is $2,568,000. Bellevue can be broken down to two halves. The West Side and the East Side. If you want to live in West Bellevue that number jumps to almost $4 million. East Bellevue comes in at about $1,932,000. Either way you slice it Bellevue can feel out of reach. So, just what are you supposed to do? You could look outside your preferred area, but just how far are you willing to go to not just afford a home but be able to compete? One alternative that could have you in your desired location is to purchase a condo and or townhome. Sure there are disadvantages to living in a condo, but there are also advantages to it.

Let’s start with the disadvantages of condo living. Besides the size difference, one of the biggest disadvantages to Condo living are the dues. Dues are the gift that keeps on giving all year. Your dues go towards the community amenities, maintenance and general upkeep of the building. In some ways dues are like having insurance on your investment. You hope you don’t have to use it, but necessary to maintain your investment for future resale profit. The HOA (which could be problematic) of the building will hold some of the dues in reserve for future projects or for those surprise expenses that come up. Other disadvantages to living in a condo are: Lack of yard space, Little privacy, restriction put on by the HOA (ie;no pets), storage and Limited parking to name a few. Then there are the CC&R’s or the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, & Restriction. Basically the do’s and don’ts of living in the building. Who wants to be told what you can and can’t do in your own space?

So, at about this point you’re probably thinking how there can be any advantage to living in a condo. And you’re kinda right, but there is a give and take to everything. So what are some advantages to living in a condo? The most glaring advantage to buying a condo is usually a more affordable option then trying to buy a single family home. Currently the average price for a condo in Bellevue Wa is $1,128,000. If we break that down even more the average price in West Bellevue (downtown) is $1,290,000 and in East Bellevue that number changes to $712,000.

Besides price, a building’s location and amenities are two of the great advantages to buying a condo. Usually you are steps away from restaurants, cafe’s, shopping, parks, major transit, malls, theater’s and more. Just think how nice it would be not to fight for parking then to have to pay an hour rate. Or how about taking a 10min walk to do some wine tasting or take in a community fare. Watch yearly celebrations from the comfort of your living room. How about coming home from work and having access to your own fitness center. Work out on your timeline. Most buildings offer a common community space you can rent out usually equipped with coolers, tv’s, tables etc and kitchen space for those bigger gatherings. Want to take in the sunset? Head up to the rooftop terrace, bring your beverage of choice and sitback and enjoy the night. Other advantages are great security, no yard upkeep and access to 24 hour maintenance.

You might be thinking that this all sounds pretty good, but just how much or little space am I going to have to live in? It’s a fair point. You are sacrificing size for price. Depending on where you are in life will have an effect on your living situation. If you’re just looking for a bare minimum place then a 680 SF condo can be had for around $270,000. Even in the downtown area a 800 SF condo can sell for as little as $465,000. Feeling like you need more space? It’s possible to find condos that are 1,300 Sf to 1,500 SF that sell between the $900k-$1.1 million range.

Condo living does have its disadvantages. But it can also have some real advantages. As the world keeps changing so does our perception of how we want to live. If you’re looking for more on this or other real estate needs for Seattle/Bellevue then drop me a line.

email: whmcdonald@windermere.com