Looking for a place to live

[loudshirt]

Long story short I am going to be looking for a place to live. Wife and I are on the road to divorce and I am debating selling our house and moving into a condo. Her and my daughter will be moving to BA.

I can afford where I live but it will be kind of tight for a bit. I am mainly looking at condo's right now. I like the idea of ownership of the inside and not having to worry about the outside. I currently live in a 3br 2bath 1300sqft house. I like it, I like the area, but it will just be me most of the time for the foreseeable future. My son visits for about a month in the summer and then some other times for a week or so during the year. My daughter will be with me 2-3 days a week.

I looked at some condos and like what I see with some of them. I just don't have much experience with them. Does anyone live in a condo in the Tulsa area? How do you like it? What is your Hoa cost and what do you get from it? Anything that was better or worse that you thought?


Thanks

 

[John6185]

HOA fees can increase ver time so be prepared for that. Also, I heard that one needs to make sure that the HOA is in the black-solvent. We're a bit older and are thinking of moving to a condo where i don't have to paint the outside, worry about the roof/hail replacement, and we'd like at least a one car garage to protect the car from the weather etc. There are many variables you need to check out. I'm sorry for your divorce, it is never good for the children although it was a relief for me.

 

[Perplexed]

My sister lived in a condo for a number of years before buying a house. She always says she loves having a yard, and that really the only thing she missed about the condo was the lack of outside maintenance. But she wouldn't give up her house for another condo if she can help it. So be sure a condo is really what you want to do.

Also, check the HOA rules especially in regard to firearms. I don't think they can ban firearms inside your condo, but they may have something to say about firearms in the common areas.

 

[easy]

Rent out a room or two for while, keep the place you are comfortable with.

 

[loudshirt]

Thanks for the input guys. Doing more reading a condo is looking less like something I would do. Still on the radar but not too far up. Renting a room is not to viable of an option. I have 2 kids that would visit at varying times and sometimes they would visit together and would need rooms. If I did not have kids I would consider it.

 

[swampratt]

I had friends that lived in condo's and it sucked.
Cars broke into garages broke into and maintenance was terrible.. they will get to you when they get to you.
Bugs from the neighbors invaded and one had mold in the attic area that was never resolved.. hard to sell them when the time comes.
Son was home when 2 duds tried to break in I wish he had a gun and waited .. but he opened the door and they dropped the pry bar and took off after he said he was going to end them.

Condo's are fancy apartments and you get the same crap you get at an apartment,, from what i have witnessed.

I would rather get a cheap trailer house and stick it somewhere.

 

[Larry Morgan]

I've lived in two apartment complexes that were originally built for condos. The ONLY advantage to a condo is that it's someone else's responsibility to keep up with the structure, and they are going to charge you handsomely for it (usually). You could like tuck that same money away if you owned a house and basically be self-insured.

The one I just moved out of had a parking garage underneath it going 4 levels underground. We had some friends who lived there as well. He had all the tools stolen out of his truck and she had her bike stolen. The management did not give two @#$s about it. I lost count of the number of times I almost had someone hit me head on in the garage because apparently the idea of driving to the right vanishes if there are no lanes to guide people. And of course there's the inevitable douche-baggery. In our first one, my wife and I almost called the cops on the couple next door, they seriously sounded like they were going to kill each other.

I'm super paranoid about stuff going wrong on a house. Like SUPER paranoid. But even I got over it after having been subjected to about 3 years of that. Decided to just save up for anything, take my licks if they come, and enjoy my privacy and peace.

 

[Jeff405]

If you are thinking about keeping the house, it could be a better investment for the future, if you can afford it of course. Also, my parents divorced when I was 13 and while it was neat at my moms new place, I always ended up wanting to go back to my dads because that was my home. I ended up living full time at my dads after about a year. What do your kids think about you moving?

 

[loudshirt]

If you are thinking about keeping the house, it could be a better investment for the future, if you can afford it of course. Also, my parents divorced when I was 13 and while it was neat at my moms new place, I always ended up wanting to go back to my dads because that was my home. I ended up living full time at my dads after about a year. What do your kids think about you moving?

Reading that last question just hit me like a ton of bricks. My son lives in Ca with his mother. My wife and my daughter, who is three, left on Tuesday to stay with her sister. I really dont think my daughter likes the idea of a) not being at "home" and b) not seeing me. Right now I work an odd shift (Tues-Sat 3-11) and did not see her except in the morning during the week and Sat until about 1:30 and then all day Sun and Monday after she got home from daycare. My wife currently plans on moving her stuff out on Saturday. While she moves her stuff I plan on spending time with my daughter. Then set up some sort of visitation. The plan is to be separated for about a year and see what happens. It kind of puts me between a rock and a hard place.

We were getting ready to sell this house and move to BA. So the house is ready to sell. We have even had people come look at it. It is on hold right now until we figure out what we want to do. There are a few ideas we have to talk over about the house. I will probably end up selling it and moving to a slightly smaller and cheaper house in BA (where they will be in an apartment). No matter what we do it is financially stupid to maintain one apartment and one house for a year.

I have thought about staying here, but it will be farther away from my daughter and my wife and I have a slightly different opinion on my refinancing the house. To be honest we have only really scratched the surface and have not talked much about it. She would like me to refinance it for the appraised price. I want to refinance for either what we owe or what we paid when we bought it.

Sorry about the long reply. Stuff just came out.

 

[CHenry]

I want to refinance for either what we owe or what we paid when we bought it.

Why would you do anything other than this?
My advice is do not make knee jerk reactions. Stay in the house untill the dust settles. Its a bad idea to make life altering decisions when the emotions are high from divorce or a death in the family...etc. Take time to get your head right and just grieve if you need. I got divorced almost 2 years ago and I wanted out of that house bad because of the memories but after some time, my thinking changed. Now I am fine in that house but thinking of selling it just to move closer to my parents. I'm actually feeling like it will be hard to sell it (emotionally) as I had bought it new and put so much blood and sweat into the land I have.