Let’s face it – most people aspire to own something meaningful in their lives. If you’ve ever lived as a tenant somewhere, you know what a hassle it is to deal with landlords. That’s why many people want to own a piece of real estate for themselves. So if you want to buy some real estate in North Carolina – what are your options? If you trust market experts, you’ll hear that many homebuyers are deciding to buy condos nowadays. Many people think it means buying a perfect home. But is that a good idea – and more importantly, how to do it? Don’t worry – we’ve got the gist of buying a condo in North Carolina right here!
Should you move to North Carolina?
If you’re not originally from the Tar Heel state and you want to move there – make sure you think this decision through first. Why? Because moving is a really big life decision to make. This isn’t something you want to rush into blindly. On the contrary – before you take out your phone to call movingkingsnc.com, you need to be sure that moving to North Carolina is a good idea. First of all, think about where you’re going to live. If you’re looking for a condo, then you’ll probably be looking at bigger towns and cities, such as Charlotte.
Furthermore, you should figure out if you can actually find work in North Carolina before moving there. Trust us, you don’t want to go into this without all the right planning. Imagine moving to a completely new place and going broke – it’s a horrible situation! That’s why you’ll want to be on a sure financial ground before making any major relocations. So, before moving and buying a condo in North Carolina – we advise going through your finances thoroughly.
Is buying a condo in North Carolina a smart call?
If you’re definitely sure you want to live in North Carolina – great! Now we can move onto the next part of your path to homeownership. Specifically, ask yourself – is buying a condo in North Carolina truly a good idea? But before you answer that – should you buy real estate at all? Because the sooner you realize something, the better – real estate is a big investment. And this isn’t just about being able to afford the mortgage – there are all kinds of secondary costs to think about. So before you start looking for experts that can help you with your household relocation – think this investment through!
Real estate basics
First of all, you’ll probably need to do some renovating on the property before you move in. That’s the most obvious cost to think about, but certainly not the last one. And speaking of moving in – do you intend on renting the condo out after buying it, or do you want to live there yourself? Because both options also carry additional expenses to consider.
While renting means putting a dent in your investment expenses, it also means a lot of overhead you have to maintain, and that’s a lot of work. On the other hand, if you’re moving in yourself, you’ll have moving expenses to deal with. For example, you’ll need to rent out storage units you can use to store your items while you relocate. As you can see, this is a serious investment no matter how you approach it – so make sure you’re ready for the obligations that come with it!
You need to have all the info
If you’ve definitely decided on buying a condo in North Carolina – that’s great! Yeah, it may seem like we were discouraging you – but on the contrary! We’re just presenting you with everything you’ll need to consider and think about before you make such a major purchase. But if you complete your due diligence properly and still want to buy one, we’re definitely sure you’re making the right call! So, in light of that – what is a condo exactly? It’s definitely a vastly different thing compared to buying a house. We believe you need to know all the important basics before buying it.
Condominiums 101
When you’re buying a condominium, you’re basically buying a housing unit in a building which has multiple of them. With that purchase, you become the owner of the interior of your unit, while the hallways between units and the building exterior are common property. Whose common property? Well, those common areas belong to you, but also to all the other people who own condos in the building. Yeah, we know this seems droll – but it’s stuff you need to know if you want to be a serious real estate owner. And that means knowing what exactly you own by yourself – so, to surmise: not the building exterior, not the hallways between units, but only the interior of the unit itself. The rest is also partly in your ownership, but it’s often managed by an association of homeowners.
Common areas in the building
So, by now you must be wondering – just what are these common areas we’re referring to? It’s important to know about this because you’ll probably be taking part in the management of the building. After all, if you’re buying a condo, you’ll be a part of that homeowner’s association we talked about, at least in some capacity. So, usually, the common areas in a condo building are:
- The installations – All of the central services in the building are jointly owned by all the condo owners. So, that means the heating installations, the air conditioning units, the electric circuitry, the pipes for water and gas.
- The land – The building which contains your condo is located on a plot of land. This land is also in the common ownership of all the building’s residents.
- The rest of the building – Aside from the condo units themselves, basically all the other parts of the building are shared spaces, and so they’re jointly owned by everyone. That includes the elevators, the lobbies, the ceilings, etc.
