How condominiums help you design your own retirement

Condominiums for sale in Costa Rica! Or on Miami Beach! Or abroad! Or in your own neighborhood!

Imagine buying a condominium in Costa Rica for your retirement

Wow! Sunny days on the beach

Balmy nights under the stars

Dips in warm ocean water

But wait! Let’s stop dreaming for a minute.

Before we step out onto that tropical beach, we need to talk about the basics of buying a condo.

Condo means ownership style, not building style

First, a condo is a form of ownership, not a form of building.

Condominiums come in all sorts of styles, high rise apartments, villas, townhouses, even condo hotels.

You own your own unit. You also own a percentage of the common elements outside and around your unit – stairways, elevators, lawns, exterior walls, driveways.

You pay a monthly fee for your share of the upkeep of common elements.

Rules and by-laws

Each condo makes its own by-laws. The by-laws are designed to keep residents safe and allow them to enjoy their property in peace and quiet. But some go farther, and are very detailed about hours when no noise is permitted, about whether you can paint your outside door a different color from everyone else or your requirement to attend meetings.

Before buying a condo you need to review the rules. You get them from the seller or the property manager. Can you live with this set of rules? If not, better go shopping for a different place, where the rules are a little looser.

Advantages of a condo

The biggest and most obvious advantage is your freedom to walk away at a moment’s notice. No need to worry about whether your place is safe when you travel.

The second obvious advantage is that you are free of the burden of lawn maintenance, snow shoveling and exterior repairs.

Many buildings also offer recreational and social activities. You can have your own community within a community.

And there are units available in every price range.

Checklist of items to consider before you purchase

Before you buy that condo in Costa Rica, or on Miami beach, or in your own neighbourhood, you will be able to inform yourself about

the rules and obligations of the building
what is included in the monthly fees and what is not included
sound transmission – how well it is prevented
whether the unit you are looking at is close to mechanicals like elevators, garbage chutes, or even too close
whether you can have your own washer and dryer
whether you can have pets
your privacy and the rules about building managers entering your unit
whether the building units are mainly owner occupied or rented out
whether you are allowed to rent out your unit
insurance considerations and the coverage you need and don’t need
what security arrangements are in place

How to do more research

As always, buying real estate requires lots of research. Your real estate agent, your lawyer and the building management will all have lots to tell you about this kind of purchase.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation website publishes a handy free guide you can download and print out.

And an internet search for condominiums turns up all kinds of other handy and free guides from banks, real estate companies and the media.

If you choose a condo, enjoy. And if you choose a condo in Costa Rica, or on the beach in Miami, be sure to invite us down!

Condos on the beach in Miami

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