Condo Living 101

Condo Living 101: What to Expect

More and more people are deciding to bypass purchasing a home in favor of buying a condo instead. Although condo living is becoming increasingly popular, many people still fail to realize the advantages of living in a condo and still do not fully understand what they can expect from condo living.

Mutual Ownership

One fact that you need to understand when you own a condo is that you will be sharing the building with other condo owners. Although you will own the actual unit in which you live, you do not own the building in which the unit is located. Rather, you and all of the other people that live in the condo are joint owners of the building.

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Living With Style

Life in a condo is simple living at its finest yet has so much benefits. Everything that you need is there or either within the vicinity. In order to achieve an interior designed room, you can provide furniture such as a roof over your head, a place where you can call it a night, a place for cooking and eating as well. You may also have a room for those touches that make a space home. At the same time, you can hang pictures at the walls, a window ledge to place a vase of flowers, a closet or corner for mementos and books.

Small Spaces

Always plan before heading for a grocery shopping. Remember that you live in a small space and  have limited storage room. If you are on the hunt for sale, keep in mind that there are some things that you don’t need in the condo and will be a mess eventually. Clutter makes a small room even smaller. To attain a pleasant but well-ventilated ambiance, store things in devious spaces, for instance under the bed or sofa, in the cabinet or over the fridge.  Try to divide the space also into mini rooms as well so you can have other spaces for storage.  

Screens – Or the lack thereof

Window screens more often than not prevent insects from entering your condo or home but they can be a source of dust should they not be regularly cleaned so vacuum them regularly or wash them down to remove stubborn dirt. They can come in steel mesh, aluminum mesh, plastic or fiberglass, the later two being prone to decay when exposed to direct sunlight but the first two will also suffer corrosion as time progresses.
Do you know that dirty window screens can prevent fresh air from getting into your home, leaving it warmer than usual? Keep them clean so you get the benefit of less energy on cooling and warming, allowing air from the outside to normalize with the air within or outside.
The small things we do can indeed help mother earth in the long run for the smallest things can amount to a lot when combined with the rest of the earth-friendly measures you and others take.

Earthy Homes – Efficient Homes

There is a constant revision of the way our homes are constructed and what do you know, we are again turning to technology that has been in use for millions of years till now in impoverished homes in Africa and elsewhere. A move to make earthen homes again all the rage is one of the the best solutions to the energy crisis for the many enticing advantages these homes offer us. First, they are made of dirt and straw so they can be way cheaper. They can be made to work with current modern framing technology, that can only get better with the advantages of a better understanding of what needs to be addressed. They are naturally insulated from external temperatures so they mostly maintain a proper balance of moisture making them a joy to live in. You may have to trim down on the painting and rich colors for they work best left natural hence they may lose their insulating properties. Earthen homes was one of the earliest forms of home construction that served our ancestors well, why can’t it serve the same purpose for us now?

Green Roofs – Worth It?

The many concrete buildings and structures we have been erecting since the beginning of the industrial revolution are not only some of the most polluting structures but some of the most drab and lifeless we have ever come up with. In an effort to bring more green into our city’s, planners and building administrators are studying the feasibility of green roofs or gardens that allows the green to return while we keep our concrete jungle below. Property owners have been finding that developments besides such green roofs are more favorable and clients often haggle for a view of such structures. Continue reading Green Roofs – Worth It?…

Planting Wisdom

There are more and more green developments that are mixing the use of plants, more for decorative use to more active roles such as natural climate and pollution control. Such new radical developments can be seen in the many architectural proposals where plants and trees are a vital part of a high-rise’s structure that they are providing natural air conditioning. Plants have long been known to keep the air cooler as their leaves absorbs most of the sun’s rays turning them into life giving oxygen, Continue reading Planting Wisdom…

Condo Garden Space

Image Source: moveinthecity.com

Despite the limited gardening space in your condo or loft, you can still make room for a “patch of green” in your condo. Even if very minimal sunlight streams through your window everyday, there are still some types of edible plants that you can grow like carrots, kale, Swiss Chard, arugula, turnips, French Sorrel and parsley. Under a strong sunlight, you can grow cherry tomatoes, onions and shallots, peppers, eggplant and zucchini. Herbs are also a great choice for small garden spaces – something you can just pluck from your window sill. Some herbs have medicinal properties like oregano, they are also make good tea like tarragon, others are used as spices like basil, cilantro, thyme, mint, fennel and dill.

Conquering Clutter

Small living spaces, like condos and apartments may be easier to clean, but it’s also harder to find space to hide your stuff in. Oftentimes, the small closet that comes in with your closet isn’t enough to hold all your possessions. Living in a messy home can be aggravating, though, and even dangerous. So make an effort to control your clutter with these tips:

Get creative in finding storage space. Do you have an oven you rarely use? Use it to store extra dinnerware or foodstuff. The space behind your bedroom door can be a great place to hide a shoe rack.
Choose furniture that can do double duty. There are a lot of cool, new furniture in the market today that are designed to have multiple uses. Such as an ottoman that can be a coffee table, extra seating and has room for storage. Or sofa beds that can transform into a comfy bed at night, with storage space for beddings. Or dining tables that can expand to accommodate extra guests.

Is there a budget for major improvements?

The Homeowners Association takes care of the tenants by paying the bills, taking care of the building and grounds maintenance and making your home a peaceful place. Your pay for their services is included in your monthly dues. However we should always remember that there should be budget allocated for expensive maintenance or capital improvements that include roof repair or replacement, parking lot repairs and repainting. If there are no savings, the HOA will ask you from you a large amount of money. That is why you need to find out if the HOA has an adequate amount of savings that should roughly equal to at least 3 months worth of dues per unit. This way, you would be saved from trouble later on.