I will be looking for a condo

[NES]

I'll be looking for a condo with a 2 car garage. At some point looking to have a Porsche 911 inside. On the other wall would be my tools and equipment. I would like to put a four post lift in the garage. Would I have any problems being able to redo the inside at all? Such as lighting, garage door insulated, epoxy flooring, more outlets, and a possible heater that I could use?
Have you had any problems with your HOA about your garage?

 

[iminocca]

I live in a condo (townhouse) and you will need to check the CC&R's of the communities you are considering. The rules and the way they are enforced vary widely from HOA to HOA...in my area there are HOAs where you can be fined for having your garage door open for more than 15 minutes!

Generally speaking you own the interior surfaces in your garage, if you keep your door closed, no problem. Your air compressor might be though (noise), flammable liquid storage might be also, where you park your vehicle while your working on your garage might be an issue too...sometimes guest parking really means only guests park there.

I'm very lucky to live in a community that is garage friendly, I have a sink in my garage, 220v power, extra storage under my unit, and my own driveway where I can park two cars overnight. I can work on my car, wash my car, weld, build, etc. That's really rare...to make sure things stay this way I did something I swore for years I would never do, I joined the board of directors!

If you find a place you want to live in, I would take a walk through it on a nice Saturday afternoon when people who are so inclined would be working in their garages and talk to them. And if you find a place you like and move there keep in mind that some of your neighbors will believe that garages are for parking your car only...if you really want a workshop your should have bought a house somewhere else. A little good will can go a long way with those folks, maybe offer to rotate their tires on your lift, get involved with your community, join the board. Be one of the go to guys rather than the annoying dude with the loud compressor and impact gun.

Hope you found some of this useful!

 

[bczygan]

My brother called them Condo-minimums!

 

[Dyt]

HOAs are largely a ****-shoot. What the rules are today may not be the rules tomorrow. Remember, half the people are crazy, half the condos in the association are rental properties, and many just don't give a damn.
The only point of consistency you can expect is, the smaller the association, the better chance you'll have of being left alone. I say this because of the number of owner/landlords and owner/occupiers that don't care/don't vote on anything overwhelm the crazies that want to run a fiefdom.
If you can avoid HOAs, do so. A plethora of rules can affect the resale value. I'll never live under a HOA again.
One last thing: Make sure you find out if they are actually considered condos or townhouses for insurance purposes. Many condos, particularly ones that are only two attached are treated like townhouses for insurance purposes. The difference is, if your condo burns to the ground, you are responsible for the inside, the HOA carries insurance for the replacement of the outside. With a townhouse, the outer walls are insured by you also.

 

[rsanter]

My grandmother lived in a condo. The rules said that you are not allowed to do any work at all in the garage. It also restricted when you could even have in the garage.
When she moved there the condo board was a group of very nice reasonable people. No problems.
Over the span of a few years the board was taken over by a bunch of over meteling control freaks, power grabbing *** holes. It totally changed the attitude of the place.
I argued with them but most of the residents just didn't want any conflict.

So even if you move in there today and it's cool, it can change

Bob

 

[reader2580]

HOAs are largely a ****-shoot. What the rules are today may not be the rules tomorrow. Remember, half the people are crazy, half the condos in the association are rental properties, and many just don't give a damn.
The only point of consistency you can expect is, the smaller the association, the better chance you'll have of being left alone. I say this because of the number of owner/landlords and owner/occupiers that don't care/don't vote on anything overwhelm the crazies that want to run a fiefdom.
If you can avoid HOAs, do so. A plethora of rules can affect the resale value. I'll never live under a HOA again.

Aren't HOAs pretty much a given if you own a condo or a townhouse? Locally, Condos are basically apartments that you own. Many of them are fairly upscale. Most often they do not have a garage in the traditional sense. They may have underground parking. In other areas a condo may be something entirely different than around here.

My brother owns a townhouse. The association buys insurance for the exterior and is responsible for exterior maintenance. I've never heard of townhouses where the association is not responsible for the exterior.

 

[kbs2244]

Very often, the garages, even if assigned to a specific unit, are legally part of the “common area” and not owned by the unit owner. They are owned by the association and are intended for parking only.

In short, if you have any hobby noisier or smellier than portrait painting a condo or townhouse is probably not for you.

 

[NES]

Thank you all for your input. It's something I'll have to think quite a bit about.

 

[Kaizen]

Very often, the garages, even if assigned to a specific unit, are legally part of the “common area” and not owned by the unit owner. They are owned by the association and are intended for parking only.

In short, if you have any hobby noisier or smellier than portrait painting a condo or townhouse is probably not for you.

also on this note. a buddy had a stand alone condo but really a 3 bedroom house by itself 50 feet between all of them. bigger then my house. they used to fine him for using air tools in his garage to do basic maintenance auto stuff. even with his doors closed. most people in those communities I swear have nothing better to do then rat on people infringing on any rules. read those rules ten times. most are ridiculous.

 

[NES]

I forgot to mention that I spoke to a friend of mine that lives near by. He lives in a condo and he mentioned to me that you can use power tools. He has a fridge in there with a couple of sigs on the wall. He also redid the lighting for the garage. He's not had any complaints from his neighbors at all.

I guess I can say is that there is hope out there. I just have to find the right condo to move into.