If you ask someone about the differences between a condominium and an apartment, the most common answer will be: “a condo is like an apartment, but you can buy it”. Well, that’s not the entire true, because there are remarkable differences between an apartment and a condominium. If you are trying to decide which the best option in today’s market is, we can give you some tips and the main differences between them.
Rent vs. mortgage
One of the main differences between an apartment and a condominium is the payment. The apartments are mostly for rent only, and the condo gives you the option to buy it in cash or through a mortgage. Below there is a list of the main benefits ofeach option, to help you decide between them:
Apartment
Renting an apartment offers some benefits over buying a mortgage, like cheaper initial payment and lower maintenance cost.
- The initial payment and rental process of an apartment is usually cheaper/faster than buying a Sun West mortgage for a condo, because you don’t need to make a big down payment or have to deal with mortgage insurances, lenders and mortgage loans.
- The maintenance cost for an apartment is less than a condo. Why? Because if something needs a repair in the apartment, the owner needs to take care and not the tenant, lowering the amount of money a tenant will need to spent in maintenance.
- It’s better for you if you don’t plan to stay for a long time. Rent is usually better for students in a city far from home and people who don’t want to establish yet.
- More privacy and less rules to follow. The condominium may have rules, such as no pets or only two or three persons per unit, and the apartment can give you more freedom.
Condominium
Buying a mortgage through Sun West offers more long term benefits than a rental. If you want to own a property, this is your best choice.
- A mortgage will translate into a return of investment. When you finish the payments of the loan, you can sell/rent your property, because you will own it. All the money spent renting an apartment will be property of the owner with no chance of returning to you.
- The price of the monthly mortgage fee is fixed for the duration of the loan, so you can never will need to pay more. Apartments’ rent price can increase to cover increased cost or because inflation/economical fluctuations.
- Tax deductions: with a mortgage you can get tax deductions. In the long run, it will be cheaper to live in a condo compared to an apartment.
- Depending of the condo, you may have access to a pool area or a gym. These common places are shared with all the people living in the condominium area.
- More stability. Once you pay your mortgage loan, you can live in the condo for the rest of your life, or sell the condo and buy a property in another place. The condo offers you some economic stability.