House or condo

By Francisco J. Colayco
(Part II)

In the previous issue, Mr. MF wrote to say he does not know whether he should buy a house and lot or a condo to reside in.  It is a financial decision that he has to make.  What is important is that the property brings money INTO his pocket through a decrease in expenses or increase in income (if he decides to rent it out) or through the increase of the value of the property if he decides to sell in the future.

Here are some thoughts you can consider when you want to live in a condo versus living in a house and lot:

While a condo does not have its own land, it is part of the condominium association that owns the land on which the building is located.  You have a Condominium Certificate of Title (CCT) instead of a Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) when you own land.  Of course, it is most important that your condo is well-located and built by a reputable company.  Condos in choice areas are expensive because the land value is very expensive. The price of good condos also go up in value. In many central locations, land is already too expensive for individuals to own.  Thus, there is sharing in the value of the land through a condominium.

Look at your lifestyle in the condo.  There might be expenses or savings there that you can analyze.  Usually, life is simpler if you have a small place and condos are usually small.  But then, house and lots can also be small.  Therefore, you must imagine the kind of life you will live in each and compute how much you will spend.

You need to understand who are the owners of the other units.  Are they the kind of people that you want to live “side-by-side” with? Depending on their good manners  and values, they will help in giving a good image to your condo and bring up its value. 

In the case of the location of your “house/lot”, your neighbors are also very important but often a house/lot has a little more space between neighbors.

You need to understand the Condominium Association By-laws because you will have to abide by those. 

A condo can grow in value as well if it is a good condo.  A house/lot may or may not grow in value depending on the location and maintenance of the house and the surrounding road infrastructure.  Check out the growth of the value of the property where you want a house/lot.  Check the condos of the property developer you are considering. That should give you an idea of the possible increase in the value.

Put all of these factors together in comparing a condo with a house/lot in actual numbers and put minus or plus in those numbers.  Put them in a separate column for the condo and for the house/lot.  Be honest with the numbers that you come up with.

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Please check out www.colaycofinancialeducation.com for more information on what I do now.

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Francisco J. Colayco is an entrepreneur, a venture developer and financial advisor.  He is the Author of Seven Bestsellers in the Pera Palaguin Series, the latest of which is now available in bookstores:  “Wealth Reached. Money Worked. Pera Mo, Pinalago Mo!” Find his works and catch him on TV and radio.  Check out: www.colaycofinancialeducation.com, www.franciscocolayco.com, www.kskcoop.com, FaceBook and Instagram.