A condominium is a building in which the apartment, or interior living quarters, is legally ?real property? owned by an individual. Although condo owners are subject to building regulations and home owner association (HOA) policies, an owner may sell, lease or renovate the condo to suit his or her preferences.
For busy individuals, condos offer a great opportunity to own a home without the responsibility of exterior upkeep. Most Atlanta condominiums include HOA fees which include exterior building, common area and landscape maintenance. HOA fees often include rights to use special amenities and services such as workout facilities, swimming pools, business centers, pest control and garbage collection. Some condominium complexes also offer 24-hour security or concierge service.
The Atlanta market is abundant with condominium offerings and each comes with a unique set of amenities and special services. Look across the Atlanta skyline and you will see numerous upscale high rise condominiums towering over the busy streets below. For the working professional, this may be the perfect solution to long commutes and busy days.
Many condos are now situated in mixed use communities where developers have incorporated places to work, live and play all within a few blocks. Perfect for a young professional, retiree or the environmentally conscious, the community allows residents to live within walking distance of all their needs with plenty of retail, dining and nightlife options right outside the door.
Other condominium complexes offer a family environment with gated access, safe community roads, common play areas for pets and larger living spaces. These communities offer a safe and friendly environment for families to raise children and socialize with others. Whether you are a busy professional, growing family or recently retired, a condo may be the perfect solution for your lifestyle. The range of condo buildings in Atlanta and the amenities they offer are numerous, so do your homework and find the one that fits your needs best.
High rises condominium buildings are shooting up in Atlanta, the most prominent being the Trump Tower at 15th and West Peachtree Streets in Midtown Atlanta. Due to open its first phase in 2009, Trump Condos are designed for professionals seeking accommodation in mid Atlanta, and start at $400,000 rising to $1.3 million: many condos have already been sold.
These exhibit the classical need for condos: centrally located, no worries about maintenance and security, and perfectly located for executive and corporate ownership. However, they are also ideal for city living, and are very attractive to young people and couples earning enough to afford them and that have no young families that demand a more rural or suburban location for their permanent home.
But what about these families? Condos are available at lower prices than regular homes, and not everybody wants to have a front garden or backyard to look after, in which case an apartment or condo would be ideal for them: particularly a condo, where maintenance and upkeep of the external parts of the home are looked after for a monthly fee.
At one time, there would only have been a few areas in Atlanta offering condos - in fact that would have been true of any city in the USA. Now, however, the concept of condominium agreements has appealed to the whole nation, and condos are appearing everywhere. It is not only new condo blocks that are being constructed, but old apartment blocks are being converted to a condominium, and renters have to either purchase or get out.
This is the bad side of the condo revolution, although it is a way for apartment block owners to convert their investment and equity to hard cash, especially if they are nearing or at retirement age which is true of many such owners. Unfortunately, the renters have no option since the law requires condominium agreements to be a purchase and not a rental agreement.
However, that aside, where in Atlanta are the best condos apart from the new constructions such as the Trump Tower? The best location varies according to the individual, and their reason for purchasing the condo. If you are a single man or woman looking for a home close to work, then that would obviously be close to one of the commercial centers. The same is true of an executive preferring to spend more time at work than traveling through traffic.
If you are a parent, you might want your home to be in a good area with good schools, and probably other families with your children as company for your own. In such a case, Decatur with its excellent schools and over 48 parks excellent for picnics might suit you, or you might prefer Dunwoody, Sandy Springs or Buckhead.
Buckhead is the social center of Atlanta, and only 15 minutes from downtown Atlanta, while Sandy Springs with its large Jewish population is expensive. The median price in 2008 for Atlanta homes is $280,000 and Sandy Springs is well above this. You can get a house here at under $200,000, but also at $10 million. However, as this is written there are condos in Sandy Springs available at under $50,000 for a one bedroom condo to $800,000+. Much depends upon your needs.
What this indicates is that, irrespective of the reputation of the area of Atlanta, Atlanta condos can be obtained at prices well below that you would expect to pay for a single home. It is essential to view properties that appear underpriced for their area, however, and check out the condo fee, since that could be correspondingly higher.
Notwithstanding this, the best of Atlanta's condos are situated around in Midtown and Downtown Atlanta, Chastain park, Decatur, Buckhead and Ansley Park. However, the other districts in Atlanta also offer some great condos and your choice should be based upon what each provides that is most suitable for you rather than the reputation the area has.
You might find that you get more bang for your buck in some areas, irrespective of the actual price you pay for your condo, and the best advice for anybody seeking a home of any kind, whether it be a town house, a loft or a condo, is to check it out and make sure you know what the neighbors are like and find out if there are any local gangs in the neighborhood. Nobody is going to volunteer this information if they are trying to sell their condo, and an unusually low price should be regarded with suspicion and not just snapped up. You might regret it later.
However, if your head is properly screwed on and the bolts tightened, and you know what you want, then you should be able to get a good deal on your Atlanta condo, and the vast majority that purchase condos in Atlanta are delighted with the quality of property that they get. It is a great city, and it offers some great property, so make sure that you get your share of it.
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