Gozit

Fair enough. I'll add that to my reasons to never wanting to live anywhere with an HOA. I'm not sure how they would know either, seems like a privacy violation for them to ask. However i'm sure you sign away all your rights to that when you agree to live there. I just don't think it promotes social distancing all that well as people will send their packages to friends houses or to post offices, promoting further spread of the virus. Or people will just go out to shops to get what they want.


Such an interesting conundrum for me - i'm young, single, and I don't want kids. I'd be perfect candidate to live in a condo. But can't deal with the rules and regulations and HOAs and being in that close proximity to other homeowners/renters - my car is loud(ish), I like loud music and need my space when I am at home.

scrubbedexpat091

We ventured next door to the grocery store, but the line to get in was about 40 people in line and of course nobody is standing 6 feet from one another, so we came back home, I think standing in a line outside is too risky.

Jerseygirl

it’s a bid to try to keep/limit the virus in the building by keeping the traffic down. Delivery drivers constantly dropping goods off...the security desk handling them...then people coming to collect them.

i think it is possible to choose a building to suit your needs. Many of the new very high 40/70+ floor buildings seem to have a high percentage of young people. Whether they are owners or tenants I have no idea.

scrubbedexpat091

I hate condo living, drives me bonkers.

But I can't see anyway they can restrict deliveries to our building, no door person/no concierge/no security, seems something that would be easier to do in the larger upscale buildings though.

Gozit

I'm genuinely interested to hear where there might be a condo building with thick enough walls to drown out loud music and noise, so that other people wouldn't be bothered by me and I wouldn't be bothered by them, without an HOA. Because I genuinely like the idea of living in a smaller space with less to take care of, and paying fees to have maintenance taken care of, but don't think my personality is compatible with living in a shared space.

spouse of scouse

Gawd, poor Mr Bevs. If people start flushing stuff like kitchen paper towel there will be an awful lot of backed up loos Let's hope people are sensible, or if they're not, that they realise they might be doing their business in a bucket in the near future. Plumbers shouldn't be asked to expose themselves to the risk of infection just because people are thoughtless/careless.

spouse of scouse

It would have to be a building with super-duper, individual sound proofing for every apartment.

spouse of scouse

If push comes to shove wrap a scarf or similar around your face, keep your hands in your pocket, and have a good wash of yourself and everything you've touched as soon as you get back indoors

Jerseygirl

no idea. I believe there are condos mainly populated by party/student folk. Imagine they are pretty noisy.

caretaker

You know better than anyone how essential plumbers are though. If you have a business and the toilet doesn't work the health inspector can shut you down. If you have a rental property and the toilet doesn't work they can condemn it. If people are supposed to maintain distance from each other, they can't be going next door to use the bathroom. Remember the Plumber's Code.

scrubbedexpat091

Anything wood frame would be out for sure.

Our neighbor plays pretty loud music, but can only hear it if your in the hallway, each unit is pretty sound proof, can't hear TV or talking or anything from the units on the side, but can hear the upstairs person banging around but can't hear actual music or TV, but he bowls or something up there and drives me bonkers, but overall pretty good sound proofing, but its hard to know until your moved into the building and living there to really know how it is.

But generally loud music isn't compatible with condo life, and kids really are not either, but sometimes parents have no other choice, but can find buildings that are mostly 0 or 1 bedroom and limits how many kids are in the building because not many move into 0/1 bed units have kids.

Jerseygirl

AFAIK all modern high rise condos here are made of concrete...all walls are concrete apart from an odd internal wall. We don’t hear a thing...from next door.

Gozit

To be clear, i'm not that loud of a person. I'm not talking having a party in my apartment. But, I do like to listen to some music at night, and might have people over to have a few drinks, and don't want to have to be super mindful of the noise I make. On the same token, I don't want to hear my neighbour's dog barking through the wall.

Even living in suburbia, i've had problems with neighbours getting upset when there's more then 1 car in the driveway and 3 mates drinking beer and watching movies, having cops show up at 8pm for a noise complaint on a Friday. So when one has experiences like that it makes you think "I definitely wouldn't want to live in a condo"

BristolUK

Something like this?



Gozit

Interesting, good info...I suppose reviews are likely available online for most buildings. Modern would definitely be a requirement for me.

Generally the nicer a building is probably filters out the amount of families with kids or pets...because if they can afford the nice condo they can probably also afford to live in a home more suited for family- or pet life. Especially outside the big cities Toronto and Van etc.