Cost of Maintenance (New Condo vs. Pre-owned House)
 

Hi everyone,

Like the title suggests, on average, which of the two cost more to maintain in the long run? Buying a brand new 700-800 sq. ft. condo or a 50-60 years old pre-owned house in Vancouver?

It really depends on the different factors (how well you live and maintain the place, what kind of 50-60 yr old house you are getting, etc)

For a brand new condo:
Maintenance is $0.35-0.40 per sq/ft this is the ongoing maintenance fees you pay to the strata to run and maintain the building.
For a new condo there really shouldn't be any problems in the inside of the suite unless it was constructed poorly or if the person living treats the suite really bad.

1 month 700 sq ft maintenance fees: $225
5 Years: $13,500

For the old house:
You won't see the ongoing monthly outlays but there could be a host of issues if the house is not well maintained.
Generally the big ticket items for maintenance is the roof and furnace. Replacement for the roof or furnace can be anywhere from $8-20K and last 10-20 years

I've seen 100 year old houses that are gutted to the studs and renovated to the max (the budget is the sky's the limit). Even though the house is 100 years old cause of all the updates the useful life can last another 50-70 years with minimal maintenance in the first 10 years.

Hope this helps!
Hope this helps.

Let's just say a home that is pretty wrecked, where I need to buy new appliances, new floors, new cabinets, paint new walls, paint the exterior, possibly get a new roof. Looking at spending about 100K on initial reno's.

How long do you plan on keeping this house? How much is the initial asking price and what is the market price for that area?

If you plan on keeping the house for many years, and the house is bought cheap enough, then it might be worth buying it over a newer condo.

There are a lot of unknown factors to really give any better suggestions.

What's the appraised value at with economic life on the 50-60 year old property.
What did the building inspector say?

Most likely, your 50-60 year home is worth roughly the same as a honda civic right now. (check bc assessment.). That said all the value's in the land. So thats where your long run is.

And it dpends on what you plan to do with where you live. Staying for life, or a flipper.

We need more info for a fair assessment. Why are you buying? Are you going to live in it or rent it out? Do you own a place now? Is this your first place? ect......

You're comparison makes no sense because you're not comparing apples to apples here.

You're talking about buying a home and then doing a full renovation on it vs paying strata in a condo that needs no renovations.

In terms of actual dollars, the home will be more expensive however the ROI will be far greater then the condo.

Also consider that if you're condo ends up being a leaker, you could be slapped with a $40,000 bill to help fix it. Plenty of this has happened in the past and while not likely, is always a possibility.

There are too many variables (as the other people above have pointed out) to really give you a fair answer. Investment wise, you're better off with the home in almost every single case.