By Steve Traiman
Pros & Cons of Condo Living
As editor Pete Roos noted last month, as a St. Pete Beach condo owner for 35 years, we’ve also had a New Jersey home for 31 years.
After selling our home and buying our condo, we were able to rent it for 10 years, four months yearly, and paid off 90% of our mortgage when we moved here in 1999.
That’s why I’m well qualified to share these useful hints over the next months for those considering a condo move.
Over the next months we’ll cover:
- Insurance
- Security
- Pets
- State-required inspections on foundations & roofs
- Fully funded reserve effects on condo fees
- Amenities (pools, shuffleboard, paddleboard courts, event space, boat docks)
- Length of rentals
- • Mail service
With the widespread damage from Helene and Milton, our story this month is focused on insurance. As the Tampa Bay Times noted in late January, the state’s third quarter report had good news for condo owners: the average cost to cover a unit increased just 1.3% for the second straight quarter to $1,737 after rising 5.9% between the same quarters in 2023.The average cost of commercial coverage for condo associations, after doubling between similar quarters from 2022 to 2023, declined by 3% to $142,909 in 2024.
At the same time, changes in average premiums for all-perils coverage of single-family homes by insurers with at least 1,000 policies ranged from an average 37.8% increase to a 6.6% decrease.
These dramatic figures highlight some of the important advantages from condo living in our state and we will continue to cover some others in the coming months.
[Editor’s Note: Special thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for its excellent coverage of this important topic.]
[Steve Traiman is CEO of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman, offering full-range business writing services. He is reachable by email at traimancreativecopy@gmail.com or phone to 727-798-4746]