The Five Worsts of Studio Condo Living—and How to Cope!
As a real estate agent focused on condos and lofts, I constantly work with clients sold on the notion of condo living, but undecided whether to pursue an efficiency, one-bedroom or two-bedroom unit. While efficiencies have many charms, they do have some drawbacks. Here are the Five Worst (along with some suggestions for survival):
- Not Having a Room Dedicated for Sleeping. If you are generally a proponent of combining function with form, you may be surprised how much this will annoy you! It can be distracting seeing lights from your kitchen appliances while you’re trying to sleep. A dining room table nearby can exasperate the problem if you have any tendency toward claustrophobia. Survival Tip: Folding screens placed strategically can help a ton! Internet research will reveal a multitude of styles and sizes; I recommend homedecorators.com.
- Downsizing! The Brains Required Upfront! Many downsizers find it immensely satisfying to pare down to the essentials, throwing out what isn’t needed in order to enjoy and invest in what remains dear. Ideally, the sorting process would involve a fair amount of time and deliberation. As a working individual, you may not have it! If you have been living in a larger space for years, and if you are even considering moving into a studio, begin to prepare now! Do not spend time recruiting friends to help you move. Instead, begin to decide what to do with all your stuff!
- Housemates Not Readily an Option. Studios are of course supposed to be a draw in this vein. Most homebuyers are aware that finding appropriate housemates and attempting to collect rent from them can take a lot of time. On the flip side, in the last eighteen months, more and more Americans are awaking each day with an awareness it could their last one on the job. Some of my clients have lived through actual termination scenes. Those who live in studios may dearly wish they could use some of their new free time to pick and manage relationships with roommates!
- Damper on your Social Home Life*. There really is no one to talk to when you are washing floors, cleaning your refrigerator or cleaning your bathtub, yet those things need to be done all the time! Consider downloading sermons or lectures from the Internet to turn the time into contemplation. Condominiums featuring a community room can easily make this one a non-issue.
- Organization Required! If you move into a studio, you will find that you have to completely put away one major project before you can start another. Even if you have generous kitchen facilities—and many newer American studios do—any remotely complicated recipe will require use of your dining room table which is supposed to double as an office. If you lose sight of this constraint, at Christmas time, your popcorn ball syrup you make is going to end up on your work printouts, post it notes, and two-whole punch. When this happens: quickly deal with the doubled and tripled cleanup times. In no time you’ll be back on track toward truly Efficient Living.
Andy Asbury is a Twin Cities based REALTOR® specializing in Minneapolis condos and helping others discover the joy of urban living. To get the latest on information on Minneapolis condominiums visit http://www.MinnesotaLoftsandCondos.com today! Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/the-five-worsts-of-studio-condo-livingand-how-to-cope-1772656.html
