Condo Living 101

The many developments around most metropolitan areas have created a man-made weather phenomenon known as micro-climate which tends to trap heat within these urban areas making them hotter than they used to be. The many buildings and spread of concrete and other structures disrupts natural airflow creating islands of heat and smog where pollution from our cars and other activities preventing heat from properly dissipating into the air trapping it beneath our concrete floors and parking lots. that is why we spend billions of dollars for cooling our urban dwellings so cooling it or maintaining the ambient temperature is of utmost importance. Adding more green zones where native plants and trees allows more heat to escape or be absorbed is a good idea and it also helps with the pollution problem to some extent. (more…)

One of the most effective ways to make your condo unit become more homey and livable is to do away with clutter. Even Feng Shui experts say that clutter disrupts the flow of chi, or energy in your home. Having a neat home make it easier for one to live in it and work in it. Simply develop habits that prevent you from leaving clutter, like returning magazines or books to the shelf after they’re read, or washing the dishes at once so that the dirty dishes don’t accumulate in your sink. Untidy habits also invite all sorts of pests like cockroaches and rats and ants, all of which thrive in a dirty and untidy environment. Having less clutter also keeps you away from accidents, like accidentally stepping on a glass you left on the floor while you were watching a movie.

Selling a condo is a tad bit harder than selling a single unit home for there is not much external aesthetics that can be your selling point. So improvements on the inside can help a lot with increasing your chances of getting a buyer quick without costing an arm and a leg.

One of the cheapest ways to improve a condo for selling or just for a change is through a change of color. Yep, good old paint and the good thing is that you could do it on your own cheaply. Get hold of material that would help a lot such as magazines that show current trends and colors that would give your unit a much needed sprucing up. You’d be amazed at how much a change in character a condo unit can get after a re-paint. And who knows, the first buyer you may get in that door maybe your last, selling your condo before you know it.

There are a lot of AC products on the market today that provides not only cooling but air quality improvements allowing germs and other contaminants to be filtered out effectively making for a healthier life. Products from many consumer electronics manufacturers have integrated air purification systems with their AC’s combining the work done by the normal AC and air purifiers using some nifty technologies such as ionization and silver filters that kills germs and bacteria while filtering dust and other contaminants with improved re-usable filters. More filtration for traditional AC’s can be achieved with the use of after-market filters that are treated for bacteriological contaminants and have smaller pores that allows only the air to pass through but traps contaminants in the fibers getting them out of the air we breathe. (more…)

The two share a lot of similarities except for the ownership part where in condominium associations, you are part of a group of owners who owns the units per se. In housing co-op’s the cooperative owns the unit and you are merely a renter, when you move, you either have to sell the unit back to the cooperative or to other buyers and pay the cooperative the cost you bought it for and keep the profits should you have gained any. The ownership of a condominium is similar to single unit homes except for the fact that your piece real estate is on a vertical rather than a horizontal plane.
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