I like my condo. Even though part of why I live in one is cost, another part is that I hate dealing with maintenance. I think it would've been a big transition to go from apartment living, where none of that is my problem, to a house where I'd have to coordinate roofers, gardeners, pool guy, etc. By living in a condo I can outsource a lot of those problems to the HOA, and (in theory, maybe not in practice) benefit from economies of scale