Condo or House in Los Feliz: What Do You Give Up and Gain in Space?

In Los Feliz, a condo usually gives you less private space than a house at a similar price, and more shared space you do not have to run yourself. You give up a private yard, extra rooms and room to expand. You gain common areas, and in some buildings amenities, that the association maintains with everyone's fees.

That is the short answer. The useful answer depends on how you plan to use the space. At Rooster Homes™ we start every condo or house conversation with that question, because the right trade-off for one plan is the wrong one for another. This post walks through the space side of the choice. The other posts in this series cover privacy, price per square foot, maintenance and rental potential.

Private outdoor space. A house usually comes with a yard, even a small one. A condo may have a balcony or a patio. Many units have neither. Where a balcony or patio exists, it is often what California law calls exclusive use common area. You use it, but it is part of the building, and the association's rules shape what you can do there.

Room to add on. A house owner can apply to the City to add a room or a second story. A condo owner cannot add square footage to the unit, because the walls, floor and roof around it belong to the building. Changes inside the unit often need association approval too.

A garage you control. Many condo buildings assign parking spaces. Some assign one space per unit. A few sell or rent extra spaces. A house with a garage or driveway gives you parking, storage and a workshop in one place. In a condo, those three things are usually separate questions.

Storage. Attics, basements and side yards are where house owners keep bikes, tools and holiday boxes. A condo may include a storage locker. It may include nothing beyond the closets.

Shared space someone else runs. Depending on the building, a condo can come with a pool, a gym, a lobby, a courtyard, a roof deck or a gated garage. Each one is a room you use without mowing, cleaning or repairing it. The fee pays for it, and the association hires the people who keep it running.

Space that fits the way you live. Some buyers use every room in a house. Others heat, clean and furnish rooms they rarely open. For them, a smaller unit with the same number of rooms they actually use is a gain, not a loss. Our guide to downsizing into a Los Feliz condo goes deeper on that move.

Single-level living. Many condos sit on one floor, often with an elevator in the building. Many hillside houses have stairs from the street and stairs inside. If stairs are a concern, that difference matters more than the square footage number.

Square footage on a listing is a starting point, not a measurement you can rely on to the foot. It can come from county records, a past appraisal, the builder's plans or a measurement the seller ordered. Each source can land on a different number for the same home.

Condos add a second layer. The unit's square footage generally counts the living space inside it. It usually leaves out the balcony, the parking space, the storage locker and the common areas you share. A house's square footage also leaves out the yard and the garage, but you own those outright.

So a 1,200 square foot condo and a 1,200 square foot house are not the same amount of space in practice. One comes with a lot and a garage. The other comes with a share of the building. The listing number does not show that difference. The CC&Rs and the condo plan do. If the exact size matters to your decision, have it measured during your inspection period.

Here is the method we use with buyers who are weighing both.

1. List how you will use the space. A home office, guests who stay a week, a car and a bike, a dog, a piano. Write it down before touring.
2. Count usable rooms, not total square feet. A long hallway adds footage without adding a room you can use.
3. List what sits outside the unit. For a condo, that means the parking space, the storage and the shared amenities. For a house, it means the yard, the garage and any outbuilding.
4. Read the rules on the shared space. Pool hours, guest limits, gym access and roof deck reservations are in the house rules. They decide how much of the shared space is really yours.
5. Price the space you give up. If you will rent a storage unit or a parking space elsewhere, add that to your monthly number.

Our full buying method, from the first meeting to the keys, is on how we help you buy in Los Feliz.

• Comparing square footage alone. Instead, compare usable rooms and what comes with the home outside the walls.
• Counting the amenities as free space. Instead, read the house rules. A pool you can use only on set hours is still a good amenity, but it is not a backyard.
• Assuming the parking comes with the unit. Instead, check whether the space is deeded, assigned or rented, and how many spaces there are.
• Planning a remodel before reading the CC&Rs. Instead, read the rules on flooring, walls and plumbing first. Some changes need board approval.

These are hypothetical examples, not real clients or real homes.

A buyer who works from home. A buyer tours a two-bedroom condo and a small house at a similar price. The house has a yard the buyer will rarely use. The condo has a second bedroom that works as an office, plus a building gym. The buyer counts rooms by use and chooses the condo.

A buyer with tools and a car project. Another buyer looks at the same two homes. The condo has one assigned space and a small locker. The house has a detached garage. For this buyer, the garage is the deciding room, and the house wins.

Same two homes, two right answers. The difference is the list of uses written down before the tours.

Rooster Homes™ is a Los Feliz, Los Angeles real estate brokerage owned by Brandon and Sarah Arlington (DRE #02051216) helping buyers and sellers of Los Feliz condos and townhomes. We tour both kinds of homes with you and read the building's documents before you offer on a condo. Where a listing has a 3D tour, we walk it with you first, so your in-person visits go to the short list.

New to buying? Start with buying a condo in Los Feliz. When you are ready to talk, send us a note. Let us know what works best for you, and we will coordinate our schedule around yours.