I remember that all-wrong phrase that struck me once: “Condos and Condos are two big differences”… but barring a weird way of expressing the thought, it is true
There are hundreds of condos in Daytona Beach area and they are different. Different in many senses. Different in price, location, level of comfort (everybody calls them luxury, of course), the lifestyle they offer… you name it.
Sometimes people are trying to say that living in condo is a lifestyle, but it is really not. Walls are not lifestyle. Living in a beachside condo surrounded by a golf course, like Cloverleaf, Oceans Grand and Oceans West in Daytona Beach Shores, and The Links in Ponce Inlet is very different to living in Marina Grand on the Halifax with distinctly different ambience, grounds, feel… And it is different from living in those direct oceanfront condominium buildings dotting the beach from Ormond Beach to Ponce Inlet, where life pretty much centers around the Beach and the ocean…
We have unique very high end developments (by Central Florida standards) in Flagler County. Hammock Dunes, Ocean Hammock, Hammock Beach... They stretch miles along the ocean, have golf courses… but the feel can’t be more distinctly different.
In Hammock Dunes you would have to give your newborn to get through the gate. It is a secluded and very private place … No wonder Russian mafia guys liked to buy or rent there, and kept their families there…
And Hammock Beach, thought off like a place where life does not stop. Short term rentals are OK, there is a gate, but in years I have simply used another entrance, 100 yards father, where there are no gates.
There are condos, where very owners live full time, and my friends, living in small and very private oceanfront condo just a few-minute walk from my condo, are joking that the community pool there is their personal, as there is no community. And when they suddenly see people in their pool, they share the news with us. This rare event is worth noting.
Some people would envy it. Some people want just that. As much privacy as they can get in a condo. My condo is different. In our 120-unit buidling about half of owners are full time, and it is as good as you can get in Daytona area. We have wonderful snowbirds, coming year after year, and owners and the Board (which is very important) love them. We have a Welcome party in the Fall, when they come, and we have a Farewell party in the spring, when they leave…
And we have other parties. We have morning coffee time from time in our social room, we have parties first Friday of the month, and we have parties for national Holidays, or some special events…
It is not the first condo we own, and we never participated in any activities. We were working (and still do) long hours, and we stayed away, did not know people around, and it was fine.
Not this time. We do not plan on ever moving from this condo, so we decided to blend in, and we are glad we did it. I am walking often with a big camera with expensive professional lenses, and it fooled them into believing that it automatically means that I am a good photographer, with is not, but I started taking pictures of the events. Yes, it takes time for post processing, but this is fine with me…
The social component in condo might be as important as the walls and amenities. And as we get older, it is even more important.
So, yes, “Condos and Condos are two big differences”
If you are thinking about a condo, it is not only the price and location, it is also a lifestyle unique to this particular condo. And it is important to understand, as better to love it and accept it... or to look for another condo. Sometimes we know, so do not by shy to ask.
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