Why I like neighborhood condos

[John M.]

A great asset often overlooked is the ground floor condo of a midsize building on main street usa

Here are the benefits:

They are generally small in size 

They can be used as office or retail

Easy to rent 

Around the clock foot traffic since they are in a neighborhood 

affordable as You can buy these individually

No TI since they are just a box

No roof, Landscaping, or parking lot to deal with as they are taken care of by the association

The association acts like a built in property manager.  

The association provides security, fire alarm systems, snow removal, and other added benefits that you don’t have to pay for

The tenant pays the association fees!

The HOA has insurance coverage on your asset (but get your own to insure detailed coverage)

Its one of the Easiest of assets to manage!

[Chris Mason]

Quote from @Bryan Mitchell:

Quote from @John M.:

A great asset often overlooked is the ground floor condo of a midsize building on main street usa

Here are the benefits:

They are generally small in size 

They can be used as office or retail

Easy to rent 

Around the clock foot traffic since they are in a neighborhood 

affordable as You can buy these individually

No TI since they are just a box

No roof, Landscaping, or parking lot to deal with as they are taken care of by the association

The association acts like a built in property manager.  

The association provides security, fire alarm systems, snow removal, and other added benefits that you don’t have to pay for

The tenant pays the association fees!

The HOA has insurance coverage on your asset (but get your own to insure detailed coverage)

Its one of the Easiest of assets to manage!

Yes, but HOAs can and often do restrict or even prohibit rentals. I've personally fought to keep my SFH as a rental in a restrictive HOA neighborhood. Also, while you make some great points about the things that an HOA cover, they can severely eat into your cash flow. I've seen as little as $30 a month up to $600 a month. Usually the higher the HOA the more they provide but they don't directly add to the rents. I'd agree in some unique cases, you can bake the HOA into the rent, but you'd really need to buy the asset right to do this, remain at market rents, pay all expenses, and show a profit.Also, when I say restrict rentals, this could be long and/or short term rentals. I'd prefer my options open.

 Pretty sure he's not talking about opening a shop in a residential condo. He's talking about "retail on the bottom, residential upstairs."

Random visual: