Hi, MasterStf. My reply is in contrast to OneDollar's, because we purchased a condo as our first home and it was an excellent choice for us. While there are some drawbacks, there are some strong benefits to condos that make them worth considering.
OneDollar listed many of them: Exterior maintenance, and often interior systems such as plumbing and ductwork, are handled through the association. In addition, many condo associations have amenities that are cost-prohibitive in single-family homes (swimming pools, tennis courts, facilities for hosting large gatherings, exercise facilities, expansive manicured grounds, playgrounds, savings on trash and recycling due to economies of scale). As OneDollar mentioned, the opportunities for social contact are high. Condos are often located in walkable neighborhoods with excellent public transit access (as our is).
Finally, because condos are frequently at the less-expensive end of the housing spectrum, there's a larger pool of potential buyers than more expensive homes have. This means that they may be easier to sell.
Downsides include dysfunctional HOA boards and the challenges of communal living. Because you own a share of the entire complex, you have to prioritize how money is spent and can't necessarily have what you want exactly when you want it.
We purchased our condo (2 bedrooms, 980 square feet, carport, 1000square foot fenced yard) in 2002. We aggressively paid down the mortgage and eleven years later refinanced it and pulled enough money out to put a down payment on a single-family home in our neighborhood . We moved to the larger home and have been able to keep the condo as a rental (unlike OneDollar's, our HOA allows long-term rentals) and it currently pays for itself. We are planning to keep it as a rental, with an eye towards possibly having it as housing for our parents some day if they need to move closer to us. If they don't need to use it, we'll continue renting and have that be part of our cash flow in retirement.
As to whether or not to purchase a condo: part of the reason we purchased ours was that we live in an expensive housing market that was skyrocketing when we were looking for a home, and we ran the numbers and realized that if we waited longer to save up a larger downpayment we'd get priced out of the market entirely. We could get into a condo and ride the appreciation tide up while we saved for a larger home. Homeownership is emotionally important to us, so this was worthwhile. We basically used the condo to wedge our foot in the door of homeownership.
I think a condo is a great choice for a home if:
1. You are OK with the idea of semi-communal living. These are not privately owned homes; they are common-interest homes and as such you'll need to be willing to interact with all of your neighbors on decisions that affect you all. If you want to do things your own way when you want them, a homeowner's association may be a challenging environment for you.
2. You want a low-maintenance home.
3. You aren't deeply attached to the idea of a single-family home. If you are, you'll always think of the condo as second-best and won't really be able to engage with your life there -- so you won't feel as rewarded by homeownership as you might otherwise.
4. You're OK living in fairly close proximity to your neighbors and are a neighborly person.
5. You're willing to contribute some volunteer time serving on the HOA board or committee. As a long-time HOA Board member, I can tell you that decisions on how to spend the budget don't get made by themselves.
As far as when to purchase, I'd say when you have the down payment saved and know that you can handle the monthly expenses. Buying all of your furniture at once and purchasing a new car within the same time period may sound nice, but run the numbers first, and prioritize what is really important to you. Buying a new car before you have a home means the car is more important to you than the home, because you may not qualify for as much of a mortgage if you've got a car loan.
Also, I have a final piece of totally unsolicited advice: I had a boyfriend who bought a home without asking my opinion about its location, design, community or amenities. This would have been fine, except he expected me to live with him (he did not ask me about this before he bought the home, either). If you're living with your girlfriend now, and you expect to continue to live together after you buy the home, it's probably worth it to include her as a reasonably equal partner in your home-hunting and to take her preferences and concerns -- including financial ones -- into consideration. My boyfriend's actions spoke very clearly -- he didn't consider me a partner or even someone whose opinion was worth soliciting -- and that's not what I was looking for in a long-term relationship. We amicably broke up shortly thereafter.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!