Condos: Any advice/Tips on purchasing one?

[Mario Lowe]

Ever since I joined BP I have immersed myself in information to the point where I find mysef talking about real estate constantly with my friends and coworkers. 

I convinced a friend of mine that buying his own house would be way cheaper than constantly paying rent, he agreed but sad he'd rather have a loft/condo because of lower upkeep. We found a lot of great deals on condos that wouldn't cost him a fortune...

The problem is I don't know that much about condos besides the HOA horror stories I've heard on the site.

Do you have any tips/things to look out for when buying a condo? What makes a great condo?How do you vet the HOA (if they have one) and should you avoid them if the do have