Should I buy a condo in a converted church?

Moni, What do you think is weird about it? If you're worried that you are somehow desecrating the church by living in it, you're not. Churches are deconsecrated before they are sold. It is now just a building. It is no longer a church. So if you like it, you're going to get to live in a really cool building with a story to tell.

Moni, I am going to answer a different question than the one you asked, and I hope you will forgive me. You asked whether it is weird to live in a converted church. The thread above says no, it is your home, you need to be comfortable, and that is all true and kind. But "is it weird" is not the question that can cost you money. The question that can cost you money is what is holding that building up, and who pays when it needs work. A converted church is not really a condo building. It is a historic shell with condos inside it. And historic shells are expensive in ways that ordinary buildings are not: 1. Slate or copper roofs, which are gorgeous and cost multiples of asphalt to repair 2. A bell tower or steeple, which is a maintenance liability with no residents in it 3. Stained glass and leaded windows, which cannot be swapped at the local window shop 4. Masonry and mortar, which needs repointing on a schedule most people have never heard of Now here is the part that makes it sharp: all of that gets divided among however many units are in there. A church conversion is usually a small number of units. So a large historic maintenance bill divided by a small number of owners is a special assessment with your name on it. So before you think about whether you can get over the vibe, get these documents: 1. The reserve study, and the current reserve funding level. This tells you whether the association has actually saved for the roof, or whether they are planning to send you a bill for it. 2. The special assessment history. Have they already had to do this? How often? How big? 3. Two years of board meeting minutes. This is where the truth lives. Minutes are where you find out about the leak they have been arguing about for three years. 4. The master insurance policy. Insuring a historic masonry structure is its own adventure, and you want to know what it costs and what it excludes. Then the financing question, which almost nobody asks in time. Ask your lender whether the project is warrantable. Conventional financing has standards a condo project has to meet, and things like a small unit count, a chunk of commercial space in the building, a high percentage of investor-owned units, underfunded reserves, or pending litigation can make a project non-warrantable. If it is, your loan options narrow and get more expensive. And the important second-order effect: if it is hard for you to finance, it will be hard for your buyer to finance. That is the resale risk, and it is far more concrete than aesthetics. A building that only cash buyers and portfolio lenders can touch has a much smaller market. Also ask whether the building is on a historic register. If it is, there may be real restrictions on what you can change, especially windows and anything exterior. Sometimes there are tax credits that come with it too. Either way you want to know before, not after. Now, to your actual question, briefly. Is it weird? A little, and that is mostly the point. These conversions tend to have things a new-build cannot buy: twenty-foot ceilings, arched windows, light you cannot replicate. The people who want that really want it. Your buyer pool is smaller but it is passionate. In a city like Boston, where that kind of building has genuine cachet, I would worry much less about the church part than about the roof part. If the reserve study is healthy and the project is warrantable, buy the church and enjoy the windows. If the reserves are thin, walk away, and it will have nothing to do with it being a church. I am a real estate professional, not an attorney, a lender, or an insurance agent, so have a local attorney review the condo docs. In Massachusetts that is standard practice anyway. I work in Los Angeles and the South Bay, so Boston is not my market. If you would like, I am glad to connect you with a strong Boston agent who has actually handled adaptive-reuse condos, because that specific experience matters more here than it would on a normal listing. Zoltan

There is a similar property in my area. It was converted many years ago and it is a very popular building. I am seeing churches converted into a number of things. One of my favorite restaurants is in a converted church. This will be your home, so you need to be comfortable. I don't think there is any investment concern that is based on the fact that it was a church.

Totally fair question — and no, it is not weird to consider it. Converted church condos can be beautiful and full of character: high ceilings, great windows, unique architecture, and details you do not find in a typical condo. The bigger question is whether you feel comfortable living there. I would look at two things: First, how does it feel when you are inside? Peaceful and interesting, or does the history of the building distract you? Second, how practical is it as a home? With any converted building, review the condo docs, reserves, insurance, maintenance responsibilities, sound, layout, and resale potential. My advice: go back for a second showing. Picture your daily life there. If it feels like home, great. If you still feel like you are trying to talk yourself into it, that may be your answer.