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Replies (5)
- wetdawgs
- Contributions:26854
Welcome the Zillow.
The ideal home for an individual (male or female) has a lot of "it depends". How do you like to live your life? Do you like to putter in the garden, bang around in the workshop doing projects, pull your motorcycle apart during the weekend to get it in top most condition, dry out your tents in garage?
OR, do you like to enjoy the opera and symphony, have no interest in home maintenance, hate gardening, don't mind sharing walls and/or floor - ceilings, love the politics of HOAs, etc etc.
What I shared are stereotypes. In my area, condos have much bigger swings in prices with them taking longer to recover. Condos can be harder to rent, as there are often restrictions in the number of renters. Some condos have difficulties in getting approval for loans.
Is it possible you will become less single, perhaps adding a partner or even a partner and little munchkins over the next 5 to 10 years? Starter homes can be a headache when one needs to sell in a year or three.
The ideal home for an individual (male or female) has a lot of "it depends". How do you like to live your life? Do you like to putter in the garden, bang around in the workshop doing projects, pull your motorcycle apart during the weekend to get it in top most condition, dry out your tents in garage?
OR, do you like to enjoy the opera and symphony, have no interest in home maintenance, hate gardening, don't mind sharing walls and/or floor - ceilings, love the politics of HOAs, etc etc.
What I shared are stereotypes. In my area, condos have much bigger swings in prices with them taking longer to recover. Condos can be harder to rent, as there are often restrictions in the number of renters. Some condos have difficulties in getting approval for loans.
Is it possible you will become less single, perhaps adding a partner or even a partner and little munchkins over the next 5 to 10 years? Starter homes can be a headache when one needs to sell in a year or three.
- Tina Castronovo Beliveau, "TinaBeliveau"
- Contributions:1
Generally, in my market (Baltimore, Maryland) a single family home always enjoys better appreciation and resale than a condo. Demand for single family homes is higher, hence stronger prices. However another piece of the decision comes down to what is best for you - how much space do you want, do you want any yard, do you want to have to take care of exterior maintenance such as roofing, landscaping, etc? Do you travel a lot? Do you need everything all on one level? There is a good case for condos depending on your personal circumstances.
- niklesh
- Contributions:2
Thanks for your replies.
I know its a very broad question, but wanted to still throw it out there.. I do plan to add a partner and hopefully kids in the next 5-10 years. Although i think i am not looking for that for the next 2 years.. I travel 75% of the year because of the work that i do(consulting), but i am always home on the weekends. I am looking in Los angeles/Orange county area, have lived majority of my life in a big city , but also enjoy quieter neighborhoods. I ideally would prefer 3 bedrooms ( 1 to be rented out, 1 for guests and 1 master). I do have a long term plan of renting the whole house/condo and moving up to the bay area, but not sure when that would happen. I plan to study more so paying student loans will start after 3 years. At times it seems like a no brainer since a house would provide me a higher resale value whenever i think about selling it, but considering my personal circumstances getting a low maintenance property like a condo / town home sounds like a good idea...
Comments?
I know its a very broad question, but wanted to still throw it out there.. I do plan to add a partner and hopefully kids in the next 5-10 years. Although i think i am not looking for that for the next 2 years.. I travel 75% of the year because of the work that i do(consulting), but i am always home on the weekends. I am looking in Los angeles/Orange county area, have lived majority of my life in a big city , but also enjoy quieter neighborhoods. I ideally would prefer 3 bedrooms ( 1 to be rented out, 1 for guests and 1 master). I do have a long term plan of renting the whole house/condo and moving up to the bay area, but not sure when that would happen. I plan to study more so paying student loans will start after 3 years. At times it seems like a no brainer since a house would provide me a higher resale value whenever i think about selling it, but considering my personal circumstances getting a low maintenance property like a condo / town home sounds like a good idea...
Comments?
- Dan, "the_country_hick"
- Contributions:4700
" At times it seems like a no brainer since a house would provide me a higher resale value whenever i think about selling it"
WRONG!!!
A house will not automatically give you a higher price than you paid for it. A lot of people have found the house they bought in 2006 is now worth much less than they paid for it.
You also have realtor fees and transaction costs that will be somewhere between 8-11% of the selling price. When you take off 9% on a house that sold for 3% more than you paid for it you still LOST 6% on the sale. If instead you sell the house for 7% less than you paid for it and then take off the selling fees you will lose a lot of money.
Look at what interest rates do to buying power and what a given payment can buy for a house (or condo) at a given monthly payment and a given interest rate.
A 30 year $106,000 mortgage costs $493.91 a month at 3.8%.
A 30 year $100,000 mortgage costs $491.94 a month at 4.25%.
A 30 year $82,000 mortgage costs $491.63 a month at 6.00%
A 30 year $69,000 mortgage costs $494.32 a month at 7.75%
A 30 year $56,000 mortgage costs $491.44 a month at 10.0%
Do you see incomes rising dramatically in the next few years? I do not.
The federal reserve has been printing tons of money. That is causing inflation. It will lead to higher interest rates. When that happens house prices will be pushed down even more as can be seen by the numbers above.
Perhaps the links below can be of help.
"Does it make more sense to buy, or to rent? Here is the way to find out for sure."
"Why rent if you could buy for less money? Valid reasons inside."
"Do low interest rates really make it a good time to buy a house?"
WRONG!!!
A house will not automatically give you a higher price than you paid for it. A lot of people have found the house they bought in 2006 is now worth much less than they paid for it.
You also have realtor fees and transaction costs that will be somewhere between 8-11% of the selling price. When you take off 9% on a house that sold for 3% more than you paid for it you still LOST 6% on the sale. If instead you sell the house for 7% less than you paid for it and then take off the selling fees you will lose a lot of money.
Look at what interest rates do to buying power and what a given payment can buy for a house (or condo) at a given monthly payment and a given interest rate.
A 30 year $106,000 mortgage costs $493.91 a month at 3.8%.
A 30 year $100,000 mortgage costs $491.94 a month at 4.25%.
A 30 year $82,000 mortgage costs $491.63 a month at 6.00%
A 30 year $69,000 mortgage costs $494.32 a month at 7.75%
A 30 year $56,000 mortgage costs $491.44 a month at 10.0%
Do you see incomes rising dramatically in the next few years? I do not.
The federal reserve has been printing tons of money. That is causing inflation. It will lead to higher interest rates. When that happens house prices will be pushed down even more as can be seen by the numbers above.
Perhaps the links below can be of help.
"Does it make more sense to buy, or to rent? Here is the way to find out for sure."
"Why rent if you could buy for less money? Valid reasons inside."
"Do low interest rates really make it a good time to buy a house?"
- Cal Caylor, "Cal Caylor"
- Contributions:17
Another important part of the equation is how much are the HOA fees for the condo/townhouse you are looking to buy. In my market (D/FW) these can range anywhere from $80/mo to $800/mo. This money could be used to reduce the principal on a single family home and will kill your ROI when and if you decide to rent. The low maintenance aspect of a condo or townhome can be very attractive to many buyers but that does not include the interior. As many of the posters have said it all really comes down to how you use it, locations available, and finances. I would recommend doing a speadsheet analysis and plug in some assumptions and compare the two investments.
condo vs single family home..Single guy, first time buyer, budget under 300k..
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