Apartment Shopping

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Now that my HOA has increased our monthly dues to astronomical levels. We are doing a deed in lieu of foreclosure and vamping out of the condo. Freaking apartments here are dang expensive! Trying to stay in the suburbs where the schools are good is costly. Devil Woman won't move to the country, I've already tried that. Anyway the decent 2 bedrooms are going for anywhere between 780 up to 1200 and beyond. I'm trying to stay in the 850 at the most range. Those are the prices on the less than 20 year old properties outside our current city of residence. Anything inside our current city is priced at 850 plus and are 40 to 60 years old. Well the Devil Woman has somehow got it in her head that we need to rent a 2 bedroom apartment that is 980 before utilities and everything else, that is 40 years old. Mainly because the extra 6 miles distance is going to kill our gas mileage. Her best female friend living in those units is another reason of hers. Im sorry but seeing as how this friend isn't hot or freaky. I see no reason to forgo that kind of money, for a sub par apartment. Not like I can afford it either. Especially not when I can get a 2 bedroom 2.5 bath with two garden tubs and gated entrance for 15 dollars less a month.

[Root beer]

Get rid of the devil. Apartment here in Tuscaloosa are 700-850 for 1 bedroom just for rent.

[Fishing Rhino]

Buy a home.  Build equity.  I've never understood condos and townhouses as far as economic considerations go.  I get the idea that you don't have to mow the lawn, shovel snow, paint and repair the outside of the building, but from strictly a dollars and cents perspective owning a home you can afford is the better deal.

 

Yeah, I know, tell that to all the folks who are upside down with their mortgages. 

 

The problem with home ownership seems to be that most folks do not want a starter home.  They want a 3000 square foot McMansion in a nice suburb.  Then they try to keep up with the Joneses.  Here comes the company to install irrigation to keep their lawn plush and green.  The 3000 dollar riding mower they bought last year sits unused in the garage this year, because they hire a landscaping company to tend to their grounds.  In goes a swimming pool and an addition.  No window air conditioners.  Must have central air.

 

These are all nice things.  But too many get in way over their heads because they want them yesterday, not tomorrow.

[MCS]

Buying a home is easier said then done. I am in a similar situation Raider, I did a shortsale due to work. Trying to buy, currently renting. The market is crazy, the banks are crazy. All I have to say is good luck Raider I know what you mean.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Buy a home.  Build equity.  I've never understood condos and townhouses as far as economic considerations go.  I get the idea that you don't have to mow the lawn, shovel snow, paint and repair the outside of the building, but from strictly a dollars and cents perspective owning a home you can afford is the better deal.

 

Yeah, I know, tell that to all the folks who are upside down with their mortgages. 

 

The problem with home ownership seems to be that most folks do not want a starter home.  They want a 3000 square foot McMansion in a nice suburb.  Then they try to keep up with the Joneses.  Here comes the company to install irrigation to keep their lawn plush and green.  The 3000 dollar riding mower they bought last year sits unused in the garage this year, because they hire a landscaping company to tend to their grounds.  In goes a swimming pool and an addition.  No window air conditioners.  Must have central air.

 

These are all nice things.  But too many get in way over their heads because they want them yesterday, not tomorrow.

We bought that condo to flip. It was never anything more than that. The freaking market crashed right after we bought it and I got stuck in it.

[Bankbeater]

We lived in an apartment for 5 years after we were married.  All I can say is take pictures of the place before you move into it so that you have proof of existing problems.  If you don't the owner may try to stick you with the bill when you move out.

[Nice_Bass]

deed in lieu of foreclosure

Treated about the same as foreclosure.  4 years after you re-establish credit scores so with max loan to values of 90%.  7 years with the max loan to value of the products limit. 

 

Sometimes it is necessary, but I would not expect anyone to lend you money for a while...

[Raider Nation Fisher]

deed in lieu of foreclosure

Treated about the same as foreclosure.  4 years after you re-establish credit scores so with max loan to values of 90%.  7 years with the max loan to value of the products limit. 

 

Sometimes it is necessary, but I would not expect anyone to lend you money for a while...

Your gonna have to break that down for me.

Yeah I don't for see us getting loans anytime soon. However in 9 months I'm gonna be completely debt free. So hopefully that will help some.

[SirSnookalot]

Building equity is the way the go, starting modestly within ones budget and upgrading every 6 or 7 years, when equity and income have risen.

At present home ownership would be difficult at best.  Being debt free is not the only consideration a lending institution takes into account.  Fico score, credit history, cash on hand and income.

Buying my home 2005 at near the top of the real estate market my home has declined considerably in value.  Being underwater I qualified to remortgage (I forget the name of the program), what a nightmare.  Fico scores over 800, excellent credit history, ample income in retirement, cash on hand to buy the home outright and they still screwed me around.  Changed the LTV qualifications in midstream, meaning I had to come up with more cash at closing that I was originally quoted, took about 4 months, and with my background that I thought was pretty good only 1 company would even talk to me.  All said and done, I'm glad I did it.

[tomustang]

 I've never understood condos and townhouses as far as economic considerations go. 

 

No property tax, it's never really yours according to the govt, just doesn't settle well with some.

 

It's a huge investment with a huge gamble if you lose your income. that's how they foreclose, plop down your 20-30% and get canned 6 months after you signed the mortgage. It's the risk people are learning the hard way.

[Fishing Rhino]

No property tax, it's never really yours according to the govt, just doesn't settle well with some.

 

It's a huge investment with a huge gamble if you lose your income. that's how they foreclose, plop down your 20-30% and get canned 6 months after you signed the mortgage. It's the risk people are learning the hard way.

 

No property tax?   Whatever fees or rents a person pays factors in the cost of property taxes. 

 

Part of the problem with the housing crash was that they were writing mortgages with little or no money down, not 20 - 30%.  In fact, the prices of homes were inflated when the mortgages were written to get around needing a large down payment.

 

When I was a kid, 60+ years ago, most "developments" consisted of small houses, often referred to as "cracker boxes", the term meaning tiny.  Most were cottages with two bedrooms, that had less than a thousand square feet of living area, on a quarter acre of land.  For the average Joe who wanted to get out of the city, they were modest and affordable.

 

No one wants to build one of those houses today.  Zoning laws changed to prevent "overcrowding" and minimum lot sizes became an acre to two acres.  Our first home, bought in 1965 was built on a quarter acre lot.  Our second, built in 1969 was on a half acre lot.  In 1972, we moved to Westport, and the minimum lot size was, and still is 60,000 square feet, with a minimum of 150 feet of frontage on a roadway.

 

Part of the reason that small homes are no longer being built in numbers is that property prices have gone through the ceiling.  Buildable lots in Westport sell for 100,000 dollars and up, depending on location.  No one wants to build a "cracker box" on a hundred thou plus piece of property.   In 1972, buildable lots in Westport could be had for less than 20,000 dollars.  They peaked eight or so years ago when 150,000 to 175,000 was what you could expect to pay for a buildable lot.

[SirSnookalot]

Property tax is figured into the rent, except the tenant is not allowed a tax deduction.

As with any non secured investment there is risk, risk promotes reward but it always doesn't work out that way.  Whether 5% or 20% is put down if one can ride out the housing storm, in time the investment should work out fine.  Sales in homes and values have been rising, there is a ways to go but it will be back.

The question has always been, a box of rental receipts or home ownership.  We get tax advantages and equity appreciation with ownership, but we also get incidental repairs, maintenance, new roofs, replacement windows, new furnaces and A/C, landscaping machines and tools or hiring a landscaper.  I probably omitted 1000 other items plus having less disposable income because so much was spent on the home, less real cash can be saved.

 

Not recommending one lifestyle over another, each has to seek their own path.

[deaknh03]

Perhaps a rent with an option to buy might be best for you raider. we are selling soon, and moving to a larger house, bigger yard, quiet neighborhood, and the house owner is renting, as we both agreed that would be best now, but our rent is going towards equity, and we will most likely purchase the house in a years time.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Perhaps a rent with an option to buy might be best for you raider. we are selling soon, and moving to a larger house, bigger yard, quiet neighborhood, and the house owner is renting, as we both agreed that would be best now, but our rent is going towards equity, and we will most likely purchase the house in a years time.

That's going to be our next step. We signed a lease for an apartment down the road from us yesterday. We are gonna take at least the next 12 months to get our finances back where they need to be. I will be completely debt free next April. After that we are gonna start saving for a house or looking for a rent to own property.

[Root beer]

How funny is the timing of this thread and me coming across this survey on my lunch? http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-cities-where-its-cheaper-to-buy-than-rent-2013-07-01