It sounds like you are holding all the cards. My guess is that you would prefer to buy the place you are currently in (for a fair price).

If the market for your rental condos is in the $450K range, then offer the owner 440 and do the transaction without any real estate agents. You save on moving costs. He saves the real estate agent’s fees. You have a good idea of the property already and you could pay a lawyer by the hour to help with paperwork.

If he says no, show him the sold comps. In my opinion there should not be that great of a disparity in condo prices and he will eventually learn that his condo is not special (and you will learn that people won’t sell a huge amount below market). Until he realizes that, keep renting at half price.

If you are really an evil person at heart, tell him if he does not accept your offer, you will not allow him to show the property anymore, stop paying rent, and become a holdover tenant.

It sounds like you are holding all the cards. My guess is that you would prefer to buy the place you are currently in (for a fair price).

If the market for your rental condos is in the $450K range, then offer the owner 440 and do the transaction without any real estate agents. You save on moving costs. He saves the real estate agent’s fees. You have a good idea of the property already and you could pay a lawyer by the hour to help with paperwork.

If he says no, show him the sold comps. In my opinion there should not be that great of a disparity in condo prices and he will eventually learn that his condo is not special (and you will learn that people won’t sell a huge amount below market). Until he realizes that, keep renting at half price.

If you are really an evil person at heart, tell him if he does not accept your offer, you will not allow him to show the property anymore, stop paying rent, and become a holdover tenant.

It sounds like you are holding all the cards. My guess is that you would prefer to buy the place you are currently in (for a fair price).

If the market for your rental condos is in the $450K range, then offer the owner 440 and do the transaction without any real estate agents. You save on moving costs. He saves the real estate agent’s fees. You have a good idea of the property already and you could pay a lawyer by the hour to help with paperwork.

If he says no, show him the sold comps. In my opinion there should not be that great of a disparity in condo prices and he will eventually learn that his condo is not special (and you will learn that people won’t sell a huge amount below market). Until he realizes that, keep renting at half price.

If you are really an evil person at heart, tell him if he does not accept your offer, you will not allow him to show the property anymore, stop paying rent, and become a holdover tenant.

If you can buy a place that you are comfortable living in for ~1x your income that would roughly cash flow as a rental, I would call that a no-brainer.

Monthly payments on a 400K loan would be in the 6-7% range of your income. Many people could afford that as a second home.

If you dedicated ~20% of your income (less than the average houshold devotes to housing) to paying off the property, you could pay it off in 5 years and own it free and clear and then go find your dream home.

Buying your unit or a similar unit to live in for a few years seems to be a low-risk obvious solution to me.

If you can buy a place that you are comfortable living in for ~1x your income that would roughly cash flow as a rental, I would call that a no-brainer.

Monthly payments on a 400K loan would be in the 6-7% range of your income. Many people could afford that as a second home.

If you dedicated ~20% of your income (less than the average houshold devotes to housing) to paying off the property, you could pay it off in 5 years and own it free and clear and then go find your dream home.

Buying your unit or a similar unit to live in for a few years seems to be a low-risk obvious solution to me.

The more I look at what is happening to our currency the more I am convinced that taking advantage of low rates is a good idea. The fed/treasury and the powers that be that pull their strings were successful in convincing our society that they had no choice but to save the world when they bailed out Wall St. Now we are told that the recovery is underway and that this was really the only path we could have taken. The destruction of our currency is a slow process that will continue over the next few years. One day we will look back on the good old days and we will lament the rates we have right now.

With that said I think those that take advantage of this opportunity will look back and be happy they took advantage of the low rates today. So if you can find a condo you like then go for it. Agreed as well that if you can work a deal with the current owner without involving any agents you both can share in saving money. However since it is already listed that will be tough. I would also advise you to wait the seller out. Lets see how they feel in May after 4 a few months on the market.

The more I look at what is happening to our currency the more I am convinced that taking advantage of low rates is a good idea. The fed/treasury and the powers that be that pull their strings were successful in convincing our society that they had no choice but to save the world when they bailed out Wall St. Now we are told that the recovery is underway and that this was really the only path we could have taken. The destruction of our currency is a slow process that will continue over the next few years. One day we will look back on the good old days and we will lament the rates we have right now.

With that said I think those that take advantage of this opportunity will look back and be happy they took advantage of the low rates today. So if you can find a condo you like then go for it. Agreed as well that if you can work a deal with the current owner without involving any agents you both can share in saving money. However since it is already listed that will be tough. I would also advise you to wait the seller out. Lets see how they feel in May after 4 a few months on the market.