Are you sure you’ll have the cash flow to handle association dues, maintenance, taxes, special assessments, and so on? If so I think you might be able to make the case for buying.
I think the condo market has a way to go before hitting rock bottom, but even so I’d imagine it would recover within a five-year time frame. And there’s always the risk that inflation will eat up whatever investment return you can get on $200K over five years.
Plus it would really suck to move in the middle of grad school. Spoken from the POV of someone who gave up after losing all his thesis notes.
As others have mentioned, there’s not much in that part of town in your price range. Investigate your transportation options carefully — parking isn’t so great, the trolley doesn’t go there, and the nearest Coaster station is a 20-minute shuttle ride away.
