BG, they vary, from those purchased decades ago, to some being bought last year. Some are in more expensive areas than SD and some cheaper. There are to many housing variables and renter demographics to go into here. My point is that I have a certain level of experience beyond just one or two (but not hundreds) and that experience does not jive with some of the generalizations. It’s like what pri mentioned, prices find their true value often times, I believe the trick to good investments is catching them when they are undervalued. Being undervalued often requires other people being blinded by emotions or emotional advice. Horror stories are great for that.
As for right now, I believe the best return on ivestment is the best return on investment. In my area that happens to be condos. Two recent aquisitions in my area are a 150k townhouse that rents for 1500 while a 300k house rents for 2k. The condo carries 250 a month in hoa, but that includes trash, exterior water, landcaping (they actually have lawns), pool, gate and fire insurance for the structure. But the condo actually has a lower tax rate. The sfr has about 150 mo for those things individually (just gardner,trash and fire insurance but no pool or gate or water, actually i think its higher but lets say 150), so the roi could be calculated as if the sfr was two of the same condos and the net would be 2800 for the two condos and 1850 for the house for the same 300k investment.
You can dismiss it and say that sd is more expensive, true. but this same scenario exists in our more expensive areas in los angeles county and the cheaper areas in the desert. It works for the 1947 house, the 1980 condo and the 2008 house and condo I mentioned above. Your example I think is of a narrower focus, not sure there are that many people looking to spend 3k a month in rent to rent in an older area with no hoa so they can be by family. I’m sure there are some, but it’s a small part of the population. Unfortunately, those might be the people you know, so it seems like everyone. If those pencil out then they are a good investment. But if a similar condo returns more per dollar invested, then you can’t knock the condo. That’s all I’m saying. In some cases, the condo is overpriced compared to the sfr’s. But the actual type of housing doesn’t determine the quality of the investment, the math does.
Those san diego high rises with the $1,000 hoa’s, I’m not defending those whatsoever, I think I’d buy a north park sfr instead purely for the math, but I’d make sure th math made it better and not just my bias or perception or what people said at the barber shop.
Here’s another myth, that all hoa’s go up. TemekuT can vouch for this, our hoa does nothing but go down. For four years in a row that ive been here it has gone down, each year being $10 a month less than the previous. It’s the only bill I have that costs less each year.
