I have no experience with this market however “figures are just a little over the rental cost with one important caveat–the market does not go down! ”
The market WILL go down. If you are trying to evaluate rent vs. owning, you have to consider property taxes, home owners dues etc.
“One of the sales persons I spoke with thought that the low end and the high end would hold up just fine”
The sales person will always tell you what every you want to hear in order to get you to buy.
Have your son rent a unit for a year or two, after that if he still likes the lofts I’m sure the price will be even lower than it is now, or if the sales person is correct it will be about the same.
Also, I have lived in lofts in other cities, and much of the “charm” wears off pretty quickly. I have also lived urban areas that have been “cleaned up”, the clean up doesn’t persist into the night. Go by one of the areas at 3am and take a look around, do you feel safe? Is there any hookers, drug dealers, sketchy people around? While this may be acceptable, I would hear pimps yelling at their girls and other misc “unclean” activities.
