It’s late. maybe tomorrow I’ll go into depth about why i prefer it and I’ll show calsbadworker some links to where you can get sfr’s for 150k (admittedly, things have bounced off bottom lately and it’s not as good as it was six months ago). I held back a few months ago, and even though i’ve been painted as a bull on the boards lately, i sincerily think that employment data will suck for at least another 9 months and there is a decent chance that the bounce will be given back and the competition will lessen. If we make it through winter at the current pace of sales, I’ll be shocked.
The very fact that cash only in some complexes has supressed the value is the reason I like it, it’s already baked into the cake and causes it to pencil out better. But that doesn’t work everywhere, just where I’m looking. My micromarket has only three condo complexes for 40k people, and only two of them are on my list to consider. I can’t speak for every market cause I don’t study it. But the fact that some complexes can only be purchased with cash means that even if they are cheaper to buy than rent, the renters can’t buy and it creates an opportunity if you don’t need to borrow. Fear is good for the investor, if you are scared, buy a dog. If it was so easy a caveman could do it, then he would. I personally don’t think that in 5 years, fha, va and fannie/fredie will still be hating on condos, so if you find one they are hating on, opportunity may be knocking.
