Otay Ranch Condos

[Sea2SanD]

So I’m thinking it might be the right time to buy a condo in Otay Ranch/Eastlake. It looks like I can find a 3/2 for around $150/sqft. We have 3 elementary school aged kids and would only live there for a couple of years. But I would hold onto it as a rental property. We’d pay $400-$700 less than our current rent. My wife’s commute to SDSU would be manageable and I work from home. We still need to save money for the house we really want (probably Del Cerro or Scripps Ranch) and I don’t think that price-wise it will be the right time until 2010-11.

Basically, my fear is that government intervention will err on the side of homeowners versus renters. So, with an FHA at ~5% I can get in with virtually nothing down, save a little on rent, and finance an investment property that cash flows. It also gives us some protection against inflation in case things go horribly wrong on that front. Condos also have fallen a bit more than houses (nearer to the eventual bottom) and are also a bit easier to manage as a landlord.

What do you think? Am I missing something?

[Jim Jones]

Before you buy spend a couple weeks around the condo communities in the early evening and late evening on weekends before you pull the trigger.

It may not be the family atmosphere you are looking for IMHO.

Plus parking is a disaster if you plan on having anyone visit.

[Jim Jones]

Before you buy spend a couple weeks around the condo communities in the early evening and late evening on weekends before you pull the trigger.

It may not be the family atmosphere you are looking for IMHO.

Plus parking is a disaster if you plan on having anyone visit.

[Jim Jones]

Before you buy spend a couple weeks around the condo communities in the early evening and late evening on weekends before you pull the trigger.

It may not be the family atmosphere you are looking for IMHO.

Plus parking is a disaster if you plan on having anyone visit.

[Jim Jones]

Before you buy spend a couple weeks around the condo communities in the early evening and late evening on weekends before you pull the trigger.

It may not be the family atmosphere you are looking for IMHO.

Plus parking is a disaster if you plan on having anyone visit.

[Jim Jones]

Before you buy spend a couple weeks around the condo communities in the early evening and late evening on weekends before you pull the trigger.

It may not be the family atmosphere you are looking for IMHO.

Plus parking is a disaster if you plan on having anyone visit.

[temeculaguy]

Overall I like the plan with only two areas of concern.

#1, Will you be able to get by in a 3/2 with five people, is it smaller than your current rental? What if you need to stretch that 2 year plan into an 8 year plan?

#2, Can you qualify for both in 2011 with no credit for rent from the first. Currently, lenders have different rules, no telling how long they will keep them in place but it might be while, it might be forever. Lets say your mort on the condo is 2k and you wait a few years and want to take on a 3k mort in scripps and rent the condo for 2k, in the old days you kust need the name of your prospective renter and you only had to qual for the primary and any losses at the rental, they’ve been getting screwed on people essentially moving accross the street for half price and letting the old place go, so you would have to qual for both places total, no rent credit, you’d need to swing the whole 5k mort combined.

If your combined income is high and verifiable, like 200k and up, go for it, but of the current scripps house is out of reach, even another 25% down will put you out of affordability to swing both on paper the way the factor it now. In reality you are being truthful and can swing that scenario but they’ve gone into full court defense with no date set for changing it, you might be backing yourself into a corner and be in a position to miss your target primary at the target time. If the economy turns around by 2011 and they relax that rule about rentals, you wont be the only one in scripps shopping, lots of families will have outgrown there place that they had been stuck in for years too long and the other’s will be competing with you for th larger homes in premium areas.

It’s an interesting pickle, not sure if it is a slam dunk without a little more info and I have zero knowlege about the area, just evaluating the theme of the plan.

[temeculaguy]

Overall I like the plan with only two areas of concern.

#1, Will you be able to get by in a 3/2 with five people, is it smaller than your current rental? What if you need to stretch that 2 year plan into an 8 year plan?

#2, Can you qualify for both in 2011 with no credit for rent from the first. Currently, lenders have different rules, no telling how long they will keep them in place but it might be while, it might be forever. Lets say your mort on the condo is 2k and you wait a few years and want to take on a 3k mort in scripps and rent the condo for 2k, in the old days you kust need the name of your prospective renter and you only had to qual for the primary and any losses at the rental, they’ve been getting screwed on people essentially moving accross the street for half price and letting the old place go, so you would have to qual for both places total, no rent credit, you’d need to swing the whole 5k mort combined.

If your combined income is high and verifiable, like 200k and up, go for it, but of the current scripps house is out of reach, even another 25% down will put you out of affordability to swing both on paper the way the factor it now. In reality you are being truthful and can swing that scenario but they’ve gone into full court defense with no date set for changing it, you might be backing yourself into a corner and be in a position to miss your target primary at the target time. If the economy turns around by 2011 and they relax that rule about rentals, you wont be the only one in scripps shopping, lots of families will have outgrown there place that they had been stuck in for years too long and the other’s will be competing with you for th larger homes in premium areas.

It’s an interesting pickle, not sure if it is a slam dunk without a little more info and I have zero knowlege about the area, just evaluating the theme of the plan.

[temeculaguy]

Overall I like the plan with only two areas of concern.

#1, Will you be able to get by in a 3/2 with five people, is it smaller than your current rental? What if you need to stretch that 2 year plan into an 8 year plan?

#2, Can you qualify for both in 2011 with no credit for rent from the first. Currently, lenders have different rules, no telling how long they will keep them in place but it might be while, it might be forever. Lets say your mort on the condo is 2k and you wait a few years and want to take on a 3k mort in scripps and rent the condo for 2k, in the old days you kust need the name of your prospective renter and you only had to qual for the primary and any losses at the rental, they’ve been getting screwed on people essentially moving accross the street for half price and letting the old place go, so you would have to qual for both places total, no rent credit, you’d need to swing the whole 5k mort combined.

If your combined income is high and verifiable, like 200k and up, go for it, but of the current scripps house is out of reach, even another 25% down will put you out of affordability to swing both on paper the way the factor it now. In reality you are being truthful and can swing that scenario but they’ve gone into full court defense with no date set for changing it, you might be backing yourself into a corner and be in a position to miss your target primary at the target time. If the economy turns around by 2011 and they relax that rule about rentals, you wont be the only one in scripps shopping, lots of families will have outgrown there place that they had been stuck in for years too long and the other’s will be competing with you for th larger homes in premium areas.

It’s an interesting pickle, not sure if it is a slam dunk without a little more info and I have zero knowlege about the area, just evaluating the theme of the plan.

[temeculaguy]

Overall I like the plan with only two areas of concern.

#1, Will you be able to get by in a 3/2 with five people, is it smaller than your current rental? What if you need to stretch that 2 year plan into an 8 year plan?

#2, Can you qualify for both in 2011 with no credit for rent from the first. Currently, lenders have different rules, no telling how long they will keep them in place but it might be while, it might be forever. Lets say your mort on the condo is 2k and you wait a few years and want to take on a 3k mort in scripps and rent the condo for 2k, in the old days you kust need the name of your prospective renter and you only had to qual for the primary and any losses at the rental, they’ve been getting screwed on people essentially moving accross the street for half price and letting the old place go, so you would have to qual for both places total, no rent credit, you’d need to swing the whole 5k mort combined.

If your combined income is high and verifiable, like 200k and up, go for it, but of the current scripps house is out of reach, even another 25% down will put you out of affordability to swing both on paper the way the factor it now. In reality you are being truthful and can swing that scenario but they’ve gone into full court defense with no date set for changing it, you might be backing yourself into a corner and be in a position to miss your target primary at the target time. If the economy turns around by 2011 and they relax that rule about rentals, you wont be the only one in scripps shopping, lots of families will have outgrown there place that they had been stuck in for years too long and the other’s will be competing with you for th larger homes in premium areas.

It’s an interesting pickle, not sure if it is a slam dunk without a little more info and I have zero knowlege about the area, just evaluating the theme of the plan.

[temeculaguy]

Overall I like the plan with only two areas of concern.

#1, Will you be able to get by in a 3/2 with five people, is it smaller than your current rental? What if you need to stretch that 2 year plan into an 8 year plan?

#2, Can you qualify for both in 2011 with no credit for rent from the first. Currently, lenders have different rules, no telling how long they will keep them in place but it might be while, it might be forever. Lets say your mort on the condo is 2k and you wait a few years and want to take on a 3k mort in scripps and rent the condo for 2k, in the old days you kust need the name of your prospective renter and you only had to qual for the primary and any losses at the rental, they’ve been getting screwed on people essentially moving accross the street for half price and letting the old place go, so you would have to qual for both places total, no rent credit, you’d need to swing the whole 5k mort combined.

If your combined income is high and verifiable, like 200k and up, go for it, but of the current scripps house is out of reach, even another 25% down will put you out of affordability to swing both on paper the way the factor it now. In reality you are being truthful and can swing that scenario but they’ve gone into full court defense with no date set for changing it, you might be backing yourself into a corner and be in a position to miss your target primary at the target time. If the economy turns around by 2011 and they relax that rule about rentals, you wont be the only one in scripps shopping, lots of families will have outgrown there place that they had been stuck in for years too long and the other’s will be competing with you for th larger homes in premium areas.

It’s an interesting pickle, not sure if it is a slam dunk without a little more info and I have zero knowlege about the area, just evaluating the theme of the plan.

[Anonymous]

Do you really think you can rent it in 2011 and be cash flow positive??? I doubt it. You are correct that the right time to buy a house is 2011 or later. If you buy a condo now, you may be stuck with it in 2011. It may work out if you are lucky, but too risky. Plus, why the heck would you want to live in Otay? That’s a far cry from S.R.

[Anonymous]

Do you really think you can rent it in 2011 and be cash flow positive??? I doubt it. You are correct that the right time to buy a house is 2011 or later. If you buy a condo now, you may be stuck with it in 2011. It may work out if you are lucky, but too risky. Plus, why the heck would you want to live in Otay? That’s a far cry from S.R.

[Anonymous]

Do you really think you can rent it in 2011 and be cash flow positive??? I doubt it. You are correct that the right time to buy a house is 2011 or later. If you buy a condo now, you may be stuck with it in 2011. It may work out if you are lucky, but too risky. Plus, why the heck would you want to live in Otay? That’s a far cry from S.R.

[Anonymous]

Do you really think you can rent it in 2011 and be cash flow positive??? I doubt it. You are correct that the right time to buy a house is 2011 or later. If you buy a condo now, you may be stuck with it in 2011. It may work out if you are lucky, but too risky. Plus, why the heck would you want to live in Otay? That’s a far cry from S.R.

[Author]

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