temecula condo – bad idea?

[Anonymous]

Good post, doofrat. My perspective on condos is I’d never buy one unless I absolutely had to. I’d rather buy one of those freestanding “condos” that sit on a common ground of land but is a separate structure like a SFH. I’m big on having control over my situation and in a condo, like you’ve pointed out, you really don’t. You must share those walls and you are in a big building, connected to little buildings (actual apartment-condo) with all the inconveniences that come with it.

[svelte]

My advice to people who have asked me about condos is to never buy a 1 BR condo. They always seem to be the absolute hardest thing to sell (you don’t specify the size of the one you are considering).

As marion and doofrat have pointed out above, what you really want to get is one as close to feeling like a single family home as you can. Attached garage, loads of privacy, fewest common walls. When we owned one, we bought a 3 br 2 ba 1 car garage townhouse (we had the upstairs and downstairs) with just 1 common wall. It sold very easily when the time came.

[svelte]

My advice to people who have asked me about condos is to never buy a 1 BR condo. They always seem to be the absolute hardest thing to sell (you don’t specify the size of the one you are considering).

As marion and doofrat have pointed out above, what you really want to get is one as close to feeling like a single family home as you can. Attached garage, loads of privacy, fewest common walls. When we owned one, we bought a 3 br 2 ba 1 car garage townhouse (we had the upstairs and downstairs) with just 1 common wall. It sold very easily when the time came.

[svelte]

My advice to people who have asked me about condos is to never buy a 1 BR condo. They always seem to be the absolute hardest thing to sell (you don’t specify the size of the one you are considering).

As marion and doofrat have pointed out above, what you really want to get is one as close to feeling like a single family home as you can. Attached garage, loads of privacy, fewest common walls. When we owned one, we bought a 3 br 2 ba 1 car garage townhouse (we had the upstairs and downstairs) with just 1 common wall. It sold very easily when the time came.

[svelte]

My advice to people who have asked me about condos is to never buy a 1 BR condo. They always seem to be the absolute hardest thing to sell (you don’t specify the size of the one you are considering).

As marion and doofrat have pointed out above, what you really want to get is one as close to feeling like a single family home as you can. Attached garage, loads of privacy, fewest common walls. When we owned one, we bought a 3 br 2 ba 1 car garage townhouse (we had the upstairs and downstairs) with just 1 common wall. It sold very easily when the time came.

[svelte]

My advice to people who have asked me about condos is to never buy a 1 BR condo. They always seem to be the absolute hardest thing to sell (you don’t specify the size of the one you are considering).

As marion and doofrat have pointed out above, what you really want to get is one as close to feeling like a single family home as you can. Attached garage, loads of privacy, fewest common walls. When we owned one, we bought a 3 br 2 ba 1 car garage townhouse (we had the upstairs and downstairs) with just 1 common wall. It sold very easily when the time came.

[temeculaguy]

kirsten, what is the rent? I am familiar with those condos by D.R. horton, fair rent is about $1400 to $1500 for one of those. As far as a purchase that you later turn into a rental it isn’t a terrible idea, I just need the numbers in order to give you advice. Condos are easier to be landlords of but at 220 it still is overpriced becaue bigger sfr’s can be had for about that, however they were over 300 a year ago.

One thing to consider is the sheer lack of condos and apartments in the area. Pechanga has over 5,000 employees with mostly “renter” demographics, yet there is only one apartment complex and three condo complexes for miles around so you should always have a decent supply of renters. I would however steer you away from those and over a few miles if a condo is truly what you are looking for, look at this complex. The one i linked I chose because it had the most pictures but there others below 200k and a bunch are being repo’d right now, they were in high 3’s to low 400’s two years ago. The difference between those and dr horton’s is that these are true townhomes, two of the three models per building have backyards and most have a driveway. The dr hortons dont have driveways that friends can park in or you can wash your car in, they have a courtyard and parking in your driveway blocks the other people’s access.

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1421330

[temeculaguy]

kirsten, what is the rent? I am familiar with those condos by D.R. horton, fair rent is about $1400 to $1500 for one of those. As far as a purchase that you later turn into a rental it isn’t a terrible idea, I just need the numbers in order to give you advice. Condos are easier to be landlords of but at 220 it still is overpriced becaue bigger sfr’s can be had for about that, however they were over 300 a year ago.

One thing to consider is the sheer lack of condos and apartments in the area. Pechanga has over 5,000 employees with mostly “renter” demographics, yet there is only one apartment complex and three condo complexes for miles around so you should always have a decent supply of renters. I would however steer you away from those and over a few miles if a condo is truly what you are looking for, look at this complex. The one i linked I chose because it had the most pictures but there others below 200k and a bunch are being repo’d right now, they were in high 3’s to low 400’s two years ago. The difference between those and dr horton’s is that these are true townhomes, two of the three models per building have backyards and most have a driveway. The dr hortons dont have driveways that friends can park in or you can wash your car in, they have a courtyard and parking in your driveway blocks the other people’s access.

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1421330

[temeculaguy]

kirsten, what is the rent? I am familiar with those condos by D.R. horton, fair rent is about $1400 to $1500 for one of those. As far as a purchase that you later turn into a rental it isn’t a terrible idea, I just need the numbers in order to give you advice. Condos are easier to be landlords of but at 220 it still is overpriced becaue bigger sfr’s can be had for about that, however they were over 300 a year ago.

One thing to consider is the sheer lack of condos and apartments in the area. Pechanga has over 5,000 employees with mostly “renter” demographics, yet there is only one apartment complex and three condo complexes for miles around so you should always have a decent supply of renters. I would however steer you away from those and over a few miles if a condo is truly what you are looking for, look at this complex. The one i linked I chose because it had the most pictures but there others below 200k and a bunch are being repo’d right now, they were in high 3’s to low 400’s two years ago. The difference between those and dr horton’s is that these are true townhomes, two of the three models per building have backyards and most have a driveway. The dr hortons dont have driveways that friends can park in or you can wash your car in, they have a courtyard and parking in your driveway blocks the other people’s access.

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1421330

[temeculaguy]

kirsten, what is the rent? I am familiar with those condos by D.R. horton, fair rent is about $1400 to $1500 for one of those. As far as a purchase that you later turn into a rental it isn’t a terrible idea, I just need the numbers in order to give you advice. Condos are easier to be landlords of but at 220 it still is overpriced becaue bigger sfr’s can be had for about that, however they were over 300 a year ago.

One thing to consider is the sheer lack of condos and apartments in the area. Pechanga has over 5,000 employees with mostly “renter” demographics, yet there is only one apartment complex and three condo complexes for miles around so you should always have a decent supply of renters. I would however steer you away from those and over a few miles if a condo is truly what you are looking for, look at this complex. The one i linked I chose because it had the most pictures but there others below 200k and a bunch are being repo’d right now, they were in high 3’s to low 400’s two years ago. The difference between those and dr horton’s is that these are true townhomes, two of the three models per building have backyards and most have a driveway. The dr hortons dont have driveways that friends can park in or you can wash your car in, they have a courtyard and parking in your driveway blocks the other people’s access.

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1421330

[temeculaguy]

kirsten, what is the rent? I am familiar with those condos by D.R. horton, fair rent is about $1400 to $1500 for one of those. As far as a purchase that you later turn into a rental it isn’t a terrible idea, I just need the numbers in order to give you advice. Condos are easier to be landlords of but at 220 it still is overpriced becaue bigger sfr’s can be had for about that, however they were over 300 a year ago.

One thing to consider is the sheer lack of condos and apartments in the area. Pechanga has over 5,000 employees with mostly “renter” demographics, yet there is only one apartment complex and three condo complexes for miles around so you should always have a decent supply of renters. I would however steer you away from those and over a few miles if a condo is truly what you are looking for, look at this complex. The one i linked I chose because it had the most pictures but there others below 200k and a bunch are being repo’d right now, they were in high 3’s to low 400’s two years ago. The difference between those and dr horton’s is that these are true townhomes, two of the three models per building have backyards and most have a driveway. The dr hortons dont have driveways that friends can park in or you can wash your car in, they have a courtyard and parking in your driveway blocks the other people’s access.

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1421330

[kirsten]

Thanks everyone. 🙂

Temeculaguy – I really like those ones, I hadn’t considered them because we would prefer to be closer to the freeway (my husband will be commuting to Fallbrook), but I think I’ll take a second look.

Rent is $1450 for the DR Horton townhomes. I stopped by today, and the asking price for the same plan is $235k (3 story, 2bd/2ba). It backs up to a park and they’ve built about 1/3 of the development so far. Taxes are 1.4%, HOA is $199. While I was talking to them today, they offered to pay 3% towards the down pmt., $8k towards closing costs, one year of HOA fees, and include the washer/dryer and fridge – about $20k in incentives according to their calculations. The payment that I calculated is about $1900 unless I put down more (which I really don’t want to do, because I’d rather pay down some other debt and increase our savings).

We’re not selling because of a short sale – our property just needs a TON of work, and my husband and I realized that neither of us are interested in maintaining a large property. My husband’s elderly father has also been living in our guest house and the utilities costs combined with the expenses of caring for his father were more than we wanted, so we decided to simplify our situation. Our plan is to rent or buy and stay there for a few years while we look for a lot in Fallbrook and build a home.

As for savings, we have about $40k saved, as well as a healthy CalSTRS pension (I’ve been triple-contributing for the past few years). We would like to build our savings and investments even more though, and that’s another reason why we are selling our home and downsizing.

My gut feeling is that we should rent for a year or so. It sounds like prices are still falling in Temec., and I would probably be irritated if we bought and then the prices went significantly lower.

[kirsten]

Thanks everyone. 🙂

Temeculaguy – I really like those ones, I hadn’t considered them because we would prefer to be closer to the freeway (my husband will be commuting to Fallbrook), but I think I’ll take a second look.

Rent is $1450 for the DR Horton townhomes. I stopped by today, and the asking price for the same plan is $235k (3 story, 2bd/2ba). It backs up to a park and they’ve built about 1/3 of the development so far. Taxes are 1.4%, HOA is $199. While I was talking to them today, they offered to pay 3% towards the down pmt., $8k towards closing costs, one year of HOA fees, and include the washer/dryer and fridge – about $20k in incentives according to their calculations. The payment that I calculated is about $1900 unless I put down more (which I really don’t want to do, because I’d rather pay down some other debt and increase our savings).

We’re not selling because of a short sale – our property just needs a TON of work, and my husband and I realized that neither of us are interested in maintaining a large property. My husband’s elderly father has also been living in our guest house and the utilities costs combined with the expenses of caring for his father were more than we wanted, so we decided to simplify our situation. Our plan is to rent or buy and stay there for a few years while we look for a lot in Fallbrook and build a home.

As for savings, we have about $40k saved, as well as a healthy CalSTRS pension (I’ve been triple-contributing for the past few years). We would like to build our savings and investments even more though, and that’s another reason why we are selling our home and downsizing.

My gut feeling is that we should rent for a year or so. It sounds like prices are still falling in Temec., and I would probably be irritated if we bought and then the prices went significantly lower.

[kirsten]

Thanks everyone. 🙂

Temeculaguy – I really like those ones, I hadn’t considered them because we would prefer to be closer to the freeway (my husband will be commuting to Fallbrook), but I think I’ll take a second look.

Rent is $1450 for the DR Horton townhomes. I stopped by today, and the asking price for the same plan is $235k (3 story, 2bd/2ba). It backs up to a park and they’ve built about 1/3 of the development so far. Taxes are 1.4%, HOA is $199. While I was talking to them today, they offered to pay 3% towards the down pmt., $8k towards closing costs, one year of HOA fees, and include the washer/dryer and fridge – about $20k in incentives according to their calculations. The payment that I calculated is about $1900 unless I put down more (which I really don’t want to do, because I’d rather pay down some other debt and increase our savings).

We’re not selling because of a short sale – our property just needs a TON of work, and my husband and I realized that neither of us are interested in maintaining a large property. My husband’s elderly father has also been living in our guest house and the utilities costs combined with the expenses of caring for his father were more than we wanted, so we decided to simplify our situation. Our plan is to rent or buy and stay there for a few years while we look for a lot in Fallbrook and build a home.

As for savings, we have about $40k saved, as well as a healthy CalSTRS pension (I’ve been triple-contributing for the past few years). We would like to build our savings and investments even more though, and that’s another reason why we are selling our home and downsizing.

My gut feeling is that we should rent for a year or so. It sounds like prices are still falling in Temec., and I would probably be irritated if we bought and then the prices went significantly lower.

[kirsten]

Thanks everyone. 🙂

Temeculaguy – I really like those ones, I hadn’t considered them because we would prefer to be closer to the freeway (my husband will be commuting to Fallbrook), but I think I’ll take a second look.

Rent is $1450 for the DR Horton townhomes. I stopped by today, and the asking price for the same plan is $235k (3 story, 2bd/2ba). It backs up to a park and they’ve built about 1/3 of the development so far. Taxes are 1.4%, HOA is $199. While I was talking to them today, they offered to pay 3% towards the down pmt., $8k towards closing costs, one year of HOA fees, and include the washer/dryer and fridge – about $20k in incentives according to their calculations. The payment that I calculated is about $1900 unless I put down more (which I really don’t want to do, because I’d rather pay down some other debt and increase our savings).

We’re not selling because of a short sale – our property just needs a TON of work, and my husband and I realized that neither of us are interested in maintaining a large property. My husband’s elderly father has also been living in our guest house and the utilities costs combined with the expenses of caring for his father were more than we wanted, so we decided to simplify our situation. Our plan is to rent or buy and stay there for a few years while we look for a lot in Fallbrook and build a home.

As for savings, we have about $40k saved, as well as a healthy CalSTRS pension (I’ve been triple-contributing for the past few years). We would like to build our savings and investments even more though, and that’s another reason why we are selling our home and downsizing.

My gut feeling is that we should rent for a year or so. It sounds like prices are still falling in Temec., and I would probably be irritated if we bought and then the prices went significantly lower.

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