skullservant wrote:Seems like it would be easier to sell a condo than a house, at least.
Mate, I'm not one to dole out unrequested advice, and I'm sure our respective countries have different breakdowns regarding realtor fees and real estate structure and our cities have entirely different real estate markets, but when you break down what a condo costs to buy, + monthly fees in comparison to a 'modest' house you have to be really sure you can turn a
significant profit on the condo in a small timeframe or you'll wind up getting
FUCKED by all the additional costs associated with buying a home. Okay, so imagine you buy a condo, plus realtor fees, pay your mortgage/fees/taxes, then decide to sell in two years. You've got to pay the commission on buying and selling that condo and the house and the mark up from the condo sale has to cover those fees/down payment (plus you'd ideally like to have something extra for yourself I'm sure). If you can't sell your condo for what you want you will lose money, plus with the uncertainty of interest rates you could wind up not being able to afford what you want because you'll probably need to buy out of your existing mortgage and get a new one. Trust me, in a few short years you ain't going to pay ANYTHING off your mortgage, at least in Canada the bulk of the interest is paid out in the first few years and barely paid a dime off the actual principle (I wish I had really understood how much this screws a fast sell), it actually worked out to like 70% interest for the first 5 years and that was at a very reasonable 3.4% interest rate.
We did this exact plan. Right when we were about to buy my wife got laid off and went back to do her masters degree so we figured a condo was a safer option since we might not have as much cash to put into a home on one income and when she finished we put our place on the market to buy a house which was the plan. We managed to get out without losing any money, but we certainly didn't make anything on our condo even though we sold it for 25k more than we paid for it. Thanks to dipping interest rates, our savings and an amazing realtor/mortgage broker we manage to escape unscathed, but we also had to wait almost 4 months to sell our condo and lived in an unfinished basement with no door at my mother in laws during that time (
).....
When you see what you have to pay in realtor fees and more often than not, land tax to the city (ours worked out to $15,000) + mortgage insurance + other fees (many of which cannot be integrated in with your mortgage)..... our broker insists everyone has 10k in non-borrowed cash for "expenses" related to the buying and selling and we needed all of them.... lawyer fees, property title searches, etc......
And now we're in a beautiful semi detached home with a yard and basement and front porch that I sit on in the summer and drink beer and wave to my neighbors, and my monthly mortage payments work out to about $100 more than in a condo if you factor in the condo fees I was paying plus lower interest rates, but that was sheer luck after condo-buyer-ineptitude, and we took some really piss poor advice from a friend who happened to be our realtor. So I guess what I'm saying is if you want something that's not going to be your "forever home" then wait.... because like everything else with the financial system, property ownership can just a more subtle way to screw you than high interest credit cards.... although there's at least a potential for profit with a property
And I'm not bitter at all, I'm so glad I got out unscathed and condos are great for some people if that's what they want for the long term, but as a short term option it's deceptively easy yet is not a sound decision if a flip is on your mind, because the potential buyer can see what you paid, and will say "why am I paying xxxxx more than this guy paid two years ago for a less new unit I won't pay it".....
On topic: that pedal looks so awesome
