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Buy a fixer upper and don't bother fixing up and $$.

Unless it structural or something like a roof water heater etc. I still have a mostly late 60s early 70s yellow enameled kitchen it all works is clean and functions well. Who cares, what I need to show off my new granite counter top to my dinner guest, ha! I like my kitchen like I like my music.
 
ponyo said:
1st house. 20-30 minutes commute isn't too bad. You're a handy guy so fixer upper should be no problem to you.

I'm just not a big fan of condos unless it's oceanfront. 900-1000 sq ft is really one bedroom sized unit. And monthly condo fee sucks ass.
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Thanks, there really isn't anything that I couldn't tackle around the house, however I'm somewhat busy with work lately.

To reply to the rest of the posts. Both choices are completely different from each others. On the one hand I can make some money by putting elbow grease into the house, and the other will give me more free time.

I'm qualify for close to $700K mortgage, however I do not want to take on that kind of debt, therefore a $500K house or less will let me continue with my current living standard + the occasional vacations, and max out my saving contributions. And, at my present salary I will be mortgage free in 6-8 years if I get something less than $350K, and it will give me the same living condition as above.

I hope the investment manager/mortgage broker that I'm meeting later this evening will clear up a few things.
 
mmntech said:
Know how I know the OP is probably from Canada... :sneaky:

I'm still very leery of the condo market. It's getting weak and there are doubts over what the resale value of units will be. Plus it's still an apartment. Have you looked at townhomes? Might be able to get a freehold in your price range.
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You are right that I'm in Canada (Victoria). Perhaps I should take a closer look at the 1981 3br duplex ($400K) that is 10 minute from work.
 
iGas said:
Thanks, there really isn't anything that I couldn't tackle around the house, however I'm somewhat busy with work lately.

To reply to the rest of the posts. Both choices are completely different from each others. On the one hand I can make some money by putting elbow grease into the house, and the other will give me more free time.

I'm qualify for close to $700K mortgage, however I do not want to take on that kind of debt, therefore a $500K house or less will let me continue with my current living standard + the occasional vacations, and max out my saving contributions. And, at my present salary I will be mortgage free in 6-8 years if I get something less than $350K, and it will give me the same living condition as above.

I hope the investment manager/mortgage broker that I'm meeting later this evening will clear up a few things.
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I am assuming both your are single and are making around $200k plus being debt-free (or close to it).

If one is single, I really won't consider anything but buying a dream type home if home-ownership was in your blood. Relying on a unit/room to rent out is a dangerous thing if your income dried up.

A broker will not be able to tell you if an attached vs detached dwelling is right for you and I would not rely on a short term re-sale in this market yet unless you have a shot at a highly desirable property/location.

If I were single, I'd find a really cool 3 bedroom (1 for a guest and 1 for my home office which I need for my job) with one large main living area/kitchen, a nice wrap around covered patio with a pool and enough room for some nice decking around it. I'd shoot for a detached 2+ car garage as well or room to build one.
 
alkemyst said:
In most markets prices are back up on the upswing. However; new home sales are still down.
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You're under the impression that Canada's housing market actually crashed/corrected like the rest of the world around 2008. Nope. Canadian household debt to income ratio is about 1.64 -- that's what you guys were at during the good times...

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2014/3/14/Household-debt-to-income-ratio-slips-from-record-high.aspx


Back to OP's question. Out of the two, I'd take the condo because it's cheaper and the commute is insanely nice -- I have a 2 hour daily commute and would kill for a 30 minute one. As a longer term investment, I have serious concerns about condo maintenance and durability. There's a 20 or 30 year old condo a few blocks away that's only about 10 floors high, masonry or not glass wall construction, and maintenance fees are up to about $600/month for a 1 bedroom (~800 sq.ft.?). Dealing with condo boards and "assessments" is also a concern. With a house, at least I'd have more control over when to make repairs and I'd own a clearly defined piece of land.

Personally, I'd sit it out. If someone earning a reasonable wage can barely afford to play, so be it.
 
iGas said:
You are right that I'm in Canada (Victoria). Perhaps I should take a closer look at the 1981 3br duplex ($400K) that is 10 minute from work.
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As a single guy, buying a full duplex or 3-4 multi-unit can make a lot of sense.

My last apartment was a 4 unit property. The landlord bought it for $31,500 when his parent's passed away (bought his sibling's share from them) in 1995.

He refinanced it for $108k in 1997 and bought a nice piece of land in Washington.

The whole unit was only 2700sq ft in total, but had a laundry room and was broken out into two 2/1's, one 1/1 and one studio with a bath and kitchen.

The two 2/1's were about 840 sq ft each and my one bedroom was about 450-500sq ft. He lived in the studio which had to be small. He kept working full time.

In 2005, he sold it for about $500k and retired at around 50 years old once his home in Washington he built was completed that he paid cash for.

That was a great apartment, the neighbors I had prior to moving out were great (some couple of tenant were totally ghetto and trashed the place, ruined the laundry and had police there almost nightly). The same tenants that were there when I moved out are still living there. I was only paying $650 at the end (after new owners) and $500 when he owned it (up from my original $450 the first year). In reality, if I was a single guy that 1/1 wasn't bad and I would have tons of money each month to blow and still save.

It was only 3-4 blocks from the intercoastal and a nice small downtown area for dining and various shops.
 
Thanks all for the input.

I think, I found the house. It is $100,000 more than I initially wanted to spend on a home, but it is a beautiful some what updated 2000sqft house (3br, 3bath) that was built in the early 70s, 1 block from the ocean, with 180° ocean and mountain view at 2/5 of an acre, and it have a separate 1200sqft 2br detach legal cottage as a mortgage helper (separate mailing address from the main house, separate water & power meters).

The slightly down side is that it is about 30-35 minute drive from work.
 
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IMHO you can't beat being near life's beauty. The ocean is one of those things. People trash my older home (1969), but I can walk to the beach and have a nice night life.

One day I hope I can afford something directly on the intercoastal or ocean.
 
fjmeat said:
Move to Texas. $180,000 to $200,000 will get you a 2700+ sqft home with pool.
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Not everywhere, you cant find that in Dallas, Austin or San Antonio, maybe in Houston you can find. Now if you don't care about the neighborhood then its a different story, but then that can be found in any city
 
The dream house with the view didn't work out because it was sold before I had a viewing chance.

I'm now looking at newer houses in newly built subdivisions 15-17 minutes drive from work or older home with similar commute time.

If you don't have any debt, would you buy a new 2800-3000 sqft home that take 40-45% of your net income (after tax & all deductions) to service the mortgage? Or, an get a 2400-2700 sqft older home that take 30-35% of your net income?

[add]
Property tax and insurance would take an additional 3-4% of net income.
 
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This isn't fair...

Here in Hawaii my last house was 1500sq and around 550k. Now I'm picking up a townhouse that on the higher side is like 800sq for 300k.

I guess thats the price to pay to live in the middle of nowhere...
 
mztykal said:
This isn't fair...

Here in Hawaii my last house was 1500sq and around 550k. Now I'm picking up a townhouse that on the higher side is like 800sq for 300k.

I guess thats the price to pay to live in the middle of nowhere...
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Where in Hawaii? Could it be that you are picking up a downhouse in an upscale part of town?

According to Zillow the median Hawaii home price, and median listed is rougly the same as Victoria median in USD, however the average Victoria homes price that were sold in June 2014 is $603,311 CAD ($560,409 USD).

http://www.zillow.com/hi/home-values/

The median home value in Hawaii is $509,400. Hawaii home values have gone up 10.0% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 4.3% within the next year. The median list price per square foot in Hawaii is $427. The median price of homes currently listed in Hawaii is $520,000 while the median price of homes that sold is $417,750. The median rent price in Hawaii is $2,000.
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http://www.vreb.org/mls_statistics/current_statistics.html

Victoria Core area for June is $556,200, which represents an increase in value of 1.8% over last year. The most common price range for single family homes in the entire region is $400,000 - $600,000. 48% of sales in June were in this range.
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GoPackGo said:
Buy the smaller home and put that 10% into savings / investments.
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I agree. Hell, since you're single, I wouldn't even buy a house.
Your future wife will want a different one anyway.

I say rent and save the money.

I bought a house for a few years before I got married. Bad decision. Gf wanted no part of it and we got a different house together after we got married.
 
edro said:
I agree. Hell, since you're single, I wouldn't even buy a house.
Your future wife will want a different one anyway.

I say rent and save the money.

I bought a house for a few years before I got married. Bad decision. Gf wanted no part of it and we got a different house together after we got married.
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Eh, I'm single and I like having a house. It's quite some work for one person, but it's nice having that much space. Even if some theoretical future wife doesn't like it, it's been worth having.
 
I think you should figure out exactly what you want.

Those two properties are on the total polar ends of the spectrum.

Most people sit down and list out what they want right now, which is a mistake. A house is a long term purchase. You need to sit down and figure out what you want in 5-10 years.

Planning on having kids? Wife? Sports car? Boat? Dog?
 
edro said:
I agree. Hell, since you're single, I wouldn't even buy a house.
Your future wife will want a different one anyway.

I say rent and save the money.

I bought a house for a few years before I got married. Bad decision. Gf wanted no part of it and we got a different house together after we got married.
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I generally agree.

Most single young people are changing jobs and lifestyles on a near yearly basis.

Especially with a job.. The market is so unstable. It would really suck to buy a house, get an amazing job offer, and have to figure out how to get rid of a house.
 
iGas said:
The dream house with the view didn't work out because it was sold before I had a viewing chance.

I'm now looking at newer houses in newly built subdivisions 15-17 minutes drive from work or older home with similar commute time.

If you don't have any debt, would you buy a new 2800-3000 sqft home that take 40-45% of your net income (after tax & all deductions) to service the mortgage? Or, an get a 2400-2700 sqft older home that take 30-35% of your net income?

[add]
Property tax and insurance would take an additional 3-4% of net income.
Click to expand...

The 2400-2700 sq ft older home is what I'd choose. No way would I pay 45% of my net income towards a house. IMO, you want to ideally spend 25% or less of your net income on your house, so in your case, try to find that 30% house.
 
having lived in a townhouse for the past 6 yrs, i dont think I could go for a condo. Single family or bust for me
 
You can find expensive condos and cheap houses. I think the real question is about lifestyle. Decide whether you want or need your own piece of ground, and the work that comes with it. If you had visions of dogs running in the back yard or your kids playing in a safe outdoor space that you control, a condo isn't going to cut it. But if those things aren't in your vision a house is way too much work to be worth it.
 
I like to live near the work. I prefer to be close enough to where I work that I can go home at lunch.... My last house/job were 2.3 miles apart. I changed cities...now I'm 4.2 miles away. I can still do the drive in under 10 minutes in traffic.

When you add travel time up over the course of years, it really eats into life.
 
Generally speaking I like my privacy. I would not buy into common walls unless there was some extraordinary circumstance. I also like making a house my home. I've never really cared for gardening until I became a homeowner. Now I find it rather rewarding.
 
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