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Just bought a condo.

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Damn dude you have to get out of that state. Best thing I ever did was get out California. And hate to tell you but when interest rates go back up, which they will, people will be able to spend half as much on a house. So I'd expect prices to crash again and drop to maybe half that. Imagine if they triple, we'd all be screwed. This is why I'm scared crapless for the economy right now. There is no way the interest rates can stay this low forever, it's artificially low, if it wasn't they know they economy would crash. That's why they keep it low. If we were safe and there is no risk they would have raised it to a real level by now. I'm honestly worried about the future and another crash.

Anyway I bought a nice 3 story house on a double lot with amazing views of the river and Columbia Gorge. Bought it with cash at an insane price in an area that isn't massively over blown on prices.

Oh yeah sorry I mean congrats 😀
 
SAWYER said:
Damn 900k here is a mansion!
I just looked on a site for around 900k, here was the first
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1236-County-Road-759-Jonesboro-AR-72401/90775532_zpid/
Click to expand...

Yeah. That would be pretty expensive here depending on the local area. In Palo Alto, that might be a 7-8million home.

Unless something really big and bad happens, I don't see the demand going down any time soon. The recruiter at Google told me that they have an unlimited number of openings and plus they're expanding like nuts. Apple is also building that spaceship HQ at the border of Cupertino and Sunnyvale and that'll drive the local prices even more. Additionally if we factor in all the other companies and new tech startups that are willing to pay top dollar for skilled employees, the future looks bleak for regular buyers who make less than 300k in household income.
 
my biggest problems with condos are shared walls and hoas 🙁.
it can be even worse if one has neighbors upstairs (stompy noises when walking around; likely related to wearing shoes).
some of the more commercial-like condos have nice sound dampening though.

otherwise they're so much cheaper than houses! 🙁 poot.
congrats and good luck!
 
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800 for a 3bdrm condo in PA? Thats seems cheap if you get PA schools, my sister just bought a 2bdrm 1 bath house in PA for 1.8 and its smaller than my 2/2 condo in SF...

Everybody seems to be awash in stock options these days
 
maddogchen said:
How much is the HOA? On your condo? I saw some crazy HOAs, like $1000 a month for a $1 mil townhouse.
Click to expand...

the $1k/mo hoa fee places usually have really elaborate gardening and really nice common areas, and pools and stuff 😛. So expensive though >.<.
many hoas cover fire/earthquake insurance, and some cover various utilities like trash/water too.

stuff like this
http://graniteparkplace.com/
see > lifestyle > amenities

that $1k/mo could cover rent for a small/run down 1 bed/bath unit, hah.
 
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That's f'in nuts, but congrats that you found a place you both like.

My loan is in processing right now. I chose to leave Los Angeles in November to get a much nicer house than I could afford out there. Mortgage will be less than my rent for the condo in LA.
 
Congrats! Can't imagine living in a place where houses are that expensive though. Never understood why some people like the big expensive cities, but to each their own I guess.

I almost bought a condo as my first place, but if I was going to compromise I did not want to spend much. I had put an offer on one, it was probably below market value, I think I offered 130k and they were asking 150k, or something like that, I forget. They would not budge so I left it at that and saved more money for a year then bought the house I live in now for 165k. It's now worth well over 200k not counting the work I did on it. I bought at a good time.
 
Good luck and congrats! I hate this market.. not sure when we plan on looking again but gave up last year. Currently renting in Mountain View and the 10 minute commute is amazing. Would love to buy in Palo Alto or Mountain View but that isn't happening anytime soon.
 
zoiks said:
You're probably thinking of East Palo Alto which is a dump. Palo Alto is a more wealthy area. Here are all the homes in Palo Alto that are on sale according to Zillow.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...082911,37.384412,-122.19449_rect/12_zm/0_mmm/
Click to expand...

Nope, i bought a 3bdr townhouse style condo in Palo alto in 2009 for 820k. A 2bdr in my complex sold for 1.2m about 5 months ago.

The only 3bdr for 800k i could imagine in PA would be incredibly small, old, crappy or not in PA school district. Only possibility is the Greenhouse complex on San Antonio? That place isnt too bad, haven't seen prices their lately. Think they were around 600k when i was shopping. Oh, I am not trying to stalk you, honest. 🙂
 
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zoiks said:
Yeah. That would be pretty expensive here depending on the local area. In Palo Alto, that might be a 7-8million home.

Unless something really big and bad happens, I don't see the demand going down any time soon. The recruiter at Google told me that they have an unlimited number of openings and plus they're expanding like nuts. Apple is also building that spaceship HQ at the border of Cupertino and Sunnyvale and that'll drive the local prices even more. Additionally if we factor in all the other companies and new tech startups that are willing to pay top dollar for skilled employees, the future looks bleak for regular buyers who make less than 300k in household income.
Click to expand...

How is Sunnyvale? My wife is being recruited by another firm and I'd love a change of scenery. The person she'd be working under lives in Sunnyvale and we know nothing about California.
 
Shoulda bought my condo in Connecticut instead.. I'm selling it for $72,500 🙂

I paid $166,000 for it just 8 years ago. Let my real estate disaster serve as a warning for others!
 
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Dari said:
How is Sunnyvale? My wife is being recruited by another firm and I'd love a change of scenery. The person she'd be working under lives in Sunnyvale and we know nothing about California.
Click to expand...

Best area is South of El Camino, West of Mathilda. Generally nice, but just a big suburb, so pretty boring. Stay away from the area north of the freeway.
 
Yeah, it's kinda hard to compete with people that just happens to work for a company that went public, and they end up with no sense of money and kinda just throw money around.
 
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