Who would BUY a bachelor condo?

[Alphathree33]

I'm renting a bachelor condo right now and it's great.

And it will continue to be great for several more years.

But who in their right mind would BUY a bachelor condo in a big city for like $250,000?

Surely long before you ever paid off your 25-year mortgage, you would want to start a family... which you most certainly cannot do in a bachelor condo.

And if you were so rich that you could just pay cash up front, why would you be buying a bachelor condo to begin with?

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
I'm renting a bachelor condo right now and it's great.

And it will continue to be great for several more years.

But who in their right mind would BUY a bachelor condo in a big city for like $250,000?

Surely long before you ever paid off your 25-year mortgage, you would want to start a family... which you most certainly cannot do in a bachelor condo.

And if you were so rich that you could just pay cash up front, why would you be buying a bachelor condo to begin with?

Because condos don't ever appreciate. And rent is an excellent investment.

 

[waggy]

IF you stay 3-5 years odds are you are going to make a profit on it.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
I'm renting a bachelor condo right now and it's great.

And it will continue to be great for several more years.

But who in their right mind would BUY a bachelor condo in a big city for like $250,000?

Surely long before you ever paid off your 25-year mortgage, you would want to start a family... which you most certainly cannot do in a bachelor condo.

And if you were so rich that you could just pay cash up front, why would you be buying a bachelor condo to begin with?

because you build equity in your condo, and sell it later and get some of that money back. Renting is money lost, mortgage is most (but not all) your money lost. Not to mention, even after you get married, you might live there for several years before having kids.

 

[Passions]

Bachelor condo for $250,000? Sign me up!

(They run for around $400,000 in So Cal.)

 

[rsd]

OP might want to reconsider when he starts threads while "thinking aloud"

 

[Alphathree33]

To rivan: thank you for the sarcasm. But if you assume the condo would appreciate, that means you're just treating it as an investment. Why not just invest my money elsewhere, like mutual funds?

To waggy: I thought all of the payments for the first few years were mostly interest... or do you simply mean that despite paying out all of that interest, you'll be able to sell it at a profit.

In general, I thought condos were difficult to sell?

 

[tfinch2]

Because 1000 sq ft is plenty of room for 2 people for awhile before they have kids. Equity FTW.

My friend who is from Austin moved to Wash DC and just recently moved back. He was up there for about 6 years and bought a 700 sq ft condo for 80k when he first got up there. He just sold it for 300k.

 

[Descartes]

Because in most big cities you can't buy anything worth a damn for $250k?

 

[DougK62]

"bachelor" condo? Is that a one room condo or something?

 

[syee]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Because 1000 sq ft is plenty of room for 2 people for awhile before they have kids. Equity FTW.

I've never seen a 1000sq ft bachelor unit. They're more like 300-400sqft.

1000 is more like a 2 bed apt.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: syee

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Because 1000 sq ft is plenty of room for 2 people for awhile before they have kids. Equity FTW.

I've never seen a 1000sq ft bachelor unit. They're more like 300-400sqft.

1000 is more like a 2 bed apt.

So does bachelor condo == tiny efficiency?

I thought it meant any 1 bedroom apartment.

 

[Saulbadguy]

Haha..glad I don't live near the coasts. $250k here would buy you a 3k sq foot house.

I bought a bachelor condo 4 years ago for $43k. 950 sq ft. We are moving out now and i'm clearing $9,000 - so that was better than renting and getting nothing. Plus my mortgage payment was cheaper than what I would have to pay to rent a place of similar size.

With interest rates as low as they are, it's stupid to rent.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
To rivan: thank you for the sarcasm. But if you assume the condo would appreciate, that means you're just treating it as an investment. Why not just invest my money elsewhere, like mutual funds?

To waggy: I thought all of the payments for the first few years were mostly interest... or do you simply mean that despite paying out all of that interest, you'll be able to sell it at a profit.

In general, I thought condos were difficult to sell?

You still have to live somewhere while you throw all your potential mortgage payments into other investments.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Haha..glad I don't live near the coasts. $250k here would buy you a 3k sq foot house.

I bought a bachelor condo 4 years ago for $43k. 950 sq ft. We are moving out now and i'm clearing $9,000 - so that was better than renting and getting nothing. Plus my mortgage payment was cheaper than what I would have to pay to rent a place of similar size.

With interest rates as low as they are, it's stupid to rent.

yeah lots of people thought that. and now there are thousands in forclosure because they thought the rates were low. pitty htye don't stay that way.

 

[SlowSpyder]

To rivan: thank you for the sarcasm. But if you assume the condo would appreciate, that means you're just treating it as an investment. Why not just invest my money elsewhere, like mutual funds?

You can't live in your mutual funds. You can live in your condo then make a profit when you sell.

 

[silverpig]

A bachelor suite does not have a bedroom. Or it doesn't have a living room. The rooms are combined.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: silverpig
A bachelor suite does not have a bedroom. Or it doesn't have a living room. The rooms are combined.

Correct. Also known as a "stabbin-cabin".

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
You can't live in your mutual funds. You can live in your condo then make a profit when you sell.

Option A: buy condo.

You gain equity, but tie up money in the down payment, and can't take money out except by paying interest on an equity line of credit. You also pay out to both buy and selll the condo.

There are also property taxes, condo association fees, and a condo association to deal with.

Option B: rent and invest the difference between rent and a mortgage payment

Your money is at the brokerage, and you can cash out a little of it at any time. If you change jobs you can move without needing to sell or rent out the condo.


Both are valid choices. I'm still renting because I'll probably move next year, and because I'd rather keep the money at my brokerage.

It's also peace of mind not having a $2,200+ mortgage payment + $200+ condo association + $200 property tax payment hanging over me.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: rivan

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
I'm renting a bachelor condo right now and it's great.

And it will continue to be great for several more years.

But who in their right mind would BUY a bachelor condo in a big city for like $250,000?

Surely long before you ever paid off your 25-year mortgage, you would want to start a family... which you most certainly cannot do in a bachelor condo.

And if you were so rich that you could just pay cash up front, why would you be buying a bachelor condo to begin with?

Because condos don't ever appreciate. And rent is an excellent investment.

:laugh:

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Haha..glad I don't live near the coasts. $250k here would buy you a 3k sq foot house.

I bought a bachelor condo 4 years ago for $43k. 950 sq ft. We are moving out now and i'm clearing $9,000 - so that was better than renting and getting nothing. Plus my mortgage payment was cheaper than what I would have to pay to rent a place of similar size.

With interest rates as low as they are, it's stupid to rent.

yeah lots of people thought that. and now there are thousands in forclosure because they thought the rates were low. pitty htye don't stay that way.

I got a fixed rate.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: silverpig
A bachelor suite does not have a bedroom. Or it doesn't have a living room. The rooms are combined.

So basically a studio.

Condos only make sense where land is a premium like in the city or the beach. Everywhere else, regular house is the way to go.

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: silverpig
A bachelor suite does not have a bedroom. Or it doesn't have a living room. The rooms are combined.

So basically a studio.

Condos only make sense where land is a premium like in the city or the beach. Everywhere else, regular house is the way to go.

I disagree. I went with a condo because I did not want to have to worry about any exterior maintenance for the short amount of time I was living there.

 

[Gunslinger08]

My brother bought his condo for $52k and sold it 2 years later for about $250k. He put $10k of improvements into it. Reason enough?

 

[Alphathree33]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
My brother bought his condo for $52k and sold it 2 years later for about $250k. He put $10k of improvements into it. Reason enough?

So because of a single instance of a high rate of return I read on the internet, everyone should go buy a condo.

Have you taken any critical thinking courses?

You can't rely on appreciation, especially not 500% appreciate in 2 years.

If anyone KNEW that a condo worth X would be worth 5X 2 years from now, it would actually sell for just under 5X right now.

Do a Google search for "efficient market hypothesis" for details.