In other news (apolitical thread)...

[betarhoalphadelta]

Cheapest 1bdr condo here:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/26205-La-Real-APT-E-Mission-Viejo-CA-92691/25676435_zpid/

$610/mo HOA.

[utee94]

Cheapest 1bdr condo here:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/26205-La-Real-APT-E-Mission-Viejo-CA-92691/25676435_zpid/

$610/mo HOA.

Lulz that's an additional $348,000 over the life of a 30 year note, assuming the HOA fee tracks with an inflationary rate of 3% per year. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Actually I was wrong. It's $440/mo for the condo association.

The additional $170 that I added in is *not* monthly, it's semi-annual. So only ~$28/month. That's for the Lake Mission Viejo lake association, which (if you use it) isn't crazy. 

I wonder what the HOA is for the property CD mentioned. 

[utee94]

Actually I was wrong. It's $440/mo for the condo association.

The additional $170 that I added in is *not* monthly, it's semi-annual. So only ~$28/month. That's for the Lake Mission Viejo lake association, which (if you use it) isn't crazy.

I wonder what the HOA is for the property CD mentioned.

Well that changes everything!

[bayareabadger]

Take a couple just starting out, salaries $70,000 each.  Taxes would take $35,000 Fed and lets sat $7,000 State.  They are used to living on much less and keep at it with occasional splurges, say their annual cost overall is $18,000 for rent and maybe $42,000 for all else.  That would leave $38,000 "profit".  Reasonable?

A one bedroom condo around here is $300,000, more or less, in a decent place, 1.5 baths.  Can they afford that with $38 K down payment?  Am I mathing OK?

So, loan of $262, 000, mortgage payment around $2,400 a month at 7.5%.  They were paying $1,500 rent.  At 6.5% it's $2,218.

So, it's doable, for a couple with no other loans, decent credit, after a year of hard saving.  I think.

That monthly would presumably be higher with PMI and HOA (or the condo equivalent).

Granted, $1,500 per month might be on the low end of what a theoretical couple is spending.

How many square feet does $300k get you out your way?

[Gigem]

Indeed, I looked up the starting salary of a computer engineer and used that, it's meant only to suggest it CAN be done, not that everyone can do it in one year around here.

One can of course use different figures throughout. 

I came out of school used to living on very little and I mostly adhered to that for a year building up a downpayment.  Granted, I was well paid, my wife didn't have a job at that time, I think she later got a job making rather little teaching aerobics.

I rented a nice two BDR apartment at the time, both cars were paid for, no student loans, we lived pretty sparsely.  Interest rates then were through the roof (1980).

Anyway, I think it possible, around here, with a pretty good job x 2. 

My son just graduated from college his starting salary is $94K and he's in construction.  He tells me all the time, most of his friends (non Construction majors) are making $50-70K and he doesn't know how they can make it.  

[Gigem]

How's the insurance in your state? Do you have hurricane insurance?

I don't carry windstorm.  Probably should, but I didn't have it early on and the longer I lived here the less it seemed I needed it.  

[Gigem]

Take a couple just starting out, salaries $70,000 each.  Taxes would take $35,000 Fed and lets sat $7,000 State.  They are used to living on much less and keep at it with occasional splurges, say their annual cost overall is $18,000 for rent and maybe $42,000 for all else.  That would leave $38,000 "profit".  Reasonable?

A one bedroom condo around here is $300,000, more or less, in a decent place, 1.5 baths.  Can they afford that with $38 K down payment?  Am I mathing OK?

So, loan of $262, 000, mortgage payment around $2,400 a month at 7.5%.  They were paying $1,500 rent.  At 6.5% it's $2,218.

So, it's doable, for a couple with no other loans, decent credit, after a year of hard saving.  I think.

Please don't laugh at me, but I don't really know what a condo is.  Isn't that just an apartment that you buy but still have to pay fees for the building?  Never really delved into them very much.  

But why would a young couple even consider a condo?  Not knowing much about Atlanta, but it appears to be similar to Houston.  They could probably buy a decent home for around $200,000.  Might have to move out to the suburbs a little, but it seems to me you're projecting your own tastes and lifestyle (mature, travelled, no young kids) onto a young couple.  I've always understood that condos is something older people do when they get empty nesters, tired of taking care of a big home and yard, and want to travel.  Some guy I know named Cincy fits the bill.  

[Cincydawg]

A condo is an apartment you own, no rent, but an HOA.  Mine is over a grand per month.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Please don't laugh at me, but I don't really know what a condo is.  Isn't that just an apartment that you buy but still have to pay fees for the building?  Never really delved into them very much. 

But why would a young couple even consider a condo?  Not knowing much about Atlanta, but it appears to be similar to Houston.  They could probably buy a decent home for around $200,000.  Might have to move out to the suburbs a little, but it seems to me you're projecting your own tastes and lifestyle (mature, travelled, no young kids) onto a young couple.  I've always understood that condos is something older people do when they get empty nesters, tired of taking care of a big home and yard, and want to travel.  Some guy I know named Cincy fits the bill. 

I can see that. When I bought in Marietta GA it was a nice big (affordable) house in the suburbs, because it was intended to be a place to raise a family. So schools, etc were more important than walkable access to bars.

But a lot of young people want the vibrant urban life too. They might not want the suburb life until they get older.

[Gigem]

Well, what I was trying to convey is why would a young married couple want to spend $300,000 on a place to live when they could probably buy a lot of “whatever “ in Georgia for $200,000 or less ?  

[FearlessF]

priorities are out of whack

[Cincydawg]

If ssaid young couple works near here, which is possible, living further out, while cheaper, runs the issue of traffic.  They also could like the "social life" urban living provides.

It's all a choice and priorities of course.  The unit below shows an HOA of $347 per month, I don't know what that includes.


195 14th St NE #407, Atlanta, GA 30309 | For Sale ($275,000) | MLS# 7617107 | Redfin

HOAs vary all over because some include a lot of "stuff".  Ours includes hot water, water, cable, internet, concierge desk, security, parking, maintenance of anything outside, pool, gym, social room, parking.  And for what we paid, we could have had a large house in the 'burbs somewhere for sure.

The traffic situation rarely impacts us because we usually drive midday or none at all, but I notice if we drive somewhere for dinner around 7 it's sort of annoying depending.  That's why we usually walk, but I'm trying to be more adventurous.  Buckhead has a ton of interesting restaurants, but that means driving.  I first thought we'd end up there, it's cheaper, but walkability and parks are not great at all.

Anyway, I think a young couple with two quite good jobs can afford to buy IF they have no debt of consequence and save, at least aronud here.  I suspect a lot of these young couples I see out and about rent for 2-3-4 years, have a kid and a dog, and buy a starter castle in the 'burbs.

[bayareabadger]

Well, what I was trying to convey is why would a young married couple want to spend $300,000 on a place to live when they could probably buy a lot of “whatever “ in Georgia for $200,000 or less ? 

The phrasing of all this has been a bit unclear, in part because there aren’t many young married couples who are on starting salaries at all and a lot of young people these days don’t intend to have kids until their late 20s or early 30s anyway.

So if a couple is young and married, but don’t intend to have kids for a bit, they might stay with having an in-town place, live life, and then consider the ‘burbs when they need more space/schools. Or might just not want to live in the suburbs until economics forces it.