Condominiums - Good investment, or garbage?

>>962974
Condos are great

Honestly detached homes are ridiculously overprices

Go for it op

>>962974
Problem with condos is they are a bitch to sell in some markets. So if you ever want to move, you may have to just consider it a sunk cost.

If you do the math and it's cheaper than renting over the term you plan on staying there, go for it. Nothing wrong with living modestly.

depends - mainly on the market

Real estate in a growing market (DC area, SF, really most larger cities and some medium cities - on the coasts, not so much the midwest) is a decent long term investment.

But - with a condo, there are tons of expenses you don't necessarily control. If your neighbors decide they want to upgrade the HVAC, you have to pay also. Need a roof? you will get an assessment. Repave the parking lot - pay up bub.

A better option MAY be to buy a duplex and rent half out. The rent should cover about 75% of your PITI at a minimum and that means you will only be paying about 1/3 as much as if you were renting. Meanwhile you are also earning equity.

You will need to bank funds for repairs and also will need to make sure you have a reliable handyman. You can hire a lawn service for what you will save on rent, or you can ask the renter to do things like mow/etc for part of the rent.

>>962974
>I have spent the last 15 years of my life in duplexes so I understand the dangers of a shitty neighbor.

Condos have more neighbors, and they're typically shittier. It largely depends what the average HOA fee is though, as you still pay that off even if you owned the home.

Example: I'm in central/eastern MA, average rent outside of Boston and drugdens is $1.100. Your average mediocre condo is 150k. After you've paid 150k for this thing your cost for mandatory house insurance, HOA fees, and taxes is about $560. You paid $150,000 to cut your rent in half, and just like rent your payment CAN go up with the market, as HoA fees scale. They were $100 on average in the area 15 years ago and now they're averaging $280.

>>962974
>is buying a Condo any better than renting?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html?_r=0

Just plug in the numbers

>>963964

Even a 100k condo for two years only shows better to buy than to rent :|

Wow. Is the renting market this bad for real?

>>963635

I thought roof, HVAC, etc were just covered by the HOA? :( Shit! That was one the benefits I imagined a condo provided!!


Thanks all for the input

>>964190
HOA is a scam like auto-insurance. It supposedly pays for something, but 100% of the time the cost will go up when you actually use it. Health insurance is one of the few policies that isn't a scam.

>inb4 eurofags masturbating furiously

>>963679
That is a 4.3% yield.
What is capital growth like annually?

The internet specifically said it pays for things like the roof and repaving... but /biz/ says it doesn't.

Hgnnn.

The alternative is to live with my mom forever. I mean, it's only like $300/mo that way. It's not like I have friends or anything.

Conventional wisdom is that buying is only better than renting if you want to stay in a place for 7 years or more

If I were you I would rent first anyway just to see if you like condo living

Additionally, once you get your own place, especially if it is in a downtown area as opposed to the suburbs, your social life will probably get a lot better

>>962974
Are condos better than houses?
I'm Australian Ive tried to modify this as best as I can for the American market but its the same money fundamentals.

1. type in the rental price of the condo annually.
2. multiply by 100
3. divide by purchase price.

This is your Gross Yield

4. Now deduct your expenditure: Taxes, repairs, insurance, consultant fees fro turnkey, vacancy contigency.
Subtract this figure from the above total.

This is your Cap Rate

4. Minus any mortgage repayments
This is your Nett Profit figure take this annual figure and divide it by the money you put into the property include closing costs here
This is your Cash on Cash figure and shows the true return of the capital you inputed into the property. it should be around the 10-20% mark.

Run this formula for both the Condo and the House and see which performs better.

Good luck m8

>>962974
Women date guys with their own apartments.