I'm in the process of buying a condo

[Droopy]

Finally- a place I can afford! The condo is located in a densly populated area just south of Dayton, Ohio. It is a 1st floor unit. It has a small kitchen and a small dining room with a large living room and one large bedroom. The bathroom is a little smaller than I'd like it to be, but I'll take it. It has baseboard heating (those things last forever), an electric water heater, and an a/c unit built into a wall in the living room kind of like what you would find in a hotel. There's no washer/dryer hook up which is the only drawback to the place for me. Laundry facilites are on site and located in the same building that my condo is in. It has a sliding glass door off of the living room that leads to a patio where you can do a little landscaping. The view from the patio is beautiful. Super green grass with huge trees leading to a creek. It looks like a park. I just sealed the deal last week and was approved for the loan. I should be moving in within the next month.

The deal is for $33,500 and the seller pays half of the closing costs. The condo fees are $119 a month and that includes exterior maintenance, landscaping and lawn care, hazard insurance, pool, water and trash. My total payment with principle, interest, taxes, insurance and condo fee is going to be about $400 a month.

I thought about renting, but then I figured with a condo I will at least have a little bit of an investment and I can live there slightly cheaper than what I can rent a place around here.

[matcom]

1. JEEBUS! I couldn't rent a cardboard box here for $400

let alone own a condo. $1,500/month house payment here. consider yourself VERY lucky!

CONGRATS! :hi:

[Droopy]

3. Thanks, man

Yeah, I hear housing costs are through the roof up there in the northeast. $1500 a month? I'd have to work two full time jobs just to make the payment let alone eat.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear Droopy!

That sounds terrific!

I am so happy for you...

Now, you can get some equity going and it will be easier to trade up when you want to...

Hope your neighbors are cool!

And the grounds sound wonderful...

Congrats!

:toast:

[Droopy]

5. Thanks Peggy

I will feel much better about myself when I get out on my own. You may remember me feeling like a bum because I had to move back in with my folks. Now I can live on my own and still work towards paying off other debt.

[northzax]

4. I do believe you are missing a zero

The deal is for $335,000 there, fixed it for ya!

my last apartment, a small one bedroom next to a massage parlour on a block with seven homicides in the past year sold for 15X yours. of course, I am not in Dayton :)

[Droopy]

6. Yeah

Dayton is the place to be if you want a nice place that won't have you slaving to pay for it. Of course, I'm betting that you also make a lot more money where you live than most folks around here. To put it in perspective, I'm a trucker and I bring home $650 a week. I'd be willing to bet that your income is triple that.

[northzax]

13. you'd be wrong

but that's cause I am unemployed. but still, I have never made even double your takehome as my gross salary (such is the non-profit world)

[Droopy]

14. Then how in the hell could you afford a $400,000 place?

If I were to max myself out at the mortgage company they'd say the most I can afford is a $90,000 place. And there's really no way I could make that payment over an extended period of time. I'm interested in how people can get by in the areas in our country where housing costs are horrendous.

[northzax]

15. simple. I moved.

did not mean to imply that I purchased it (techincally at $497,000) I took the buyout from the nascent condo association and moved farther away from the middle of town.

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. Congrats!

Sounds like it's going to be great for you! :hi:


(hope you had a home inspection by a licensed professional...)

[Droopy]

8. Thanks. We're going to do an inspection

But I think I already know what it's going to say. I know a little bit about houses because I have restored two of them. Everything appears to be sound in the condo right down to the bathroom faucet.

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. Good to know you're going to have an inspection

There's always more than meets the eye.
(I know a lot about inspection via my Interior Design degree and my brother ;) )
Check out my brother's website: http://www.prospex.us/home.php

***********************************************************************

Are you saying you're going to have one done AFTER the close of sale?

FYI: ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors)

http://www.ashi.org/

Absolutely the best in knowing code and keeping standards.

You can look for an ASHI certified licensed inspector in your area at the link:

[Droopy]

11. The inspection is going to be done before we close on the property

And the sale of the home is contingent upon that.

[Nicole]

10. Congrats!

Sounds like a much better deal than renting. :toast:

If the small bathroom is a problem later, you can always enlarge it by taking some room from the bedroom or living room since they are large rooms. Or take a little from each room, if the floor plan allows for it.

[Droopy]

12. That's a good idea

I bet an extension for the bathroom could be made into the bedroom and a door from the bedroom to the bathroom could be attached.