buying a home

A

aaron_wade

Well-known member
so, im looking into buying my 1st real home. im a little tired of renting, and not being able to right anything off on taxes, giving all my $ to the apt. complex,... so ive been looking at this condo home in a high rise building. http://www.grandtreviso.com/ this place is freakin amazing! im looking for something in the $128k or less price range. today i had a tour of the building; and let's just say i was blown away! ive looked at other places, but they're all built in the 70's and 80's. i want something newer. any advice for a 21 yr old? :)

thanks.
 
I am not an expert but am in the process of buying my first home; the only advice I can offer is that if you are in a postion to do it witout screwing yourself financially, investing in real estate at 21 is a wise place to be.
 
if you buy now, you'll be happy later.

Maintain a decent job to keep the payments in good standing as well!


What kind of "advice" are you looking for?
 
I'm not a fan of sharing my walls, and I think condo's have association fees so you would still be paying something. Also condo's typically have association rules you have to live by, some of which can be fairly strict. Another thing, the Cowboys are moving to Arlington in 2009, that might effect future housing prices there and since the Cowboys tax base will be gone, the city will be looking elsewhere to fill that revenue hole. Other than that looks nice. Might be perfect for a young guy like yourself though.
 
Bought my first house when I was 22. Well worth it man. Stop giving your money to someone else and invest it in yourself (equity). Just do the homework, you'd hate to get into a place and then have everything go wrong and no landlord to fix it.. its outta your pocket. Good luck!
 
cryogenic filmworks, you have a good point about the cowboys situation. but i really think real estate in las colinas is going to sky rocket in the future. im estimating that if i buy now for around $128k-$130k, then surely it will be worth well over $200k. they are building all kinds of lofts/ condos around that area, but they're not in high rise buildings.

kai, you are right about the whole replacing things that needs to be fixed. thats why i really didnt want to look at places built in the late 70's to 80's. i figure that i would run into plumbing issues and etc. real soon w/ my luck. hehe.
 
Get a good realtor that will go over the condo docs and fees with you.
Get an even better mortgage broker. Avoid 100% ARMs. Dont buy
beyond your means, as they'll GLADLY give you a mortgage on places
you cant afford.

Also, dont fixate on the rising value of your home as an investement,
until you buy your second property. If its your primary that is increasing
in value, you really can't cash out w/o moving to a less desirable area and
that sort of defeats the purpose :) Its increasing in value, but so are most
other places you'd want to live. That second property on the other hand,
IS an investment property :)

I wish I'd bought 15 years earlier than I finally did!
 
I love owning, we bought our first place in september, just a starter home it's not that old but wasn't taken care of and we ended up getting a decent price on it which has allowed us to make the reno's we wanted.... it' kinda suck's though ( doing the reno's myself ) but I get what I want.... next up is 75 feet or fences, new walkway, and a deck, + 300ft of baseboards to still put on... BEEEPPPP...
 
I know here where Nick and I live, prices of houses is skyrocketing (what went for $200,000.00 just over a year ago is over $270,000.00). You can't go wrong.
 
Find out how many units are available for sale. Find out how many units are being sold by current owners. Should you need to liquidate, you don't want to be competing with the new units. See if you can talk to some current owners.

If they're aren't many units left, you're pretty solid. If many units left, you have to worry about appreciation not occuring until generally all units are sold, if they all sell.

Some items to consider when buying.
 
Home Advice

Home Advice

My quick advice before I'm off to work is.

I just purchased my first home at 29 years old. It was a bit older, 1957. I paid $180.000 for it. I remodeled it, did upgrades and such. I put about $10,000 into it. This was less then a year ago. The home is now worth over $248,000 on the market. Don't always look at SHINEY AND NEW. If you want BUILT IN Equity, go older and fix it the way you want it.
 
BergVision said:
Don't always look at SHINEY AND NEW. If you want BUILT IN Equity, go older and fix it the way you want it.
Click to expand...

Totally, All though a Condo that's pimped is nice for a while, the idea of someone right next door that you can hear?, or you can't crank the home theatre or what ever..... I don't mind the yard work and having 1600sq ft of yard is sweet..... compared to my old 6x4 ft balcony
 
Oh boy, all you folks outside of the LA area have it so good! You mean there's still things to buy for under $500K?

Really, after looking for months at "fixer-uppers" in the middle of nowhere at 900 square feet for $600,000 you get tired! Especially when you looked at similar things that seemed outrageously expensive at $400,000 last year and $300,000 the year before... buy it, dude! Buy 2!
 
I still live at home.....I'm only 19 though, so I have a little time. But heck, by the time I go to buy a house, I won't be able to get anything for under a million bucks I bet. how great.
 
Resale Value

Resale Value

Don't forget RESALE Value. Condos are harder to sell and you don't usaly get a very good return. I would honestly look into a HOME. Even a fixer upper with built in equity. Some new paint, a few shrubs and some new blinds, and in 1 year you could turn it around and make some good money.

Leave the SHINEY NEW HOME for your 2nd or 3rd home.

I know it's hard, but it will be well worth your investment!
 
wish I had bought when I moved to LA in '96. the soaring estate values would have provided me with quite a nest egg.

I may be wrong, and hope you found a great condo deal, but speaking in generalizations, I think homes are more likely to appreciate than condos. that being said, best of luck and sounds like you have a great plan.
 
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