Should I buy a condo at 22?

[Chengdu Nanhai]

That's a terrible exaggeration. No one drops a ton of in renovation so they can put their house on the market, and absolutely not a condo. Granite has been around for a while and certainly won't be "passé" in 5 years.

To answer the OP's question, I would say unless you are very sure about wanting to buy a place, just rent for now. 22 is such a young age to be tied down with a property. Sure you can rent it out later on if you don't want to sell, but that's a lot of headache to deal with. I just bought a house this year at age 27 and single, and I do feel that owning the house has made me less free to travel about, even though the effect may be more mental than actual constraints.

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

Just be sure you've got the money to renovate before you sell in a few years. In 5 years granite counter tops and the like will be passé like carpet is now. Be ready to drop 30 k on renovations plus realtor fees.

[10 feet tall]

Originally Posted by Chengdu Nanhai

That's a terrible exaggeration. No one drops a ton of in renovation so they can put their house on the market, and absolutely not a condo. Granite has been around for a while and certainly won't be "passé" in 5 years.

To answer the OP's question, I would say unless you are very sure about wanting to buy a place, just rent for now. 22 is such a young age to be tied down with a property. Sure you can rent it out later on if you don't want to sell, but that's a lot of headache to deal with. I just bought a house this year at age 27 and single, and I do feel that owning the house has made me less free to travel about, even though the effect may be more mental than actual constraints.

You are 27, so granite has been around "for a while" for you, probably as long as you can remember caring about this kind of thing. But trust me, times change. What's cool changes. What's in demand changes. If it didn't, realtors and home renovators would go broke. Stucco was cool at some point too. Now you can't even give away a stucco sided house. There was a time when hard wood floors were considered low budget and dated. Falcon Crest and Dallas used to set trends. It happens.

And yes, it's common to drop $$ on renovations just to sell a house, especially in a market like we had the past few years. And especially in a condo when they are building brand new condos left and right in Atlanta.

[JoeP]

No, no no. Do. Not. Buy.

Rent.

A mortgage might be "cheaper" than your rent payment, but the COST of home OWNERSHIP can be a lot more expensive, add to that the cost of selling a home in just a couple years.

Also at 22, do you even have any cash to put down...??