Should I Buy An One Bedroom Condo In Lincoln Park? (real estate, rental)

[Chicago87]

If I am a 27 year old single male, should I buy an one bedroom condo in Lincoln Park? I plan on living in the condo until I have a need to buy a bigger place which is when I get married. When the time comes, I am thinking about reassessing my situation then.

[Chicago60614]

Would you like to purchase the condo?

If you do I highly advise you go forth with the purchase. If you're not so sure you should maybe ask the advice of friends and family.

[pidgeon92]

I think most people are better off renting. If you have problems with the place, you can always move when your lease is up. With a condo, you are subject to all of the whims of the condo association, and you are stuck with the place until you can sell it, which may be at a profit, or a loss. Then there are property taxes, special assessments, transfer fees, homeowners association fees, all kinds of stuff that will drive up the costs of buying a condo vs. renting.

[Anne C M]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

I think most people are better off renting. If you have problems with the place, you can always move when your lease is up. With a condo, you aresubject to all of the whims of the condo association, and you are stuck with the place until you can sell it, which may be at a profit, or a loss. Then there are property taxes, special assessments, transfer fees, homeowners association fees, all kinds of stuff that will drive up the costs of buying a condo vs. renting.

I don't think most people are necessarily better off renting. Homeownership is not luxury for the married only. It IS a decision that needs to be thoroughly researched and thought out, though.

You research the condo association beforehand and don't purchase a unit in an unstable one. Special assessments are not an inevitable thing. As long as the association has sufficient reserves, a proper budget, and continues collecting dues from each owner, there will not be a special assessment.

Yes, there are transfer taxes and closing costs on both the buy and sell side. You should speak to a lender and a real estate broker to determine (roughly) what these will be. You do need to own the property for a certain amount of time to offset these costs, but at your price point that amount of time will likely be very possible.

For a 1-bedroom in Lincoln Park, owning will almost always be cheaper than renting. Be realistic about your goals, though. Do you see yourself married and wanting a bigger place in 2-3 years (and hate the idea of keeping your 1-bed as an income property)? You probably need to wait until you are ready to purchase that bigger place. If you can see yourself in the 1-bed for 4-5+ years, now is probably a great time to buy.

[jman07]

Why are you posting here? There are own vs rent calculators everywhere on the internet. Your taxes, interest, and fees will be more than your rent in the city. And your supposed to stay In A HOUSE for at least 5 years if you buy one. Probably longer for a condo in chicago.

[Chicago87]

Originally Posted by Anne C M

I don't think most people are necessarily better off renting. Homeownership is not luxury for the married only. It IS a decision that needs to be thoroughly researched and thought out, though.

You research the condo association beforehand and don't purchase a unit in an unstable one. Special assessments are not an inevitable thing. As long as the association has sufficient reserves, a proper budget, and continues collecting dues from each owner, there will not be a special assessment.

Yes, there are transfer taxes and closing costs on both the buy and sell side. You should speak to a lender and a real estate broker to determine (roughly) what these will be. You do need to own the property for a certain amount of time to offset these costs, but at your price point that amount of time will likely be very possible.

For a 1-bedroom in Lincoln Park, owning will almost always be cheaper than renting. Be realistic about your goals, though. Do you see yourself married and wanting a bigger place in 2-3 years (and hate the idea of keeping your 1-bed as an income property)? You probably need to wait until you are ready to purchase that bigger place. If you can see yourself in the 1-bed for 4-5+ years, now is probably a great time to buy.

Anne,

Thank you for your useful and rational response.

I do not see myself getting married in the next 2-3 years unless I happen to find the woman of my dreams, rapidly fall in love with her, and the feelings are mutual. I do not see myself getting married until I have dated someone very seriously for at least 2-5 consecutive years including 1-3 years of cohabitation. I am currently not even seeing anyone seriously.

I also do not see myself needing a bigger place unless I am getting married and plan on starting a family. When the time comes, I have no problems keeping my condo as a rental property.

[thunderstruck666]

Make sure the condo declarations don't prohibit renting it. You don't want to find 5 years down the road you can't rent it out.

[chet everett]

Best buy vs rent calculator : http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/b...ator.html?_r=0

You can input all the costs and then adjust the timeline to see if this will be a money loser or break-even. You won't be able to come out "ahead" unless you have some very long timeline...

It needs to run on a browser with Flash.

[Ace Rothstein]

Don't buy unless you plan on staying for a while or if you are okay with the strong potential of losing some cash.

[Oildog]

Try to buy a 3 flat then rent the other two floors.