Moving from DC to Houston - Apartments?

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by DCNative

Thanks for your comments. I suppose that I can give myself a little more rope, say about $1200 per month in apartment expenses including cable and internet. $750 at Houston House sounds really good, that being about a mile or so from my work. Do they have a pool and gym, too?

What are the rental price ranges in Midtown, Montrose, and Rice Village? And Houston Heights? All bills paid, too? I'm trying to get an idea of what my apartment-related expenses are going to be like provided I live in the nicest neighborhoods (which I fully intend to do).

Midtown and Rice Village will be similarly priced. I don't have any first hand knowledge of the Montrose rent figures, but they will not be far off. You may find some deviations from this figure, but for an apartment that you will be happy to bring someone inside you will probably pay $800 to $1000 before bills. You have probably already done this, but if you don't mind shopping around a bit and could possibly come up with a room mate you can get probably get a much better deal renting a house or even BUYING a condo. Either way, living in Houston will probably eat up your entire $1000 monthly housing allotment.

[DCNative]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

or even BUYING a condo.

I thought about buying, but I think it'll be prudent for me to rent for 6 months before that, just to make sure I like the the city and the job. If so, I will most likely buy a townhome in the autumn.

[tstone]

Buying on $55k? I think that could make you house poor pretty fast inside the loop for something decent, unless you were able to save a lot. Whatever your loan amount, take about 1% of that, and that will be your total housing payment per month (mortgage, tax, insurance, etc). So for instance a $200k loan would put you paying roughly $2k/mo to live there. Tax and insurance may be higher than DC, not entirely sure.

[DCNative]

Originally Posted by tstone

Buying on $55k? I think that could make you house poor pretty fast inside the loop for something decent, unless you were able to save a lot. Whatever your loan amount, take about 1% of that, and that will be your total housing payment per month (mortgage, tax, insurance, etc). So for instance a $200k loan would put you paying roughly $2k/mo to live there. Tax and insurance may be higher than DC, not entirely sure.

Hmm, $2k/mo seems like a lot for a $200k house. I checked a mortgage loan calculator, using a 30 year fixed rate at 5.5%, zero down, and valued the loan at $200k... and the monthly payment came out to be $1135. With the property taxes at, say $3000, I'll pay extra $250/mo. So that comes out to be $1385/mo. Let's say it'll come out to be $1500/mo ultimately because of insurance and maintenance costs. That's not even close to $2k/mo. But you're right, $1500/mo would still be quite steep for someone earning $55k. It won't leave much disposable cash to save.

However, a down payment would make a significant difference in monthly payments. If I were to pay $30k down, my monthly payments would in fact be nearly $200 less per month.

[DCNative]

Are there lots of apartments that don't advertise online, but still have great amenities and is in the inner loop/west of downtown? I'm planning on staying in a hotel for a few days so I can drive around and look for good deals that aren't online.

What streets and major intersections with high concentration of apartment complexes should I look for?

[tstone]

Originally Posted by DCNative

Hmm, $2k/mo seems like a lot for a $200k house. I checked a mortgage loan calculator, using a 30 year fixed rate at 5.5%, zero down, and valued the loan at $200k... and the monthly payment came out to be $1135. With the property taxes at, say $3000, I'll pay extra $250/mo. So that comes out to be $1385/mo. Let's say it'll come out to be $1500/mo ultimately because of insurance and maintenance costs. That's not even close to $2k/mo. But you're right, $1500/mo would still be quite steep for someone earning $55k. It won't leave much disposable cash to save.

However, a down payment would make a significant difference in monthly payments. If I were to pay $30k down, my monthly payments would in fact be nearly $200 less per month.

I gave you a rough estimate. But make these adjustments:

Your property taxes will be closer to 3% of the value, not 1.5%. Sometimes as high as 3.7%. Not counting the little homestead exemption.

And insurance overall (flood + HO) runs me about $2,000/yr combined. Closer to the water but not on a flood plain. HOA fees about $500/yr. Flood and HOA are not in escrow, but still part of your budget right?

So that makes your payment closer to $1850/mo. Budget in another $150 for maintenance, which high but not unreasonable, and you're at 1%.

Again, very rough estimate you can use and never go wrong.

[hubris]

DNC,

It looks like I will be making a similar move but with slight differences.
So, I hope you can post your thoughts on what you see etc.

[DCNative]

Originally Posted by tstone

I gave you a rough estimate. But make these adjustments:

Your property taxes will be closer to 3% of the value, not 1.5%. Sometimes as high as 3.7%. Not counting the little homestead exemption.

And insurance overall (flood + HO) runs me about $2,000/yr combined. Closer to the water but not on a flood plain. HOA fees about $500/yr. Flood and HOA are not in escrow, but still part of your budget right?

So that makes your payment closer to $1850/mo. Budget in another $150 for maintenance, which high but not unreasonable, and you're at 1%.

Again, very rough estimate you can use and never go wrong.

True. Looks like $200k is still a bit steep for me. Probably will target townhomes valued at $140k or less. It's still way early for me to even think about buying, though... I'm going to rent for around 6 months and use that time to shop around for some good deals.