Apartment vs. House (San Antonio, Spring, Alamo: real estate, apartment complexes, renter)

[hello13685]

Another person's post sparked this question for me, and I know that there are people on here who would know the answer to these questions/issues: If one wants to rent UNfurnished for a year or so, is one better off going with one of the apartment complexes, or a house?

I rent an apartment, and I've been in San Antonio for a few years now. In the time that I've been here, it seems that apartment rental prices have skyrocketed. In 2004, I had acquaintances that boasted about their HUGE two-bedroom apts. in gated communities on the NW side that went for 700/mo. I have another friend who rented early last year at The Vineyard on Louis Pasteur in the medical center--a smaller two-bedroom for 1200/mo. I ran into similar rates when I shopped other, newer complexes recently. That's what my San Diego friends are paying for their cute 1930s apartments. It's almost like the corporate owners have decided that the gap should be closed between prices here and in larger, more cosmo places. (My answer to that is, well, where is my New York Fifth Avenue, then. The renter at the Vineyard steps out of their complex onto a Dairy Queen, not a Bloomingdales.) I know that scuzzier apts. can be found for less (the 1980s layer just outside of the 410 loop), but even those seem to be much higher now.

Does anyone have a clue what is up with rental prices? Are houses a better deal? (I'm sure investment property owners will say yes What is the forecast for this area, and are there any good reasons for what appear to me to be sharp price increases? It seems that the price gaps are closing. Thank you.

[slaleman]

How timely...this was on mysa.com today:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business...t.130fab1.html

To tell the truth, I would stop renting and buy a house. There are a lot of programs out there that will allow you to buy a house for almost nothing down. My wife and I just sold our first house in October to someone buying with no money down and we paid all of the closing costs.

If I had known when I was renting how affordable houses were, I would have bought one a long time ago. The first house we bought, we put $1500 down on and our TOTAL mortgage payment was just over $600/month for a 2br/1ba.

Sure, you're liable for anything that goes wrong (plumbing, furnace, etc.) but from an investment standpoint, you can't do much better than San Antonio. Our little 2 br house gave us a 30% return in just two years.

[210]

Originally Posted by hello13685

(My answer to that is, well, where is my New York Fifth Avenue, then. The renter at the Vineyard steps out of their complex onto a Dairy Queen, not a Bloomingdales.)

I read this post and couldn't stop laughing, not because it was funny but because of how absurd it is.

First, there's no Dairy Queen at the Vineyard nor anywhere near the Vineyard Spring apartments unless you're talking about a different Vineyard apartment complex.

Second, where in gods name did you come up with a 2 bedroom apartment in New York City that count only $1,200 and was a stones throw away from Fifth Avenue??? It isn't going to be 1,000+ sqaure feet like a 2 bedroom 1,000

Actually, the only place in all of New York City metro area that you'll get a 2 bedroom for $1,200 is in Brooklyn, the Bronx or New Jersey or another.

[hello13685]

Thanks Slaleman. As for the 210 I did make an exaggerated comparison. Forget New York. For the price of a new two bedroom apartment in SA, you can get a cute 1930s apartment in North Park in San Diego. Also, I meant to say "The Vintage" apts., not Vineyard. Thanks.

[googie2525]

IMHO, If you're only looking at a year or so, just rent. It really isn't worth buying anything and staying put less than 5 years, you really won't build any equity, etc., and home ownership can be a huge hassle if you're not willing to go long-haul.

But yeah, I know what you mean, I'm currently in the market, scouring the MLS maniacally trying to find that perfect pad, in the meantime paying 1300 a month for a 900 square feet piece of junk apartment. It's just really poorly built, and only about 2 years old, everything seems to break every 10 minutes, paper-thin walls, etc., etc., etc. It's the location though, in the Quarry Market area, and everything here is overpriced - AND they recently announced that they're being converted to condos, and I'm invited to attend a meeting in which they will announce pricing and such, yeah, right, no thanks. I'll be out of here in 6 months (or sooner if I find that elusive gem) though, so that's a relief. But rent is getting too high here in general if you want a safe semi-decent flat. Really, the main reason folks move to San Antonio is the low cost-of-living, mainly retirees and young families looking for a slower pace of life, better schools for their kids, stretch the buck further, etc., which is great, fine, but once the cost of living rises to, say, Los Angeles or New York, what's the point? We don't have the dynamic lifestyle that warrants those kind of prices. But of course, we'll NEVER be as expensive as Manhattan, or NY in general. But we MIGHT be comparable price-wise to LA one day when that real estate bubble bursts

But if you think apartment rents are too high, you'll go into absolute shock at the outrageous prices they're fetching for homes over here (Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills), it's nuts (and quite discouraging). For example, how about this 1800 sq. ft. dream home at only $449,500?:

[210]

Originally Posted by hello13685

Thanks Slaleman. As for the 210 I did make an exaggerated comparison. Forget New York. For the price of a new two bedroom apartment in SA, you can get a cute 1930s apartment in North Park in San Diego. Also, I meant to say "The Vintage" apts., not Vineyard. Thanks.

That was way more than an exaggerated.

As for what $1,200 can rent you in SA, sure in some spots in SA $1,200 gets you a two bedroom but it's a two bedroom (most of the time two bath) apartment with 1,000+ sq. ft. of living space. That's a hell of a deal esp. with all the amenities and just plain cool stuff the apartment provides.

However, there are great bargins all throughout SA.

Monte Vista for $1,300 and under you can rent here:




In Monte Vista, $1,150 rents:




In Alamo Heights , $750 rents:




In Alamo Heights, $1,500 rents:




In Alamo Heights, $925 rents:




In Windsor Court 1,000 rents:



And to show you how much bang for buck you get, all those apartments range from 1,100+ sq. ft and up.

[210]

Originally Posted by googie2525

but once the cost of living rises to, say, Los Angeles or New York, what's the point? We don't have the dynamic lifestyle that warrants those kind of prices. But of course, we'll NEVER be as expensive as Manhattan, or NY in general. But we MIGHT be comparable price-wise to LA one day when that real estate bubble bursts

We won't even be as expensive as LA. That is just silly, seriously.

But if you think apartment rents are too high, you'll go into absolute shock at the outrageous prices they're fetching for homes over here (Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills), it's nuts (and quite discouraging). For example, how about this 1800 sq. ft. dream home at only $449,500?:

[/quote]


Hate to burst your bubble, but that's in Alamo Heights/Terrell Hills of course it's going to be that high.

That's no surprise, there's a reason it's that high when it's sort of small (though, 1,800 sq. ft. is quite roomy) BECAUSE IT'S IN ALAMO HEIGHTS. It's one of the most exclusive areas of the city.

Just like a 2,000 sq. ft. is going to cost probably 200,000 in South Central LA however a 2,000 sq. ft. in Beverly Hills is going to cost $1-2 million dollars. That's real estate at work.

Not to mention the fact that just because you dislike the house you posted doesn't mean some other person doesn't see a treasure.

[hello13685]

Very nice pictures 210. It would be nice if some of those places were handicapped accessible. I have an aunt who is moving to SA from Milwaukee (to be near an old friend of hers who is a native here). She is semi-disabled (can't do stairs) and would live in one of those types of places you posted, in those parts of town with character, but it will be hard for her to find a spot without steps. There's also limited transport for people like her, which is another topic.

[montevista1]

You have no concept of what L.A.'s housing costs are.

A house built in the 50's in a gang infested/ illegal immigrant area would cost for a 1500sqft house in the 600's. In San Antonio for 600K you get something that would cost in L.A. probably 3-4 million!

Rents: I am desperatley trying to rent my 1600 sqft 3bdr 2 bath in monte vista for 1100, something like this in L.A. would cost easily 3000 a month!

Except for the insane property taxes San Antonio is cheap!!!!!

[montevista1]

2,000 sqft in south central would cost you 600K!!!!! 2,000 in Beverly Hills would be 1.2m-2million.