soco condo values (Austin, Spring, Riverside: real estate, rental, condos)

[borgerboy]

any input on the downward spiraling of my condo value would be appreciated. bought a unit at the belair on south congress 2 years ago for 239,000. phase 2 now has the same unit offered for 199,000. now i know that prices are down and all that, but does that seem a little extreme for the area?

i should add that i love living in austin and the location works well for me. no plans to sell or move, but i only have a few years till retirement and wondering if i made a big mistake.

any thoughts or input?

[centralaustinite]

Condos are usually a poor investment. And any type of new construction, there isn't much appreciation until the development is fully built out. (Just as much of a risk in the suburbs as with urban condos).

You won't see price appreciation until all the new units are sold. And it is now apparent that you bought at the peak (this is true in other areas of south Austin as well).

You are south of Ben White and new condos are going up inside Ben White (on Congress, on Lamar) that won't help values.

But you need a place to live right? You can afford the payments? As long as you weren't counting on selling the property for a huge gain that would fund your retirement you should be fine. But every situation is different.

[Trainwreck20]

As long as you aren't selling anytime soon, you are just saving taxes on the appraised value .

[achtungpv]

Condos are the first to go up in value and the first to go down. They also rise the highest and fall the farthest.

[borgerboy]

as an update on my situation i would like to invite input on the following. when i bought my condo 2 1/2 years ago for 239,000, i put down 20% on a conventional 30 yr mortgage at 6.5%. (that was the prevailing rate at that time). now i try to refinance at the current rate of 4.6% to lower my payments and the mortgage company wont even consider it because they say my value is only about 180,000.

did i really screw up that much? when i moved to austin and bought the place i did as much "homework" as possible. according to all sources, my neighborhood was supposed to take off. apparently that isn't going to happen now. instead of more condos, retail, coffeehouses and the like, i am only seeing used car lots, taco trucks, and check cashing services.
do ya'll think that this is temporary until, when and if, the economy improves. i know the city is still planning the rapid bus in front of my complex, and there is a little new development going on around. but i just don't see the redevelopment that would make my area more desirable.

i should add that i like living in austin and i don't mind the 4 mile drive (or 15 minute bus ride) to downtown. also, i have about 8 more years to work before retirement. sometimes i think about dumping the place and renting and sticking the difference into savings. i guess i am just having buyers remorse since i could buy a place downtown or in a much more vibrant area for what i paid for this place. sorry for the rant, but just wanted to get it off my chest and see what others think.

[centralaustinite]

I feel for you. Don't beat yourself up. I bought an urban infill house in south central austin in 2001, just when such redevelopment was starting to happen. I also put 20% down and have a similar interest rate. We did our homework too. But we couldn't have foreseen all the urban infill that would take place after we bought our house and the way that the surrounding neighborhood would be transformed. We bought in sort of the less desirable street in a highly desirable neighborhood only to have the desirability of the immediate neighborhood spread to the whole area and now we are somewhat disadvantaged by our location. Buyers in our price range now have a lots of choices of newer infill houses and the downtown condos.

BUT we have a great house in a location that works for us, it is energy efficient and we can afford the mortgage and the upkeep. But right now, it is probably only worth 30-40K more than we paid for it. We try not to think about it.

Eight years is a long time and things can change fast. You are still quite central, and development will come when the economy improves. Real estate can go up and down. There are great rental values right now but don't sell low when you don't have to.

hang in there.

[borgerboy]

thanks. that really did make me feel a little better.

[b. frank]

Originally Posted by borgerboy

any input on the downward spiraling of my condo value would be appreciated. bought a unit at the belair on south congress 2 years ago for 239,000. phase 2 now has the same unit offered for 199,000. now i know that prices are down and all that, but does that seem a little extreme for the area?

If it makes you feel any better - I live in Battle Bend Springs (the neighborhood behind your condo) and my house has appreciated since we purchased around the same time you did (just got an appraisal for a refi).
I feel the exact same way about the area - Bel Air is the nicest looking building visible from Congress around there. I also agree with the other posters that, even though we haven't seen SoCo come down our way yet, it's worth hanging on. If you are comfortable there just stick it out and see what happens in the next few years. By the way - are those condos in phase 2 still selling?

[borgerboy]

thanks for the input about battlebend. it is a nice little neighborhood off the main drag. i walk through there occasionally and have a really good feel about the area. what i don't understand about the city of austin is why there is no pedestrian or bike trail access to the shopping on stassney (lowe's, fiesta, and even the huge movie theatres). the whole area there across williamson creek is fenced off. (as far as i have been able to tell). also, feel that south austin is being slighted by the cities' being uninterested in developing the green belt along the corridor. never realized how many unfortunate homeless folks are living in there. there is a whole community set up. not to mention the lack of facilities at battlebend park and no other parks in the area.

concerning phase II, they are on the market and not exactly selling like hotcakes. you can have a look at www.thebelair.com.

p.s., hate to sound like a whinner and would like to mention that i have tried to get involved in the south congress combined neighborhood planning commission. if you're interested there is a yahoo group you can access with a web search. and they are in the initial stages of forming a planning committee. meetings are posted on the yahoo group. thanks.

[twange]

Originally Posted by borgerboy

thanks for the input about battlebend. it is a nice little neighborhood off the main drag. i walk through there occasionally and have a really good feel about the area. what i don't understand about the city of austin is why there is no pedestrian or bike trail access to the shopping on stassney (lowe's, fiesta, and even the huge movie theatres). the whole area there across williamson creek is fenced off. (as far as i have been able to tell). also, feel that south austin is being slighted by the cities' being uninterested in developing the green belt along the corridor. never realized how many unfortunate homeless folks are living in there. there is a whole community set up. not to mention the lack of facilities at battlebend park and no other parks in the area.

concerning phase II, they are on the market and not exactly selling like hotcakes. you can have a look at www.thebelair.com.

p.s., hate to sound like a whinner and would like to mention that i have tried to get involved in the south congress combined neighborhood planning commission. if you're interested there is a yahoo group you can access with a web search. and they are in the initial stages of forming a planning committee. meetings are posted on the yahoo group. thanks.

I agree with a lot of what you're saying about the city's ambivalence to South Austin. I'm a public transportation enthusiast and there are NO plans to develop any lines into S Austin for the new streetcar proposal. The closest it gets is a line from S Congress/ Riverside to the airport(which is awesome btw). But absolutely NOTHING going down S Lamar/S Congress, towards Sun Valley or any of the areas south of Ben White. It might keep me from staying in South Austin

Also, I saw that condo listed at 199k on the Austin home search site and I couldn't believe how low it was...those places are really nice.