Condo (Chicago: hardwood floors, sales, real estate)

[CHI787ORD]

Hey everyone,

I'm a recent college graduate living at home in the Chicago suburbs. I will be starting a job soon in the city which my starting salary will be 42K before taxes. The position is likely going to be long term and my salary will increase as time goes on.

Since it looks like I will be in the Chicago area for a long time (and I'm happy about that!), I was thinking of living at home and commuting for a couple years and save up on a down payment for a condo in the city. I really like the vibe of the Wicker Park/Bucktown/Ukrainian Village areas and would love to live there. I also wouldn't mind living in a place like South Loop, West Loop, or Old Town.

I was wondering what the going rate of 2 bedroom condos in those areas is. How much can I expect to spend on a down payment?

I'd like to live in a nice condo, meaning hardwood floors + balcony + granite counter tops.

Thanks!

[Avengerfire]

Screw the condo. Get a house.

[knitgirl]

Have you heard of a little thing called the Internet? Try realtor.com or trulia.com

[ParkerP]

At your salary in those particular areas with your particular home requirements, sure you can get a condo but it might be a fixer upper.

[SmartGXL]

To the OP - my girlfriend makes about what you are making, and it will be very difficult for you to buy any kind of 2br/2ba on the salary you are talking about, unless you come to the table with at least $200,000 or more, for a down payment.

She was looking at a 2br/2ba in Wicker Park over the weekend - they are asking $398,000. I imagine it will probably sell for $325,000. Based on your salary level, you could get a mortgage for probably not more than $120,000. Which means that if you were going to buy that property and get a sales price of $325,000, you would finance $120,000 of that, and then have to come up with the other $205,000 in cash, out of pocket, as a down payment.

And to be honest, 42K is a small salary for living in the city, at least in the popular areas like lakeview, WP, etc. You can rent places to live that are somewhat older, or small, but you still wont have much money left over at the end of the month, and hardly any left over for saving up money to buy a condo.

If I were you, I would just rent something small for now, live within your means and as your income grows over the years, save that extra money for the down payment. It might take 5 or 10 years before you can actually buy something, but when you finally get there, it will be worth it.

[linicx]

If you have the oppportunity to can stay at home and save money for awhile. do so. The one thing you should understand is real estate taxes in Illinois are horrendous and simple home repair is not generally cheap. In the end you may decide that not owning is the better option.

Also, if you stay at home now you will have more time to investigate different neighborhoods that appeal to you. A condo with a lake view might be sweeter if someone else owns it. Give yourself time; you don't have to be in rush to make a decision and this is a good thing.