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Old 12-14-2016, 08:40 AM
 
Location: Castle Rock, Co
1,613 posts, read 3,220,474 times
Reputation: 969

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Quote:
Originally Posted by caverunner17 View Post
If I had a dollar for every time I've heard a real estate agent say this.

The best time to buy a house is when you, the buyer is ready to buy a house. If a increase in the market of housing is going to price you out next year, then chances are that you aren't in a solid position currently and/or are looking at houses that are probably too expensive or at the top of your range for your income level as it is.

As far as the 6 year ago part.... that was true everywhere. I had friends buy houses for a fraction of their current value all over the US between 2009-2012. That's not unique to Denver.

The other (less favorable for most) option is to rent a spare room for a couple of years. $600-700/month for a room for 3-4 years is an easy 20-30k back in your pocket. That's an easy way for you to get enough of a raise/promotion to cover the expense of a house a few years down the road.
Have you seen home prices in denver? Who isnt buying at the top of their budget now days???

even "fixer upper" homes in decent areas are 250+. If you want something move in ready in a decent neighborhood your looking at 350 minimum. As far as I can tell, you need an income of around 100k (with family of four) to afford 350k and thats still the "top of the budget".
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Old 12-14-2016, 09:46 AM
SQL
 
Location: The State of Delusion - Colorado
1,337 posts, read 1,184,684 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim View Post
Have you seen home prices in denver? Who isnt buying at the top of their budget now days???

even "fixer upper" homes in decent areas are 250+. If you want something move in ready in a decent neighborhood your looking at 350 minimum. As far as I can tell, you need an income of around 100k (with family of four) to afford 350k and thats still the "top of the budget".
Don't discount the idea of DINKs and roommate living arrangements contributing to this. I was fortunate enough to find a home under $200k last summer (2015), but it was not easy. That was at the lower end of my budget, but it was what I was comfortable with given that I want a life and I want to save for retirement and pay off my student loans. Right after I moved in, I had a roommate move in as well to help keep costs down and to have some cash available for some immediate upgrades. My GF lives with me now, so it's a pretty good living situation for all of us in terms of keeping costs low.

I very rarely see these sub-$200k homes advertised these days. There are some new townhomes and duplexes going up by where I live, but they are being priced at $300k+. That said, there was a nice 3BR/2BA townhome next to us that we really liked. It was originally priced at $319k, and dropped down to $295k. Not sure if that's what it sold for, but I think that price levels may be tapering off a little as some people start to realize, "oh wait, it's ridiculous to pay close to $300k, and $20k over asking price, for some dinky fixer-upper". There certainly was a period of time when people were very giddy to live here no matter the cost. "I just have to live HERE!" I think reality is starting to kick in for some of these buyers.
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Old 12-14-2016, 09:59 AM
 
Location: Denver, CO
1,421 posts, read 1,623,826 times
Reputation: 1751
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim View Post
Have you seen home prices in denver? Who isnt buying at the top of their budget now days???

even "fixer upper" homes in decent areas are 250+. If you want something move in ready in a decent neighborhood your looking at 350 minimum. As far as I can tell, you need an income of around 100k (with family of four) to afford 350k and thats still the "top of the budget".
Where does it say that you, as an American, have a right to be able to purchase and own a single family home? Condos and townhomes exist for a market that can't afford a single family home (or who don't want the responsibilities / larger space). There are a number of townhouses I've seen on and off the market for under $300k that were updated and seemed nice (from the photos).


Also, $100k between 2 working adults isn't that high. That's two professional jobs that have somewhere between 3-5 years of experience.
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Old 12-14-2016, 10:14 AM
SQL
 
Location: The State of Delusion - Colorado
1,337 posts, read 1,184,684 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by caverunner17 View Post
Where does it say that you, as an American, have a right to be able to purchase and own a single family home? Condos and townhomes exist for a market that can't afford a single family home (or who don't want the responsibilities / larger space). There are a number of townhouses I've seen on and off the market for under $300k that were updated and seemed nice (from the photos).

Also, $100k between 2 working adults isn't that high. That's two professional jobs that have somewhere between 3-5 years of experience.
I'm a very big advocate for town home and condo living, especially for first time buyers. It's a nice way to ease into home ownership from living in an apartment due to the lower maintenance cost. That's why I like my neighborhood, because there are a lot of of options for these types of homes. Many of them can also be found for under $300k. The downside is having costly monthly HOA fees that tend to go up every year, and don't disappear even after you pay off your mortgage. Mine is going up to $230/mo next year, and they do very limited maintenance around the complex and pay our monthly water bill. So you'll always have a payment on your home, which tends to cost more (per month) than if you owned a paid-off SFH.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a lot of these types of developments going up these days. This keeps the options limited.
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Old 12-14-2016, 10:20 AM
 
242 posts, read 247,956 times
Reputation: 510
I recently bought a home in a Lakewood for 330K. Move in ready, 3bed/2bath/2 car garage in really nice neighborhood. North of O'Kane Park. There's some updating I want to do but nothing that is pressing.

Looking around it seems like I got a fairly good deal. I love the place but I was really thinking about buying a condo since I'm out of state for extended periods of time. The HOA fees scare me, can they just raise those at any time or does the community have to vote on it?

The condos by Sloan Lake look really nice, I have no idea what they run though.

Anyway, I am planning on returning to college full time in a year and half or so. What could I rent a room out for here? I'm paying 2000/mo for my mortgage, adding like 400 to principle each month.

Last edited by Norrov; 12-14-2016 at 10:24 AM.. Reason: Missing words and more!
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Old 12-14-2016, 10:22 AM
 
Location: 0.83 Atmospheres
11,477 posts, read 11,439,704 times
Reputation: 11976
Quote:
Originally Posted by Norrov View Post
I recently bought a home in a Lakewood for 330K. Move in ready, 3bed/2bath/2 car garage in really nice neighborhood. North of O'Kane Park.

Looking around it seems like I got a fairly good deal. I love the place but I really thinking about buying a condo since I'm out of state for extended periods of time. The HOA fees scare me, can they just raise those at any time or does to community have to vote on it?

The condos by Sloan Lake look really nice. I have no idea what they run though.
You need to look at the governing document of the HOA to know how it is structured.
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Old 12-14-2016, 10:28 AM
SQL
 
Location: The State of Delusion - Colorado
1,337 posts, read 1,184,684 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by Norrov View Post
I recently bought a home in a Lakewood for 330K. Move in ready, 3bed/2bath/2 car garage in really nice neighborhood. North of O'Kane Park.

Looking around it seems like I got a fairly good deal. I love the place but I really thinking about buying a condo since I'm out of state for extended periods of time. The HOA fees scare me, can they just raise those at any time or does to community have to vote on it?

The condos by Sloan Lake look really nice. I have no idea what they run though.
Yes, they can raise them any time, but as far as I know, it's usually raised during the next fiscal year. You'll have to read over your HOA governing documents to know for sure. Mine just went from $210/mo to $230/mo for 2017. That's about 20% of my total mortgage payment. The rest goes towards principal, interest, and property taxes/insurance (escrow).

My concern about living in a covenant-controlled community with HOA fees is that I've heard that the HOA board has little control or legal recourse over who pays their fees. I had a co-worker at another job once tell me that he quit paying his HOA fees and the HOA board didn't do anything about it. When he moved out of the community, nothing happened to him or his credit. As a result, those who do pay them end up paying for those who don't. So if the community is not bringing in adequate revenue from these fees, they may not have enough money to pay for maintenance around the community. Hence the reason why they may need to raise your fees year over year.

I can't say whether or not my community is bringing in enough revenue from all the tenants living there. But I can say that it is difficult to get maintenance done around my community. There has been a trash-area door that fell off over two months ago, and hasn't been repaired. They cut a privacy/shade-producing evergreen tree down in front of my unit and they are giving me push back for replacing it. There has been some potholes around the community that have not been filled in for quite some time.

Ideally, I'd find a community with as little HOA-fee required as possible. I personally think they are pointless, as my HOA board has proven, they do little in the way of actual maintenance around the community. So what am I paying $230/mo for? It certainly isn't my total water bill. And it certainly isn't going towards repairs that I've requested, because those have been largely ignored.

Last edited by SQL; 12-14-2016 at 10:51 AM..
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Old 12-14-2016, 10:59 AM
 
Location: Denver, CO
1,421 posts, read 1,623,826 times
Reputation: 1751
Quote:
Originally Posted by SQL View Post
Yes, they can raise them any time, but as far as I know, it's usually raised during the next fiscal year. You'll have to read over your HOA governing documents to know for sure. Mine just went from $210/mo to $230/mo for 2017. That's about 20% of my total mortgage payment. The rest goes towards principal, interest, and property taxes/insurance (escrow).

My concern about living in a covenant-controlled community with HOA fees is that I've heard that the HOA board has little control or legal recourse over who pays their fees. I had a co-worker at another job once tell me that he quit paying his HOA fees and the HOA board didn't do anything about it. When he moved out of the community, nothing happened to him or his credit. As a result, those who do pay them end up paying for those who don't. So if the community is not bringing in adequate revenue from these fees, they may not have enough money to pay for maintenance around the community. Hence the reason why they may need to raise your fees year over year.

I can't say whether or not my community is bringing in enough revenue from all the tenants living there. But I can say that it is difficult to get maintenance done around my community. There has been a trash-area door that fell off over two months ago, and hasn't been repaired. They cut a privacy/shade-producing evergreen tree down in front of my unit and they are giving me push back for replacing it. There has been some potholes around the community that have not been filled in for quite some time.

Ideally, I'd find a community with as little HOA-fee required as possible. I personally think they are pointless, as my HOA board has proven, they do little in the way of actual maintenance around the community. So what am I paying $230/mo for? It certainly isn't my total water bill. And it certainly isn't going towards repairs that I've requested, because those have been largely ignored.
The big thing with Condos/Townhouses is exterior building maintenance. Roofing, siding etc. The rest, I agree, is trivial.
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Old 12-14-2016, 11:07 AM
 
Location: Denver, CO
760 posts, read 874,585 times
Reputation: 1521
^ This is how I always thought of it.

I have never owned a property with HOA, but I see it as more of insurance. If something happens to foundation, siding, roofing, etc you won't have to worry about doing it yourself.

Though I should probably ask, are these things typically covered by most HOAs?
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Old 12-14-2016, 11:10 AM
SQL
 
Location: The State of Delusion - Colorado
1,337 posts, read 1,184,684 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by MN_Ski View Post
^ This is how I always thought of it.

I have never owned a property with HOA, but I see it as more of insurance. If something happens to foundation, siding, roofing, etc you won't have to worry about doing it yourself.

Though I should probably ask, are these things typically covered by most HOAs?
My HOA covers an exterior insurance plan. I think most HOAs for condo and town home developments are supposed to. If anything happens to the exterior of my building, they are supposed to cover it.

They are also supposed to maintain outdoor common areas. That's where mine is failing in particular. My rates are going up next year, but yet, I can't get a tree replaced that they cut down, they can't fix a garbage area door, and they don't maintain the roadways in the community very well.
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