Info, thoughts and opinion on Condos?

[jfre81]

One wildcard that people might consider is how demand for condos, especially close to work destinations (Downtown, Greenway Plaza etc.) might be affected as it becomes more and more expensive to drive. Same goes for townhomes.

It was said before - location is everything. Now, "location" can sometimes change over the years, either for better or worse. You can get a condo near 59/Bissonnet for maybe $30K, and there's a good reason why. But suppose you bought a couple of cheap units at 2016 Main and suddenly it's announced that Metro has prodded Greyhound into moving its station to the Intermodal facility proposed (on N. Main north of downtown, exactly where something like that should be). If that was to happen you might stand to come out ahead turning one around.

But generally, if you buy a condo in Houston do it because it's where you want to live. This is not a place for runaway RE speculation, and the lack of zoning that helps make anything possible most anywhere helps discourage it. I love it, and that's why people are now moving here to flee the messes that speculation helped cause in Florida, California etc. Let's not ruin a good thing. The boom is over, and people are just gonna have to deal with it.

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by HTownNearNative

Both Renaissance and Reata were originally apartments converted to condos. Both have suffered from many foreclosures (check har dot com). Both are next to busy thoroughfares. Renaissance is built of brick (good for insurance purposes) while Reata is built with stucco. Location of unit within the complex is critical (off-street is best).

You might want to check if there are any homes for sale at a River Oaks townhome community off McDuffie St which is a quiet street off West Gray St within walking distance of the River Oaks Shopping Center. These are townhomes built in the late 70's with 2 car garages adjacent to the home. These are in a better location as they are not directly on a main road. Not sure if you'd own the land directly underneath or not (fee simple townhome) - this is part of what makes a good investment. Renaissance and Reata have parking garages which means your car is unlikely to be in front of your home.

Since you asked about property taxes, property taxes are separate from maintenance fees. Many lenders require 20% down payment to waive escrow (adding property taxes) added to your mortgage payment. Also they may charge a fee to waive escrow so you can pay your own taxes directly to the tax assessor/collector. IMO, it's best to maintain control of your own tax payments and not rely on the loan servicing office to handle it. Check out hcad.com and tax.co.harris.tx.us

You reminded me of another issue with condo conversions. First off with the condo conversions the resale is even worse then standard condos.

But the other issue is the old apartment buildings that were converted to condos are usually nothing more then painting the buildings, installing the cheapest corrogated cardboard cabinets money can buy with a touch of class by adding granite counter tops, cheap cheap cheap new appliances, new carpet and wala !! The once old apartment is now for sale as a condo.

That all being said I hear from Realtors that in almost all cases the builder who does the conversion also offers their own financing. This is because most of these condo conversions are not finance-able by traditional lenders including FHA. So some poor sap that does not know any better might buy one and some day want to sell and is SOL. No lender will finance them.

The vast majority of these conversions are bought by the current tenants anyway. Those renters are offered steep discounts if they want to purchase their unit or any other one.