Owning vs. Renting mem (Memphis, Jackson: real estate, 2015, apartments)

[MissKayeElle7]

Hi guys! I've narrowed down the parts of town I'd like to move to my question now is owning or renting. I want something a bit more upscale but can't decide btw a condo or apt. I like the flexibility of an apt but long term I know it is a waste of money. Unsure of how many years I'll be here. My budget is about 1300 monthly. Any suggestions/tips? Thanks!

[Comingtomemphis]

On which areas are you focusing?

[MissKayeElle7]

Downtown and Harbor Town

[CristenS]

Condos are typically not the best buys - harder to sell, lose value easier, less stable. I've known many people to lose a lot of money on condos here. Are you moving to Memphis from out of state? I would always recommend renting before buying here. Memphis is a hard city to understand, in terms of buying property.

[MissKayeElle7]

I'm coming from Nashville for work. I've heard similar things about condos but it seems they're popular in Memphis so I thought it may be different. I have come to realize the real estate Memphis is quite different from Nashville.

[jabogitlu]

I would highly encourage you to rent in Memphis at first.

1) You might not like MEM as much as you think. (I'm not discouraging you -- I love Memphis a lot, but not everyone does.)

2) You might learn a LOT about neighborhoods in the first 6 months to 1 year that you live there. Memphis isn't like Nashville -- there are good streets and bad streets in close proximity and they can switch fairly surprisingly, unless you learn what you're looking for. Major barriers such as train tracks, six lanes streets, or large developments can act as seams between good and bad districts. You'll pick up a lot of information to help ensure you purchase a property with a neutral or positive resale value.

3) You might network and find friends that live downtown, or out east, or something that influences your decision, and you might also be in a better position to get recommendations for realtors who will be helpful.

[Mississippimarkus]

I found the neighborhood map in this forum very helpful to understand Memphis.

While looking for housing options myself I realized two things. Memphis is on the cheaper side of things compared to other metropolitan areas and there seem to be no appreciation over decades. This also widely depends where exactly you are looking.

Renting is definitely the safer choice but there are a lot of reasonable prices homes here. It all depends on your financial situation.

[CristenS]

You can always rent a condo, since people have such hard times selling them, there are usually a lot being rented. But typically where there are a lot of condos (downtown) there are also a lot of apartments, so it's all sort of the same. There are some very nice apartments on the island and in South Bluffs, if that's where you want to be.

[jabogitlu]

Memphis is on the cheaper side of things compared to other metropolitan areas and there seem to be no appreciation over decades. This also widely depends where exactly you are looking.

Decades is a very long time. The last house I lived in (Cooper-Young) was sold for $52,000 in 2000 and for $90,800 in 2015.

The western Evergreen neighborhood has also risen in value. I picked a house at random on the Assessor's website which sold for $193,000 in 2001 and for $280,000 in 2009.

Another house picked at random in VECA sold for $45,000 in 1994, $137,000 in 2003, and $164,000 in 2005.

I didn't bother looking in Lenox/Overton Square, but I'd imagine it's the same story.

I'd be less confident buying in a place like Glenview... and I might also be a bit leery of buying that western Evergreen house now for $280,000 or $300,000.

There are pockets that I personally feel will continue to rise in value, like Annesdale (especially the Snowden Circle neighborhood) or areas around Crosstown, especially north of Parkway and South of Jackson, and east of I-40.

[Mississippimarkus]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Decades is a very long time. The last house I lived in (Cooper-Young) was sold for $52,000 in 2000 and for $90,800 in 2015.

It all depends how you look at it. On the west coast you can have 10-15% increases in 3 months. The Memphis house market is on the low end of things.