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I did not mean to imply everyone would move from condo to single family simply based on price, nor would they move from urban to 'burbs. I was just trying to make an observation after reading another post. There is a balancing act with pricing for most people. Condo's can make financial sense in some situations and may very well be the preferred choice of housing options for many people. But there is a good number of people who weigh the price and association fees and when that tipping point is reached, they make different choices.
I made the observation about the 'burb houses because that is where I am looking now and because someone made it seem like it is all cookie cutter vinyl houses outside the city. I am willing to bet people can now find houses within the city limits and all around the downtown area that are better value than the condos.
When the economy is flying high, condo's may very well sell well. When the economy slows down, or in this case tanks, condo's are the very first to feel the pain.
When I bought my condo, I could have purchased a single family home near downtown. I still didn't buy one. Some people don't want houses. This includes me. I did not buy a condo because I couldn't afford a house. I just don't want a house. It's that simple. But, I do want a nice home and that nice home to me is a higher end condo. I know I am not the only person who feels this way.
I have a friend who can't sell his house near DT right now and he desperately wants to buy a high end condo. I have a new neighbor who just moved from a house to live in a DT condo. People just don't buy condos because they can't afford single family homes. This is especially true DT.
To me, living in a condo is close to renting an apartment in terms of privacy and overall feel. The unit, view and location are always key in condo living.
And most Condos in the raleigh area are $150-200 SF.
So when account your mortgage payment, fees, taxes, insurance, etc, it's really expensive to keep a small place up and running.
I rented a 1br apt over the the brier creek area. It's got everything I need and amenites ta boot. The clubhouse looks like it could be in a fancy hotel and it lacks nothing.
I couldn't pass up the stupid cheap rent. $699 mo for a 900 SF APT. I've got 9ft ceilings, textured walls, 2 piece crown molings throughout the entire apt, maple cabinets, black appliances, garden tub.
Why would I want to buy a 1000sf condo for 200 grand and have a $1500/mo mortage and tax bill? The association fees alone are a killer $250-300 month in some of these complexes.
I'd have to double my living expenses at a minimum. If I saw some huge growth or investment potential or just jhad a lot of money to play with, I could see doing it. But the risk far outweighs the benefits right now.
i never expected my thread to create so much healthy debate....
at the end of the day everyone has their own personal preference and opinions and i respect each view...
some may want to pay $700 rent to live in Brier Creek.
others who have money may want to pay double that in rent to live on the 34th floor in RBC plaza
just depends on one's lifestyle and where he/she wants to be locationwise
I think it's fair to say that the majority of people would like to have the option of considering a DT condo, but it's just financially out of reach. You also have to consider what point you're at in life and what your plans are (e.g. kids, family, etc..). Personally, since I don't see myself dropping half a million on a nice condo DT, I will rent in the DT area until I'm ready to buy somewhere out in the burbs (yes, it's a depressing thought).
I think it's fair to say that the majority of people would like to have the option of considering a DT condo, but it's just financially out of reach.
There is no way I could disagree more. You really think the majority of people want to live in a condo in any downtown? That is 180 degrees from the truth. The majority of people buying prefer single family houses. Some of these people settle on a condo or townhouse because they are first time buyers and can't yet afford a single family house. There is a very small portion of buyers that prefer downtown condos. For them, the lifestyle can't be beat. If you have enough of them in any given area, prices can be justified. If not, condos sit on the market, prices drop and they become apartments. See Atlanta and apparently Raleigh.
The majority of people buying prefer single family houses. Some of these people settle on a condo or townhouse because they are first time buyers and can't yet afford a single family house.
I respectfully disagree...Buying a condo or a townhouse is more about lifestyle than it is about money. I would say that people usually go this route because they don't want to upkeep a yard, don't have kids, have to travel a lot, etc. Besides, single family houses aren't always more expensive than condos/townhouses. In many cases, the sometimes crazy HOA fees jack up the total monthly payment of a condo or townhouse to well past that of what you would pay for a single family house. I would say that very few people "settle" for condos when they really want a single family house--they usually simply find a cheaper single family house. With that said, there are definitely other reasons why condos downtown aren't selling...for example, for most of the 200-300k condos downtown, it would be hard to justify dropping that kind of coin on it (future ROI questions, location benefits, square footage, etc). My 2 cents...
DH and I looked into DT condos recently. We're empty nesters and think we'd really would enjoy living within walking distance to everything DT Raleigh has to offer. We toured 222 Glenwood and West. While we really liked these 2 places, 222 seemed to have a much younger vibe than we were looking for. The other downsides for us were that we have 2 small dogs and having to take them out several times a day via an elevator seemd a bit tedious; additionally, we love to entertain and parking for guests was another big issue. 1200sf for 350K seemed a bit steep. West was very nice, more square footage but higher pricepoint and it had a parking garage but again, pets/elevator issues were a deal breaker for us. Maybe at some point in the future.
DH and I looked into DT condos recently. We're empty nesters and think we'd really would enjoy living within walking distance to everything DT Raleigh has to offer. We toured 222 Glenwood and West. While we really liked these 2 places, 222 seemed to have a much younger vibe than we were looking for. The other downsides for us were that we have 2 small dogs and having to take them out several times a day via an elevator seemd a bit tedious; additionally, we love to entertain and parking for guests was another big issue. 1200sf for 350K seemed a bit steep. West was very nice, more square footage but higher pricepoint and it had a parking garage but again, pets/elevator issues were a deal breaker for us. Maybe at some point in the future.
There are a ton of other townhouse/condo options around the downtown area that aren't in a "high rise" structure. If you go slightly up Glenwood and St. Mary's there's a bunch where parking wouldn't be an issue and you'd have access to green space for the doggies. The area over by Washington Street:
It's very walkable to Glenwood South and restaurants, etc. Heck I used to live in Five Points and walk to downtown. It's easily more doable than what I used to do, lol.
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