Which would you rather do in these situations: (gated community, fee, price)
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A townhouse might be doable. I have been looking into that and there don't seem to be many of them in my area, but I will keep looking. If I could find one with it's own little yard, that might work out well.
^^^ that, or the house. Just make sure to secure your outside things; keep your car in a garage or have a gate across the driveway. Have motion lighting outside around front, back & sides. Have a motion sensitive porch light. Plant thorny bushes near windows. Post a few security decals (you can buy Brinks decals and signs on Ebay). Keep a pair of big men's shoes near the side doorway if you have one. Don't keep irresistable attractions in sight -- no cute deck chairs on the front porch, etc.
I've owned investment rentals in moderate areas for years and have never had a breakin. I have these things at my rentals and my tenants and I always discuss simple things to keep the places undesirable for random vandals and burglars. In addition, avoid corner houses or homes with alleys behind them.
One thing you will want to do is try and get a pulse on the neighborhood as far as if its trending better or worse. You want a stable or improving neighborhood... Try and see if there's some way to assess the "climate" to make sure its not going down.
A non-issue for me. For $ 50.00 I can have someone mow the lawn once a month. Beats a $ 250.00 condo fee for pools, tennis courts and clubhouses I would never use.
Have you ever owned a home before? Just wanted to make sure you're aware of all the other costs associated to buying and owning a home, it's just not the lawn care. That may sway your decision once you add up all the costs
Yes, I am willing to live in a 1 BR/1 BA. Not too many of those around (except condos). The one exception is in rural areas which are lovely, but I need to work and there are no jobs in those areas and no larger cities nearby.
If I didn't have to work, I could buy something very affordable in a small town with a low crime rate.
Is this your long term goal? Retirement plan?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suncc49
As a single older lady do you feel that you can adequately maintain a home? They require a good bit of work to keep in tip top shape.
This is true. I went from an apartment style condo to a townhouse to now, 1/2 of a new construction duplex that is essentially a single family in the sense that I am 100% responsible for all interior and exterior maintenance, the one exception being that for a new roof or new exterior paint, my other half neighbors and I would have to agree and share the costs. Hoping that's not going to be an issue for quite some time since it is new construction.
In any case, it's a lot more time and effort than I fully expected. Not more than I can handle at the moment (I'm in my early 50s) but I already know that will not be my retirement home because at some point, it will get to be too much. Esp. feeling that way now given that we got almost 2 feet of snow yesterday and my kid and I put in several hours of shoveling!
I would say that if your long term goal is to own the small home in the small town with the low crime rate at some point down the road, then you are looking at a property ladder. And a nice condo in a desireable location is going to be a hell of a lot easier to sell than a small house in a semi-high crime area. That's apart from whether you'd truly be comfortable living there yourself between now and the time you did want to sell.
Continue renting and keep looking for something else. Prices may be going up, but real estate is a roller coaster; the prices go up and down all the time. Patience, Grasshopper. Don't settle for a house you don't want. You will regret that decision every day you live there.
Unsafe is unsafe! And if those locations look iffy to you now, they are going to look worse when you are older.
Your job is so awful you have negative cash flow? If I read this right and your whole paycheck won't even cover the rent, I would dump the job and go live someplace with a lower COL. Somewhere you can eventually retire. A job that won't pay the rent is not worth keeping. And there is another crappy job for you almost anywhere!
I have enough put away for a small house or condo that I got from an estate, but you are correct. My income leaves a negative cash flow if I keep this apartment.
I have thought of packing it up to a small town with a low COL, even with no job lined up there for the reasons you stated - buying the house and then looking for work (since the house would be paid in full). It's a scary thought, but so is paying $$$ for rent each month.
As a single older lady do you feel that you can adequately maintain a home? They require a good bit of work to keep in tip top shape.
I still work. But yes, I know eventually all houses need some repair. Of course, I would never buy a fixer-upper or something with electrical or plumbing that was out of code. I would also make sure drain field is in good shape.
Other than drain field, a roof would be the most expensive thing to go wrong, but I could always go with asphalt when the time comes. Tile is too costly.
I would not want a pool and I need to either mow the lawn myself or plan on hiring someone for twice a month (climate is warm here).
With the average condo fee being around $250.00 month + unknown assessments per year, I figure maintenance is a wash.
HOI is costly here, but since the value of my home will not be high, my HOI should not be that high.
Go with a house in a low crime area. Condos have a lot of restrictions on dogs and other pets, such as size, number allowed and banned pets.
I can't afford a house in a low crime area, that I am aware of. But still researching.
You are so right about the pet restrictions, and I am not getting rid of any of my pets.
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