Real estate question

[Boris]

buying a condominium - good investment or not?

What concerns me most are the housing association fees.

[John Feeney]

Boris -- As far as I know it can be a good investment, but rarely approaches being as good an investment as a single family home. Maybe someone else will have more detail to offer.

[Ray Zee]

condos do not go up as fast in value as a single family house. also you tend to have nightmares with your neibhors.
its like living in an apartment that you cant move from if you have problems. plus the condo association can vote in things that you may want to gag on. best to rent rather than do that and save up for a house. if you do decide to buy one. interview the rest of the people around you as you are stuck with them.
fees can eat you alive but in a house you get to pay them as well but you get to decide what to spend on. generally in an expensive area renting is way better and in a cheaper area buying is more economically sound. opposite of what one might think.

[jen]

You think?

I bought a condo here in the Bay a few years ago (got tired of the ridiculous rent hikes that were taking place back then), and it's definitely the best investment that I've made to date. I love my place, the value of my home has gone up significantly, and I get tax breaks.

With the interest rates as low as they are and the limited amount of land here, I'm a big proponent of buying rather than renting. I think the big question is whether we're in this so-called "housing bubble". However, I've heard that the "low-end" homes ($600k and under) are still projected to increase in value while upper-end homes ($1MM+) are expected to lose value in the near future. Of course that's all speculation.

Condo fees here, I think, are surprisingly low relative to the price of properties (at least versus TX and NYC). I just pay them and don't think much about them.

[David Steele]

Find a townhouse with very few shared facilities like pools, and the fees won't be too high. The fees are just the real costs of upkeep and are voted on by the owners.

We did ok, doubled through on our CA townhouse, which set the
stage to get into the big money with the house we had there.

In the US, the home owners ( mortage borrowers )are subsidized by tax breaks, while the renters pay in full.

D.

[Warren Whitmore]

Good investment? Probably not
Least expensive liability of the housing options? Perhaps