Hello all,
I would really love some advice on this topic. My fiance and I are about to purchase our first home (currently renting), and we are a bit torn between some options. We are looking at the low end of the housing budget in our area, so are limited to houses that are major fixer-uppers, short-sale/bank-owned, and then also some condos and town homes. Here's the thing: we've looked at the financials for both options, and we know how much we can spend in both situations, taking into consideration (among other things) expected maintenance costs and HOA dues. In a condo, we would be getting something much newer, with not much work that needs to be done, and no work that's required for it to be nice to live in. But we wouldn't have outdoor space for gardening, refinishing furniture, building things...which we can't do now, but would like to. We'd also have the shared-wall thing with our neighbors. I've also grown up in houses, so that's my ideal 'home.' Not that that by itself is a reason to discount condos. In a house we would be getting an old, outdated home that needs work, maybe even to make it livable. Over half of the houses we can afford are short-sales or bank-owned. I worry that if we put an offer on a short sale house and the bank denied it, by then we'd be into the warmer season where around here the housing market tends to get a lot more competitive, possibly crowding us out of the market almost entirely. So what do you all think? Is it worth pursuing a run-down short-sale house, mostly because it allows us to do more of the 'fun' stuff that could save us money in the long run (veggie gardening, diy stuff), and doesn't have HOA dues? Or should we get a condo instead?
Oh, and by the way, if we were looking in a larger radius we'd be fine, but we're limited by my fiance's bike-to-work radius, which is an absolute requirement for us. So that's part of the limitation that is non-negotiable for us. I'm a student at the moment (again), so can be more flexible with finding work after we have a place. We're hoping to be entirely carless after we settle down in our new home, and just cycle everywhere!