Author Topic: trying to get out of my condo, but....  (Read 4555 times)

FuckRx

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trying to get out of my condo, but....
« on: September 07, 2013, 07:19:22 PM »

i bought this antimustachian 455k condo 4 months ago...
payments are about $3,500/mo with HOA/PMI/TAX/Insurance/Interest/Principal...
i haven't even lived in it yet, it has tenants paying 2,450/mo who are moving out 9/15...
i'm renting a studio for 825/mo nearby actually...
so i already signed a contract with a realtor...
we are going to list it for 475-495,000...
it's in downtown San Diego and the market is hot...
however, my building is going into litigation...
they are suing the builder for using bad plumbing material apparently...
going into litigation drops the value...
if this doesn't sell what are my options?

it's a 2 bedroom and 2 bath 1000sqft condo...
my income is in the 200k range...
but i have 34,000 in credit cards and 401k loans that i'm attacking mustachian style...
oh and 117k of student loans at 2.9%...

i can rent the place out for like 2700-2900/mo but a rental company is gonna charge me 10% of that...
i could get a roommate but really would rather not...
i could move into it and start paying it down aggressively...

pattertall

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Re: trying to get out of my condo, but....
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2013, 09:05:59 PM »
The numbers don't quite seem to make sense to me for a 30 year mortgage, so I'm guessing you must be on a 15 year mortgage in order to have such high payments.  Is that correct?  For reference, I bought a 560k townhouse 3 years ago with 25% down (so a 417k loan) and my monthly PITI + HOA is just under 2400.  If the mortgage term is 15 years, the condo could potentially make financial sense if you rent out one of the rooms.  That's what I have been doing for 3 years, and it has worked out very well.  If the mortgage is 30 years and your costs are so high, I can't see owning the condo making a lot of financial sense.

If you'd rather not have a roommate, it seems to me renting is currently much more favorable than buying in your part of San Diego based on the prices you quoted.  825/month sounds like a very favorable rent for a studio in an area where 2 bedroom condos going for almost 500k.  For reference, a studio would likely be in the 1400-1800/month range in my part of the DC area and a nice 2 bedroom condo of that size would likely be around 500k.  So owning a condo appears far more favorable where I live than where you do, and after running the numbers I still would not have purchased my townhouse if I hadn't planned to rent out a room to recoup some of the costs.

In terms of the litigation, it seems like all you can do is list the property, gauge the level of interest, hope the litigation is over quickly, and potentially list the place in the spring if you aren't able to sell now.  Best of luck!

arebelspy

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Re: trying to get out of my condo, but....
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2013, 09:37:35 PM »
Can't be 15, payment isn't high enough for that (unless he put down a decent chunk).  Possibly 20 or 25, but since those are more uncommon I'm guessing it's 30, but assuming he didn't put much down, it's probably PMI + high taxes + HOA that makes the payment so high.
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pattertall

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Re: trying to get out of my condo, but....
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2013, 11:13:12 PM »
Can't be 15, payment isn't high enough for that (unless he put down a decent chunk).  Possibly 20 or 25, but since those are more uncommon I'm guessing it's 30, but assuming he didn't put much down, it's probably PMI + high taxes + HOA that makes the payment so high.

I guess I was thinking 10% down would be 410k financed which would be in the 2800s P+I for a 15 year note at a decent rate.  But now that I think about it, it's likely that you are correct; it must just be that taxes, HOA, and/or PMI are very high.

honobob

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Re: trying to get out of my condo, but....
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2013, 11:29:29 PM »
You will probably need a cash buyer as financing will be almost impossible if a lawsuit is actually filed.  what was the original plan 4 months ago?

FuckRx

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Re: trying to get out of my condo, but....
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2013, 01:30:02 AM »
sadly it is a 30 year, only 5% down and high HOA's.
plan was to live in it but i don't want to really make such high payments any more...
i'm not really in the market for a new condo or house anytime soon...
i can rent here for a few more years...

FuckRx

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Re: trying to get out of my condo, but....
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2013, 10:48:37 AM »

that was my concern exactly...word around town is that when these buildings go into litigation the value drops quite a bit for the 2-3 years that they are in litigation... i have to decide whether to continue renting or move into the unit should the condo not sell...

Another Reader

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Re: trying to get out of my condo, but....
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2013, 08:00:55 AM »
In your shoes, I would list the property and see if it sells.  If not, move in and do what you can to minimize the cost.  Unless you are in the position of renewing a lease on the studio, you don't have to decide anything today.

Johnny Aloha

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Re: trying to get out of my condo, but....
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2013, 05:29:33 PM »
Do you have more details on the plumbing problems? 

I'm asking because there was a large lawsuit in my area over using PEX plumbing in a high rise.  Apparently it was when PEX was new and there were leaks in some of the connections, so it all had to be ripped out and replaced with copper.

Everyone in my area swears by copper and most stores don't even carry PEX.  But I'm using it on a project now and love how easy it is to work with (and how cheap it is).