House 270K Vs townhouse 160k

[sham_ip]

I'm planing to buy a house for up to 280K and I can put 12% down payment now. In my other posting "buy now or wait until I have 20% down" you guys advised me to wait 10 more months so I can afford the 20% down.
Another idea came to my mind... I find nice 3bdr town house for sale for 160K. I can put the 20% down now.The monthly payment will be about $600, but with extra payments every month, I can pay off the mortgage within 7 years.
Then either I sell it and put the money as big down payment to buy big house,
or rent it out and buy another town house (seems good investment option),
or even buy a vacation property somewhere else...

I don't have kids yet so I don't need large space now..
I know i have to pay condo fee for a town hous and it's about $300/mnth not including the heating cost. The condo fee includes insurance on the exterior of the condo so insurance cost will be lees than the house insurance. Also the property tax is less for townhouses compared to a house. So the condo fee is not thrwoing money out of the window..

What do you think guys ?
:poosie: :poosie: :poosie: :poosie:

[msommers]

Where can you get a place for 160k?

Condo fees kind of scare me because of their special assessment garbage. Definitely have a close look at the condo board, could be great or a nightmare.

[Cos]

.

[pizdets17]

A house for 280? Maybe a previous grow op in Dover...

[masoncgy]

There are a few properties that exist in those price ranges, but none of them would be properties I would ever want to get into. You are buying a major reno project in the heart of some of the worst neighborhoods in Calgary.

Wait a year and see how things look. Given the larger markets are starting to slump it won't be long until Calgary follows suit and cools off... and then you will have more options available in your price range.

[r3ccOs]

even when I was looking for my first home in 03'/04 wouldn't have even been that low...

unless of course all of a sudden the economy tipped overnight and we're as bad as shape as American Midwest

[dj_patm]

lol where did you pull these imaginary numbers from?

160K will get you a tiny one bedroom condo with a living room and kitchen space that is the size of an walk-in closet.

[dj_patm]

These are the cheapest new townhouses I was able to find and I have not heard great things about their build quality... and their beside a landfill.

http://www.york29.com/

[CanmoreOrLess]

OP needs to post a link or name the area the condo is in. OP why do you need to get into a serious real estate investment (townhouse) when waiting less than a year will give you exactly what you want, a house? You really feel prepared to become a landlord with zero experience in renting in out after this little townhouse experiment?

Selling a townhouse or condo short term is a shitfest, associated fees, realtor fees, etc will eat all your "profits" and leave you 20K in the hole. I have a friend, she has a $260,000 condo bought in 2008, it is now worth $230,000 based on those selling in her building, 30K is a fortune to her so she is stuck like a pig and thinking of walking away from the bank.

[Kloubek]

If you do happen to get a condo, carefully check their cash flow and reserve first. Msommers brings up a good point about special assessments, and sometimes if a board/fund has been mismanaged you will indeed end up with a special assessment from time to time which really sucks if you're struggling. (Been there)

As long as the financials are in perfect order and the reserve fund is healthy, you should be ok. I'm not so quick to put down condo fees in general as some, because at least the outside is taken care of. Regardless of what you buy, make sure you get an inspection and get the remaining estimated life on the furnace, hot water tank, etc. On a house, you can add in requests for the life of the siding and roof, and to make sure the foundation is sound and the house is in good general repair.

[Canucks3322]

Perhaps he doesn't actually live in Calgary?

[msommers]

^^ You're probably right. Maybe somewhere in the states?

Seeing this thread after the last one, it seems like you're potentially rushing to get a place which sounds disastrous, imo.

[jdmXSI]

Originally posted by Kloubek
If you do happen to get a condo, carefully check their cash flow and reserve first. Msommers brings up a good point about special assessments, and sometimes if a board/fund has been mismanaged you will indeed end up with a special assessment from time to time which really sucks if you're struggling. (Been there)

As long as the financials are in perfect order and the reserve fund is healthy, you should be ok. I'm not so quick to put down condo fees in general as some, because at least the outside is taken care of. Regardless of what you buy, make sure you get an inspection and get the remaining estimated life on the furnace, hot water tank, etc. On a house, you can add in requests for the life of the siding and roof, and to make sure the foundation is sound and the house is in good general repair.

Not completely true about the exterior. Our condo building is in need of a full envelope and is estimated at 4 million dollars and with 100ish units, we're expecting a special assessment of $40k each... Not something one would like to think about. I will personally never buy another condo/ town house.

[bleu]

Originally posted by jdmXSI


Not completely true about the exterior. Our condo building is in need of a full envelope and is estimated at 4 million dollars and with 100ish units, we're expecting a special assessment of $40k each... Not something one would like to think about. I will personally never buy another condo/ town house.


Mine is doing an envelope as well and construction has just begun. I'm so glad I am renting. Easily made up my mind between buying a condo or a house. I feel for the owners that have to find the funds for the renos/upgrades. :(

[BrknFngrs]

Originally posted by jdmXSI


Not completely true about the exterior. Our condo building is in need of a full envelope and is estimated at 4 million dollars and with 100ish units, we're expecting a special assessment of $40k each... Not something one would like to think about. I will personally never buy another condo/ town house.

Pontefino in bridgeland by chance?

[CanmoreOrLess]

I have a 200 unit (maybe 6 year old) condo a couple of blocks from me, they are tearing the exterior apart, all the balconies and all the siding. A real mess. Can't they build condos/buildings that have some form of warrantee against poor workmanship/materials? Hold the builder accountable. Six years seems like an example of pretty bad workmanship and materials used on the exterior.... the interior is going to be trouble-free though....:rolleyes:

I was listening to CBC Radio over a year ago (Ft. Mac condo failures/structural topic). They had a engineer who was a condo inspection expert (building only, not the individual units), she said she'd personally never buy a condo in a building that was not at least seven years old. In her decades of experience the first seven years told the tale of the building quality. Imagine if we held the same mindset to our vehicles, we'd all be fighting for Camrys and 74-85 diesel Mercs.

Personally, I'd never own something I don't have full control of and facing the daily threat of a $50K bill coming due. If I wanted that, I'd buy some exotic vehicle.

[jdmXSI]

Originally posted by BrknFngrs


Pontefino in bridgeland by chance?

No it's not- do you have personal experience too?

[msommers]

Originally posted by CanmoreOrLess
I have a 200 unit (maybe 6 year old) condo a couple of blocks from me, they are tearing the exterior apart, all the balconies and all the siding. A real mess. Can't they build condos/buildings that have some form of warrantee against poor workmanship/materials? Hold the builder accountable. Six years seems like an example of pretty bad workmanship and materials used on the exterior.... the interior is going to be trouble-free though....:rolleyes:

I was listening to CBC Radio over a year ago (Ft. Mac condo failures/structural topic). They had a engineer who was a condo inspection expert (building only, not the individual units), she said she'd personally never buy a condo in a building that was not at least seven years old. In her decades of experience the first seven years told the tale of the building quality. Imagine if we held the same mindset to our vehicles, we'd all be fighting for Camrys and 74-85 diesel Mercs.

Personally, I'd never own something I don't have full control of and facing the daily threat of a $50K bill coming due. If I wanted that, I'd buy some exotic vehicle.

That's not surprising, especially given the boom we had. Hell I don't think I'd buy a house either that didn't have some mileage unless it was done by a custom home builder I trusted.

Just an example for future flippers. My step brother and his wife do custom home and high end renos. A few times now people have bought homes and looked to them for renos, wanting to change things structurally. The realtor said all the changes they want are no issue but they go take a look and its not structurally possible without spending a lot! Home ownership and especially flipping takes a good market sense, engineering sense for renos and a but of luck.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by BrknFngrs


Pontefino in bridgeland by chance? Buddy got out of there just in time. Huge mess!

[borN]

Originally posted by max_boost
Buddy got out of there just in time. Huge mess!

What happened there? Same as what was posted above ($40k special assessment)?

[max_boost]

I don't know the full the details but it's in the condo docs.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by dj_patm
These are the cheapest new townhouses I was able to find and I have not heard great things about their build quality... and their beside a landfill.

http://www.york29.com/

http://www.indigoattaralake.ca/?gclid=CM_3utG19rECFeZDMgodmG8ARQ

[BananaFob]

Slokker Canada West has a couple of townhome projects in Calgary all starting around $240's. All edge of city stuff though.

[Cos]

.

[chibwack]

Pretty sure bnn was saying canada's housing market is at a peak right now and bound to come down in the not too distant future...

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by jdmXSI


Not completely true about the exterior. Our condo building is in need of a full envelope and is estimated at 4 million dollars and with 100ish units, we're expecting a special assessment of $40k each... Not something one would like to think about. I will personally never buy another condo/ town house.

Every few years, a condo board is supposed to get an assessment of the longevity of all aspects of the maintenance they are responsible for. The only way that a building would require an unexpected full exterior envelope is because:
a) This assessment was not performed
b) The assessment was performed but not listened to by the board
c) The assessment was incorrect

In the first two cases, the board did not do their job properly. In the last case, the company assessing the lifespan of the envelope made a (costly) mistake for the owners.

This same issue happened to a loft I used to own; the assessment company actually seemed to think our exterior was made of formed concrete when in fact it was vertical siding. It did look like concrete, but come on... really?!! 4 years later the siding was peeling off everywhere and it had to be redone with large special assessments given out. Luckily, I had moved out by that point.

But by all rights, if everyone does their job properly, something of this magnitude should *not* occur.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by chibwack
Pretty sure bnn was saying canada's housing market is at a peak right now and bound to come down in the not too distant future...

pretty sure calgary doesnt follow those rules...

[dj_patm]

Originally posted by ercchry


pretty sure calgary doesnt follow those rules...

Yeah, something tells me by the time I'm done waiting for the market to cool off I'll end up paying another 20 G's extra for a 250-300K home... after which the market will burst.

So yeah, I'd recommend waiting until I buy a house at the peak and then buying when the bubble pops the next day. :banghead:

[Ntense_SpecV]

Originally posted by Kloubek



But by all rights, if everyone does their job properly, something of this magnitude should *not* occur.

I certainly hope you aren't forgetting that these are relatively new buildings being discussed. The way I would interpret your post would be if you were only looking at older units where they have built a reserve fund over 15-20 years. What would happen to your example in say a new building that's only 5-7 years old (ex. in Ft. Max)? Or a building where there are only 10-15 units total where the cost of a fix is much greater than the condo fee's being taken in?

I was also of the understanding that insurance companies require a full assessment be done only every 2-3 years. I'm pretty sure that within the first say 5 years that unless the insurance company requires it to be done, the management group or board won't pay for a full assessment to be done on the building.