buying a condo

[sexterhardon]

Hey guys,
im a first year student at u of c, and am looking at a condo in the s.w. Its got a good view of downtown, and its 1076 sq ft. and 2 bd 2 bath, 2 storey. Ive got enough for a small downpayment and have a roommate set up, but what im worried about is a recession, i can afford this if things keep going well, but if they dont im screwed. I dont really know anything about this sortof stuff, so any advice would be appreciated. Its 360k, with 2 underground stalls. Is it overpriced? what should i be looking for in this price range that might be a better value?
i guess thats pretty vague, but what other things might be good to think about in regards to first places?

thanks

[silvercivicsir]

stuipd question, how can you afford the payments if your a full time student ? getting a mortage will be an issue, unless you have a MASSIVE downpayment

[bigboom]

unless your parents are willing to help you out as a student its gonnd be pretty tough to make things work out for a $360k mortgage.

[redline_13000]

bad idea

[ashee]

Are you a drug dealer?

[Vietsta]

^^^ haha what kind of question is that? who isn't now a days. jk.. maybe he comes from a rich family

[mard]

maybe he been saving his money ... i wanted to buy a condo near dt... too expensive for me ..

[sexterhardon]

I guess I should have mentioned that the condo is from the old olympic village, that they are in the proccess of renovating. So its a 20 year old place just with re-done interiors.

The plan is to rent it until summer is over then move in with lots saved for a buffer. I would still have the option to keep renting it until its easier to make the payments.
If i moved in, I could afford the payments becuase i would have a room mate and would have enough saved still after the downpayment that with a job i could afford to dip into savings if i needed to. yea ive just been saving for a long long time. no i dont deal haha.
I know its ridiculous as a full time student to have that kind of morgage and condo fees, but thats something I could handle (even though it would be pretty hard).

The question isnt if its smart financially at this point for me to move out, i know its not. Its whether thats a good place to buy for the price or if you guys know of something better. Maybe its better to buy a place downtown in the construction stages, if it will appreciate faster than a 20 year old condo 15 min away. Im looking at this as an investment as well as a place to stay later on. Any advice would help, thanks

[silvercivicsir]

No Mortage company or Bank will give you a mortage without you having a full time job or really good par ttime Job, ( You must be able to provide proof from your employeer on how much you make)...

[lint]

Originally posted by silvercivicsir
No Mortage company or Bank will give you a mortage without you having a full time job or really good par ttime Job, ( You must be able to provide proof from your employeer on how much you make)...

DING DING DING!!

You say you have a small down payment. The condo is $360K. Small downpayment is 5%? 10%? Say 10% or $36K, that leaves a $324K mortgage. At 5.25% per year, amortized over 25 years, your monthly mortgage payment would be just over $1900 a month. Generally the rule of thumb is that the mortgage payments can't be more than 40% of your gross income. So witha $1900/month payment (not including property taxes, utilities, etc etc) you would need a gross monthly income of $4750 (or $57K/year, pretty good part time income for a student) for the bank to lend you the money. You say you have a roomate. You're going to need to provide the lender with a contract outlining the monthly rent you're charging, and then they'll only consider half of that as your income.

Good luck.

[rey_mysterio]

what condo are u talking about??

[black_2.5RS]

Originally posted by rey_mysterio
what condo are u talking about??

Sounds like "Live at News".

[SinisterProbeGt]

hey if your thinking of moving in there.
look in to the Condo Corps business.
Each condo building has a corp that takes care of your common biills. Ie. elec, gas, maintenance.
if you cant get the history get the minuites of the past meetings.

Look for sepcial Assesments.
Ask for the reserve funds study.
find out if the board is broke
Property management company

Its not about the place or location entirely.
But what if you move into that place max yourself out cause its really nice.
But 6 months later they jack your condo fees and special assess your ass for lets say $10,000 to pay for your reno job.

All i know about the village is that they were in need of major upgrades just to meet city code.

but for 360K you could go to the Stella downtown or Sasso

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by lint
You say you have a roomate. You're going to need to provide the lender with a contract outlining the monthly rent you're charging, and then they'll only consider half of that as your income.

Good luck.

I've yet to see a bank that'll consider "renters income" as a tangable fixed rate of income. EVery mortgage lending institution I've been to regarding a house: requires that you NEED to be able to make the full mortgage payments yourself. Renters income can't be included for ANY source of income. Its over and above... the banks dont even care unless its a commercial rental property. But with that: a 30% down deposit is required as well as much more strict guidlines regarding the projected passive cashflow.

I wish people would go to the bank and see what they qualify for before looking for homes. I think 95% of the people of which havn't done so; would be in for a very un-pleasant surprise. I found out I can afford only half of what kind of houses I was looking at. I had a great credit rating and a fairly high income job... and I STILL was only able to get approval for a little over half or the houses I had my eye on.

[lint]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M


I've yet to see a bank that'll consider "renters income" as a tangable fixed rate of income. EVery mortgage lending institution I've been to regarding a house: requires that you NEED to be able to make the full mortgage payments yourself. Renters income can't be included for ANY source of income. Its over and above... the banks dont even care unless its a commercial rental property. But with that: a 30% down deposit is required as well as much more strict guidlines regarding the projected passive cashflow.

I wish people would go to the bank and see what they qualify for before looking for homes. I think 95% of the people of which havn't done so; would be in for a very un-pleasant surprise. I found out I can afford only half of what kind of houses I was looking at. I had a great credit rating and a fairly high income job... and I STILL was only able to get approval for a little over half or the houses I had my eye on.

Well, then your experience is different than mine. I discussed the issue with my mortgage broker and she stated that half of any rent charged can be considered part of your income, but they would need to see proof in the form of a lease agreement with the renter. Where's DDub when you need him?

[Mangina]

Something else to think about and I don't know if this is true anymore, but I don't think you can get approved for student loans if you own a home. That's how it was when I was in school anyways. Maybe that's not an issue for you?

[whodiman]

Originally posted by lint


Well, then your experience is different than mine. I discussed the issue with my mortgage broker and she stated that half of any rent charged can be considered part of your income, but they would need to see proof in the form of a lease agreement with the renter. Where's DDub when you need him?

Back in the day when I used to be a lender at the bank, we would never consider rental income for a loan unless you could prove that you have been earning that income (via income tax return) for at least one year. Therefore you would not be able to consider this income for a mortage because 1)You haven't even earned it yet 2) Everyone who applies for a mortage can say they are renting a room out and subjectively bump up their annual income.

Of course, this was 10 years ago when I worked at the bank.

As mentioned in a prior post you can get a mortage at most place without an income if you have a MASSIVE downpayment (like 50%)

[topmade]

Back on topic:

Price: seems a bit high for the size, should be around 300k. 2 underground spots and a nice view is not worth 60k more IMO

For 360k, your looking at like 1400 - 1500 sq ft.

Look for ones around 280K, they will have 2 bdrm, 2bath and be a bit more affordable.

[Rav4Guy]

Price is too high for you to even consider buying it. There is no way you're income is able to pay the mortgage on it. Dipping into savings?? for how long?? the next 10 years? How about school fees/loans?

Financially.... you're jumping off a building and hoping you won't break anything.

The only way for you to pull this off.. is to put 40-50% down. Being a full time student, even with a roommate, it'll be pretty hard. Don't forget about fees like condo fees.

Best of luck with this!

[Weapon_R]

I've never encountered a mortgage that takes into account rental income either. No underwriter is going to be foolish enough to grant someone a 25 or 35 yr mortgage because of a 6 month rental agreement.

Oh, and to the original poster, people like you are going to make a lot of people very wealthy in the coming years.