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July 25, 2007
condo or house
we are Beginners, and feel quite lost, so lets hear it from you -pros.
Young couple with 750K buying limit.
What should we go for?Condo-co op in en established neighbourhood (Park slop/Prospect ht) OR a house in Bed-sty.
He thinks_Condo. She thinks_house.
What we know for sure is that we would like to build as much equity. Thanks for your opinion.
Comments
I think it all comes down to one thing: are you (or is your wife) handy?
I own a house, and previously owned a co-op. The maintenance charges on the co-op used to piss me off. For a couple of years I was on (and was ultimately president of) of the board and that experience (uncovering the wastage and sheer malfeasance that had gone on in the past) made me come to the conclusion that, once I got burned out serving on the board, I wanted to be master of my own affairs. I bought a house fully aware that I would be suffering the headaches of working on, or engaging and monitoring contractors to work on, project after project. I felt pretty confident, however, that this would be a much more rewarding experience both personally and financially than depending on and paying others to maintain the environment of my domicile. My confidence has been rewarded. Whether it would have been had I not been of the frame of mind to do some manual labor myself or had I not had the construction knowledge (or learned it) to be able to understand what to ask and expect of contractors is another matter altogether.
Posted by: John Ife at July 25, 2007 10:19 PM
Having a house is great, and pays off in ways owning a condo does not, but it's not for the feint of heart.
I own a house in Bed-Stuy and I love it. But we are both very handy, and can tolerate ... surprises.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 7:19 AM
I own both and I will tell you that the house comes w/more issues but has been a better investment and more worthwhile/rewarding to live in than a box in a building with hundreds of other people. Neighbors in houses tend to be more communal and friendly. Case in point: I lived in a coop in Manhattan for 18 years and never exchanged more than minor pleasantries w/the people on my floor. On my block in Bed Stuy, I go over to my neighbor's house to chat and have dinner/drinks, etc. Decide which is important to you. With all that said, I am moving to the west coast (job transfer) and will be selling my place by years end. I will be looking for a house once I settle in and try to replicate the sense of community I have now. Let me know if you're interested in looking at my place and I'll give you my e-mail address.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 8:13 AM
I've never owned a condo, but have rented many places, including a unit in a coop where 100% of my neighbors were owners, and now own a house in Bed Stuy. I have lived in both neighborhoods and really prefer Bed Stuy's sense of community to the status and sense of entitlement that abound in Park Slope.
Also, I would go with the house hands-down. No question about it.
There will be hiccups with any sort of ownership, but I feel that the rewards warrant the effort with a house.
For what you would get for $750k in PS, you wouldn't have any room to grow, whereas $750k in BS will buy you a mighyfine house (with rental income if you want to really build your equity).
Good luck to you with your endeavour...
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 8:39 AM
Another vote a for house. When we bought our first home, the broker advised us to purchase a 2 family in up and coming South Slope (meaning north of 9th St at the time). We didn't have a clue as to what we were doing, but it seemed to make sense...the tenants would help pay our mortgage. They did, and we were able to buy a second home. And then a few more, but I won't bore you with our addiction. It was the smartest choice we ever made and we've since cashed out of the Slope and bought in Bed Stuy.
Posted by: Yente at July 26, 2007 9:07 AM
I agree with all the previous posts. Last year we were in the exact same situation. Young couple renting in Park Slope, same budget (actually a little less...), wondering if we should buy a condo or house... We spent a lot of time exploring many neighborhoods, going to many open houses, both for condos and houses. We compared both options carefuly, especially comparing the actual cost of owning and maintaining a condo vs. house. At the end we decided to get a two family house in Bed-Stuy, and we are extremely happy with our choice. We are handy, which helps... Maintaining and improving the house requires time, energy, and money, but it's fun and very rewarding. Also we love having the garden, which we would not have with a condo.
And we love Bed-Stuy. Great people here, and beautiful neighborhood. Good luck...
Posted by: anon at July 26, 2007 9:49 AM
I own two houses and one condo - my vote is for a house. Living in a condo is fine if you aren't planning on spending much time there. But if you are looking for a better investement and more rewarding type of ownership, Id say house every time.
Plus, the costs of maintaining a home are rarely the same over the long haul as maintanance + assessments.
I'd take a small fixer upper house over a big condo any day.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 10:05 AM
You've heard it already but I'll add my $.02. While we never gave a condo serious thought, we were a bit intimidated by the thought of owning and renovating a 3 family brownstone. But the numbers just don't lie. On top of that. I love the satisfaction of seeing my wife lay comfortably in the Parlor, while I escape to the back garden! Ahhhhhhh! Peace & Quiet. And it doesn't hurt that my 2 tenants cover more than 75% of my mortgage expense.
But you must be comfortable with the choice. Bed-Stuy is one of the few places that you can still get a building in your budget. And would no doubt need some work. You must always be open minded to the fact that we are still an Up & Coming Neighborhood. I wouldn't trade it for the world. But the two of you must come to that conclusion on your own.
Good luck!
Posted by: NewStoner at July 26, 2007 10:28 AM
I would vote for a house too --- but look in other neighborhoods in addition to BedStuy.
I would look into Kensington--super safe, super convenient, still affordable.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 10:29 AM
House, but only if your relationship is strong and you have a strong sense of humor.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 10:38 AM
I would say house, but not as overwhelmingly as everyone else. Don't get me wrong, we're loving this so far (we've been in our house for a little over a year, after four years in a condo in the same 'hood) but neither of us is handy and that scares me a little. We also don't have any tenants, so we don't have the satisfaction (mentally and financially) of having someone else pay our mortgage, but we didn't want to be landlords, so if the choice had been between house with tenants, or condo, it would have been a tough call.
All that being said though, sounds like the consensus is definitely house. In some ways I'm glad we spent some time in a condo because we built up some equity and got to know the neighborhood really well and had time to do a lot of brownstone research before diving in, but on the other hand, if we had bought our house even two years earlier we would have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars less for the same property and built up twice as much equity.
Posted by: Amy at July 26, 2007 10:51 AM
Having a house is terrific, but for some people a condo or coop makes more sense. My way of looking at it is this: price-space-location, pick two. I agree with the poster who said get a house if you are handy, but more in the sense of don't get a house if you aren't handy or you don't like dealing with leaks, tenants, etc. You will get more for your money with a house, if you can stand living in a place where you can afford a house. One big question to answer first before you decide either way: how long - realistically - are you going to be there. If its a long time, try to get a house if you can.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 10:52 AM
If you are planning to have children soon, I vote not to buy in bed sty unless you can afford private school or you are willing to go through the whole variance/lottery hell
Posted by: anon at July 26, 2007 11:03 AM
I have both a condo and a house.
I vote house, I was never handy, but became so after a few weeks.
My condo is in a slightly better location than the house but I prefer to be in my house 10 fold.
Rewards
1) Much more indoor and outdoor space.
2) Nobody to bother and nobody rarely bothers me.
I could have tons of people over with out worrying about stereo volume.
3) FAR, if I run out space one day, I could build more floors.
4) Tenants rent $ (73% of mortgage)
5) There is no common area it all my area (to be designed and redesigned as the need arises)
Pitfalls
1) All problems are your problems
2) There is no such thing as Finished House
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 12:24 PM
I have lived in a coop for 7 yrs and am lucky enough to have a 3-fam in PS now. I would also vote for the house, with some caveats - make sure you are happy/comfortable in the neighborhood where you are buying. I have heard from several people that have bought in neighborhoods that are "up and coming" (I think basically meaning slowly gentrifying) and some are happier than others.
Look around at the amenities and community aspects there. Are there places to go out and eat or have coffee? Can you get your dry cleaning done in the neighborhood? Are there any bookstores? Are there local supermarkets, shops, community organizations you might participate in? what's the local library like? Is there a movie theater nearby? Each of these things may seem small on its own but could be an issue if you have to leave your neighborhood to do any of those things. Or maybe you are the kind of people that are OK with loving your house and going elsewhere for services/shopping, etc., which is fine too - but definitely consider it when deciding where to buy.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 1:01 PM
House! It's fun and a better investment. I couldn't bear the thought of someone else making the rules of how to live and waht I can and can't do with my home. Check out Crown Heights too. Better transport although slightly more expensive than Bed-Stuy
Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 1:13 PM
I chimed in before, but I have more to say....It would be hard to find a house in BS for $750 that doesn't need work. You'll be working on it for the next 10 years.If you're not handy now, you will be soon. You're both young, so the diy and the up and coming neighborhood thing shouldn't be considered a problem...it's an adventure and a learning experience. Also, know this one thing and your marriage will never fail: SHE....is always right.
Posted by: Yente at July 26, 2007 1:57 PM
Yente,
Where were you with that advice when I needed it? I just figured out that she's always right!
Posted by: NewStoner at July 26, 2007 7:01 PM
I would opt for the house,a two family if possible so the rental could help with the mortgage. Thank God there are still good ethical God-fearing reasonable handymen , contractors out there and thank God he sent them my way.Good luck!!!
Posted by: sally at July 29, 2007 10:57 PM
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