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Open House
"Would you ever consider a mortgage?"
That was the question posed to me earlier this week when, unable to help myself, I stopped by an open house for a condo located smack dab in what, for this city, counts as a "swanky" area. The suburbs are being developed rapidly, and I knew these particular condos -- all white brick, stamped concrete driveways, natural gas lanterns on either side of impressive front doors and so on -- would be a good barometer for just how rapacious upscale builders are ami
I am not a fan of condos. Aside from the aggravation of volunteering on the condo board or watching petty and clueless neighbors run it – and your investment – into the surfside, what do you own? “Improvements”, mostly. When what you want to own, from a long-term appreciation point of view, is “land”. I prefer, and live in, a house. An old house.
(Nor am I a fan of high-end appliances. Full of soon-to-be-NLA circuit boards, engineered to fail after too few years, managed to then be unrepairable. When did it become acceptable to replace major appliances every seven or ten years? I prefer, and have, commercial appliances. Hulking and unpretty, but will never need replacement.)
But maybe I’m just narrow-minded. Anyone have data on median condo price over time? How is condo appreciation vs SFR appreciation over time?
I’m with you John. I’ve got a 100 year old house with land in a densish area. Furthermore, I wasted 2 grand on a on demand water heater that failed when the CPU crapped out, and the contractor installed it in such a way not covered by the warranty. Ah what a world