house vs condo vs rent?

Question

please tell me the advantages and disadvantages of the 3 options.

I am a single male.

Raising a family: Haha. That is the last thing I'd think about. I'm more likely to be struck by lightning. :)

I'm a first time buyer

Answer 1

Only consider renting if you can't afford to purchase a home. Renting only builds someone elses' equity in the property.

Condos offer the convenience of having someone else see to the maintainance of the exterior of the unit. Keep in mind that monthly "condo fees" can be very expensive. You may find yourself paying for a swimming pool, tennis courts, playgrounds, and a community building that you never use. You may also be assessed for the repaving of the streets and other major projects. You will be at the mercy of a "condo board" that oversees the management of the common property owned by the condo association. If you decide to buy a condo, make sure you are comfortable with the fees.

A traditional single family residence will probably give you the best return on your investment depending on where you are located. The only downside is that you are responsible for all exterior maintainance including lawn care. As long as you do not get carried away with landscaping, hiring a lawn care service is fairly cheap if you don't want to cut grass. A house with vinyl siding or other maintainance free exterior will eliminate the need to paint in the future.

My vote goes to the traditional house.

Good luck with your decision.

Answer 2

Rent is only advantagious if you don't have enough to purchase your own place. There are no tax advantages, but if you can find a place that is cheap enough it can be good to rent. Usually water and trash is included. Also the maintanance of the apartment is the responsibility of the owner.

Condo's are a good starter home. If you can't afford a house but have enough money saved up for 20% of a condo it's probably a good idea to buy a condo. You will be able to deduct your interest that you pay on your loan. A condo is good also if you are single and like low maintanance. Some condo's have a pool or tennis court. Condo's also have shared walls with your neighbors so there is less privacy. Most condo's don't have a yard area for your pets or a garden. Alot of condo's have monthly HOA or home owners association fee that will cover the costs of pool/landscaping costs. Most condo's don't include any utility bills. Parking veries between having your own garage to just a parking spot.

If you can afford a house, it's proably best to buy one. If you have a family a house is ideal. Maintanance cost go up since there are more things you own. You will need to pay all your utilities. However you will have no shared walls with your neighbor (in normal situations) your own front and backyard. Your own garage and drive way. Usually no HOA fees unless your in a gated community. You will get to deduct your interest from your home loan.

In houses and condo's you may have to pay property tax which is close to 1.1% of the cost. You also need to concider that houses and condo's go up in value, while you have to fork out more on rent as time goes on. Houses tend to go up in value a litte faster than condo's.

Answer 3

OWN or RENT is one question.

House or Condo another question.

After one year you own some equity by 'owning'. Renting you have twelve rent receipts(you're paying some elses mortgage). In the US there are ALSO strong tax incentives FOR owning AND none for renting. HOWEVER if you would be moving and selling SOON renting better. If you can buy and then rent(see above for some one paying your mortgage) or stay for five years... THEN you will be well ahead in almost ALL circumstances(yes there are exceptions... neighborhood goes to hell etc) by owning.

House or condo? Renting or owning the difference is 'homework'.
Houses usually have yards and yardwork- some people love it others pay someone. Condos you pay a fee for grounds maintenance etc.

So if you can afford it owning is usually the best option.

House is usually best choice for several reasons.

But being single and young renting a condo with community pool HAS its advantages!

Hope this helped

PS Houses have garages... thats what got me PLUS the equity and tax thingy...

Answer 4

House you have more privacy vs Condo in my opinion is like an apartment where you live in a separate unit some dont even have a pool and if they do you have to share it so in the long run I think a house is the better option some of the condos can be more expencive then a house I dont know about you but for me a condo is a condo a house is a house and any one that can afford it would not even consider living in an apartment.

Answer 5

Rent is frequently cheaper than the overall sum of mortgage+utilities+taxes+maintenance. You should rent in a place that allows you to save a down payment on a mortgage. Don't let someone sweet talk you into a no-interest or reverse mortgage loan.

Condo versus home is more subjective. In your area of the country, do condos go up or down in value. Are they building new condos that will sell for the same amount as yours? THen people will buy the newer condos. In some large cities (think the Watergate complex in DC) condos go up in value because the location is important. In others, condos stagnate or go down.

Do you want to do yard work? Raise a family? These are all factors in the size of the housing you want.

Don't try to buy until you have at least 6 months of mortgage put aside in savings as a buffer in case you lose your job or your salary decreases. That way you won't have to give up your house if you are temporarily cash strapped.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

No Condo! There are too many hidden expenses. I had the chance to buy one when I got my house and I opted to get a real house. Renting is fine if you are not sure what you want or how long you are going to be in a place. Once you have made these decisions, it's time to buy a house. The condo will not hold its value as well as a house, there is not a much privacy, you don't have as much freedom and there are often association dues that can run as much as your monthly payments.

Answer 8

Having your own home is so much better than renting. When you rent you pay other people's bills, also you have valuable assets when you do sell or not. When you have a house you could rent it to someone and have a positive cash flow..less the cost of the normal varables you have to deal with. When you have a condo, its nice for a while but what do you really have when you leave?

Answer 9

Wait a minute, you cannot figure out what the total of 5 years of rent at $1,100 per month? That is 60 months, so $66,000. Forget about what you would spend, you need to understand that you would build equity in the condo, which you could then sell for a profit. Why pay into something and get nothing back if you can build your own equity instead. For reference. At 5% on a 5 year mortgage for $55,000 (based on a down payment of $5,000) you would get $1,100 payments monthly. Then, in 5 years, rather than have nothing, you would own this condo.

Answer 10

Renting an apartment carries few (if any) taxes, but depending on the lease you might or might not be able to control your heating.
Buying a condo is very like renting an apartment, but in addition to your mortgage you have condo maintenance fees and you will probably have to join a tenant's group.
Owning a home gives you long-term equity but you'll have to pay property taxes and school taxes, not to mention do all the maintenance yourself.