(no subject)
So for various reasons, I find myself in a position where buying a dwelling instead of renting one will be a possibility next summer (flatmate is getting married, I suspect she and her husband will want their own place ;) And by suspect I mean "know"). I'm looking at condos, which are pretty ideal for me; I don't really need a house. I'm entirely used to hearing noises of various kinds, and they don't bother me. And by noises, I mean everything from "neighbours who argue a lot" to "I have lived next to train tracks, in a mill town, and within earshot of a working major industrial and shipping port facility". The condos I'm looking at are fairly near a highway, which is actually good for me location-wise as it means short hops to all the places I need to be. I have no children, will not have pets (and if I did acquire a pet, it would not be of the "need a yard" type. I know myself, and I would not be a good permanent caregiver for that kind of pet, so I won't get one), and I despise yardwork and am not at all into gardening. A condo, therefore, is a much better option than a house. AND if I wanted grass/a pool/etc., I'd have access to much nicer grass/a pool/etc than I would be able to have on my own. Win! I'm all for communal, stackable dwelling space. Standalone single-family units are nice, but have a much bigger ecological footprint than several units of the same square footage one atop the other.
So: condo.
Things I have thought about:
- Down payment (I have one)
- Mortgage payments (would be roughly the same as rent on a unit the same size, given that I want two bedrooms so that I can have an office/guest room)
- Insurance (I'm guessing roughly triple my renters' insurance? Given that the building would be insured six ways, based on the number of units in it? Will check with insurance providers)
- Property tax
- Condo fees (do not know how much this would be; need to go to condo office and check)
- Do condo fees go into a maintenance fund to cover things like roof repairs? How flush is that fund already?
- Inspection (I have an inspector lined up; among other things, I'm periodically responsible for the safety of his daughter, so even if I didn't trust him... :p)
- Fees associated with actually buying a place (legal fees, notaries, etc.)
- Whether I'll actually be able to get a mortgage. I have savings equivalent to twice the minimum down payment and, when purchasing, will have had a full-time job for three months... but I'll only have been working full-time for those three months. As an independent contractor, rather than as an employee. That makes me riskier. On the other hand, my credit is good, I've been living in one place for five years, and I have never missed a rent or loan payment.
People who have purchased dwellings... what am I missing? I'm assuming that utilities on a 4 1/2 condo will be the same as utilities on an apartment the same size.
So: condo.
Things I have thought about:
- Down payment (I have one)
- Mortgage payments (would be roughly the same as rent on a unit the same size, given that I want two bedrooms so that I can have an office/guest room)
- Insurance (I'm guessing roughly triple my renters' insurance? Given that the building would be insured six ways, based on the number of units in it? Will check with insurance providers)
- Property tax
- Condo fees (do not know how much this would be; need to go to condo office and check)
- Do condo fees go into a maintenance fund to cover things like roof repairs? How flush is that fund already?
- Inspection (I have an inspector lined up; among other things, I'm periodically responsible for the safety of his daughter, so even if I didn't trust him... :p)
- Fees associated with actually buying a place (legal fees, notaries, etc.)
- Whether I'll actually be able to get a mortgage. I have savings equivalent to twice the minimum down payment and, when purchasing, will have had a full-time job for three months... but I'll only have been working full-time for those three months. As an independent contractor, rather than as an employee. That makes me riskier. On the other hand, my credit is good, I've been living in one place for five years, and I have never missed a rent or loan payment.
People who have purchased dwellings... what am I missing? I'm assuming that utilities on a 4 1/2 condo will be the same as utilities on an apartment the same size.