Buying a townhouse/condo in Uptown area, good idea or bad idea? (Dallas: short sale)

[crmorgan7]

So I've been here about 5 months now, living in Uptown and enjoying it. I've been wishy washy on whether buying is a good idea right now. My husband and I plan to be here 5 years, maybe more. On one hand I don't want to have to worry about selling another house if we decide to move later on, but at the same time I don't want to blow $1000/mth when we have great credit and could easily afford buying something.

My question to the realty savvy people around here, if we buy a townhouse or condo when our lease is up in December, do you see us having a hard time selling it later on if we decide to move? I don't know much about how healthy the market is in this area. Would you consider this a "safe" area to get a good return or at least break even?

Thanks!

[Twincam666]

Well, if you buy something and stay in it 5 years. You will pay mortgage, upkeep and so on and possibly break even on your purchase price but probably not make any $$$. Renting might be safer if you already think you're moving and there are a lot of nice apartment communities around DFW....

[nsumner]

Condos are not a good investment in DFW in general. The Dallas market is saturated with condos on the market for over a year. If you really can't do a single family home, go with a townhome. If there is any chance that you will stay less than 5 years, you may consider just renting. We don't know how the market will be by then.

Naima

[TurtleCreek80]

Don't have a crystal ball, but if your time frame is 5 years, just keep renting. I have a condo and have not only paid my mortgage, taxes, and insurance the past 5 years, but also well over $20,000 in "assessments" that my HOA has forced upon us. Oh, and I'm in a building that is considered to have a "great" HOA board. There are a lot of extra maintenance expenses beyond PITI once you're a homeowner.

You say you're spending $1,000/mo now. There is probably NO way you could replace your standard of living in a condo or townhome for $1,000 all-in (PITI, HOA dues, assessments, other maintenance/upgrades) in Uptown. Your monthly all-in would probably be closer to $2,000-2,500 for a $200k condo/th.

If you can afford a single family home in the M Streets or Kessler Park or Devonshire, I would look into that as I think you would see upside in the next 5 years.

[dlleon]

I agree. There's a glut of condos everywhere. They're the first to tank with the economy and the last to recover, IMHO. The nice thing is that you can get LOW interest rates on any kind of purchase. I'd also recommend looking only at a foreclosure, short sale or maybe an REO if you go this route.