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• Reputation: 63 Q&A: 2 0 0 28 5 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 1 topic Real Estate Business WaLaw Realty is a business on Questionland Seattle Follow Following 0 WaLaw Realty

  3 0 Is it reasonable? Absolutely. Its clearly a well-considered, deliberate decision that has both short and long term benefits (that likely outweigh the risks). Now, is it the right decision for you? Needless to say, you're the only one who can answer that. But then again, you surely don't need an "expert" to tell you that. So I'll simply note the most important fact you include above: You can see yourself living in this place for a very long time. The longer the timeline, the less concerned you need to be about the condition of the market and whether now is the "right" time to buy from an investment perspective. Even if the market drops further, and you "lose" money shortly after buying it, the Seattle market is fundamentally strong. Values will return to appreciating at some point in the future. If you can wait it out, then you never "lose" money because you won't sell until you come out ahead. And in the meantime you've built equity rather than simply paid rent. The down payment? As noted elsewhere, talk to a lender or broker. But as a general rule, you'll get the best loan if you can put 20% down. When do you know that the time is really right to buy? Unfortunately, there are no bells or sirens to let you know. All you can do is think long and hard about your life and your future and whether it makes sense to make a long-term investment. Based on your question, I'm pretty sure you're well on your way to making a good decision. Finally, I just found this timely -- cool, interactive -- calculator that demonstrates my point: The longer you will be in the place, the better the decision to buy. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html?ref=business WaLaw Realty answered in Real Estate about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 7 Q&A: 0 0 0 7 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 1 topic Real Estate Business Rosemary Pham and Kristen Meyer Lapriore is a business on Questionland Seattle Follow Following 0 Rosemary Pham and Kristen Meyer Lapriore

  0 0 If you are thinking about buying your first home, it'd be a great idea to run your financials with a lender and figure out how much you are qualified to borrow. It's easy to plug in numbers with any online mortgage calculator, but to get a more accurate figure, you should speak to a lender. They take an in depth look at your financials by pulling your credit, reviewing your bank statements, pay stubs, and tax returns. This gives them a picture of your debt to income ratios which will allow them to figure out a monthly payment. Your numbers seem in the ballpark, but your lender will have a more definitive answer on budget. Down payment amounts can vary from a minimum of 3.5% of the purchase price upwards to 20% or more. The higher down payment you are able to produce, the lower your monthly payment. To answer your final question, the time to buy is when it's the right time in your life. How's that for vague?! There are a lot of factors to weigh that help towards making the decision to buy your first home. Consulting with a lender and agent will help you figure out if buying a home now is right for you. Rosemary Pham and Kristen Meyer Lapriore answered in Real Estate about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by MyrnaMinkoff… 1 0 Huh. Thanks. I took a similar approach -- talking to a lender and getting pre-approved for a loan -- before I got my first car loan a few years ago. It was a really positive experience. This is a good idea, as it will help me do some planning. Realistically, I think it will be at least another two years before I'm ready to buy a place, but I'm hoping that home prices will remain relatively depressed until then. Seeing apartments that I would want to live in at a price that actually seems affordable is exciting -- when I was in my early twenties, I assumed I would be renting until I was married and could benefit from two incomes (and maybe even not then). MyrnaMinkoff commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 FHA loans = 3.5% down and a LOW interest rate. Have fun - there is a ton on the market. Sharon Carlson is a great realtor! Livi answered in Real Estate about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 2 Q&A: 0 0 0 8 6 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 1 topic Real Estate Business Rhino Roz Realty is a business on Questionland Seattle Follow Following 0 Rhino Roz Realty

  0 1 I think that if you can afford $1400/month that purchasing a condo is completely reasonable. The best scenario is if you can put 20% down and avoid having MIP insurance, which at the moment seems to be anywhere between $250-$350/month. If you are unable to put 20% down than it would be best to work with a mortgage broker to decide what loan product is best for you. FHA has a great program that allows you to only put 3.5% down. There are also conventional financing programs with 5% and 10% down. Just bear in mind that all these programs will have the extra added cost of mortgage insurance. In addition if you are looking at purchasing a condo in the Capitol Hill area, I would only recommend looking at simple fee condos, not coop condos. Capitol Hill has a lot of coop condos that are more affordable but you do not take ownership in the same manner and coop's can never be rented out. Home Owner's Dues range in that area anywhere from $200 upward to $500/month depending on the amenities that the building offers. If you are looking at a building with a pool and a 24-hr doorman, you will be paying significantly higher monthly homeowner dues. I think you know when you are ready to buy a place if you have the money to do so, the income to back it up, good credit and can't stop looking at listings online! :-) Rhino Roz Realty answered in Real Estate about 1 year ago | Report 4 comments by MyrnaMinkoff, Rhino Roz Realty, and capicola… 1 0 I'm a frugal sort of person -- I would rather wait until I've got something significantly closer to a 20% down payment. As I said in the answer above, I'm expecting that it will be another two years until I'm actually ready to purchase, at least financially. I had no idea about the co-op thing! (Makes me think of all of those hellish stories of co-ops in NYC.) That is good to know. And my number of $1400 is all-in -- that is, it would need to cover homeowner dues, too. In another couple of years, I will probably have a little more financial flexibility (assuming all goes well at work), but I like to err on the side of frugality. MyrnaMinkoff commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 1 Yes, 20% down is the best scenario as mortgage insurance doesn't go towards anything! One issue to keep in mind is that with every percent interest rates go up it lowers your buying power by 10% to keep the payment the same. If rates go up as well as property values in two years you might be looking at either a higher payment or a lower purchase price..... Rhino Roz Realty commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 You may find the following message thread a tonic for the misinformation you got above regarding co-ops: http://forums.redfin.com/t5/Seattle/Disadvantages-of-a-co-op/m-p/7039 "when you buy a condo you own the interior of the condo and an undivided interest in the commong areas. you will hold title to real property. when you buy a co op you aren't buying real property. You buying an interest in a corporation. the corporation owns the real property. you are paying the seller for the value of the ownership interest and you are more or less paying rent to the corporation. the corporate shareholders usually have a say in deciding who can buy into the co op. Co ops aren't very popular in Seattle for a variety of reasons. Markets with co ops tend have rent control a tight supply of rental units and property for sale. a co op is similar to a gated community." "One downside to co-op is that they can limit rentals of units. They can say "only 10% of units can be rented at any one time", or similar. So, if you need to sell and can't and decide to rent it for a while, you may not be permitted to do so. You should really check out all of the rules of the co-op. I'm not saying that rule is bad, because having lots of rentals in a building is not good for livability or market values. I'm just saying that you should know all of this going into a co-op, and then think of all of your possible life scenarios down the road." "Many condos also have similar limitations. They do this because many lenders require that condo buildings have above a certain threshold of owner occupied units. " capicola commented about 1 year ago | Report 1 0 capicola, i'm confused you suggest there was misinformation but your post seems to agree with the somewhat anti-coop perspective, as does your link. infernactual commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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