It’s always hard to get your foot into home ownership, but now probably worse than ever.  But don’t give up hope.

 Hang onto the cash you’ve managed to save.  This crisis won’t last forever.  Then, when you’re secure in your employment it’s possible due to the almost assured recession/depression coming, with deflated real estate prices you just may be in the position to buy.  

Buy only what you are sure you can afford to keep up with the payments on in the worst case scenario.  Then build some equity, and maybe in a few years you may be able to move up.  Even if you find you need to stay in your entry level home its still money in the bank every month that you make a mortgage payment versus rent.  

We started with a 1 bedroom condo in 1987, sold with a profit of $12,000 in 1994 and bought our current 2 bed 1 1/2 bath townhouse with the equity, and paid it off in full almost 10 years ago.  

This had made our retirement a lot more secure having only HOA dues and property tax for housing expenses of about $600.00 per mo total, versus the over $2800.00 it would now cost to rent a comparable home.

Keep your eye on the prize and visualize yourself as a home owner, and it will happen.

Eddie

Another thought, with stocks at a record low, if you can afford to, buy some shares of Apple, or another stock certain to make a strong recovery. Then sit tight on it and you just may be able to amass a substantial profit to invest in real estate when the market eventually recovers, and it will.  

I remember watching an old Jane Russell movie called the “Revolt of Mamie Stover”, in which she plays a prostitute in Honolulu just before Pearl Harbor.   After the attack, property in Honolulu takes a nose dive and Mamie Stover swoops in and buys as much as she can and becomes wealthy beyond her wildest imaginations.  History is filled with people that make lemonade out of these kinds of misfortune.  Better a working class guy like yourself getting a leg up during this crisis than an already billionaire.

Eddie

It’s very true that condo living isn’t for everyone, and there are many HOA’s that shouldn't be touched with a ten foot pole.

We’ve only owned condo’s, because in our income bracket in California, thats all we could afford.  The first condo we lived in for 7 years, and bought brand new.  It was a large HOA, 99 units, and there were many defects in construction that resulted in litigation.  It  was a nightmare.  Our present townhome is in an HOA with only 20 units and for the last 25 years its been he happiest place I’ve ever lived.  I’ve been on the HOA board for 24 of these years, the last 15 or so as president, I’ve lost count.

 I take my role on the board seriously and get along with each and every resident and know them all by first name.  When we have our quarterly HOA meetings we seldom have more than one or two owners show up, I’d like to believe this is because they are happy with the status quo.

Condo living requires cooperation and being respectful of your neighbors.  If you participate in the HOA you can help keep your community a nice place to live.  Everybody gets along here and its really beautiful.

For anyone contemplating the purchase of a condo do your research.  READ the CC&R’s, really READ them, and know what is allowed and not allowed.  If you don’t like what you see, then don’t BUY.  Remember, those CC&R’s are a contractual agreement and if you buy in that HOA, you will be expected to abide by them.

Carefully review the financial statements and meeting minutes.  Are there and shortfalls in the reserves, any pending litigation or special assessments?

Talk with owners and ask them what they like and don’t like.  A condo can be a wonderful place to live, or hell on earth, but then so can a single family dwelling.  

You can buy a home in a neighborhood that you like, and then low and behold move in and find out that your living next to the a**hole from hell, and have no recourse.  There are no guarantee’s in life.  But at least with a condo a good HOA board and management company can come to your defense in neighbor disputes.  In a single family dwelling, you are on your own.

If it were not for condo living we’d now be in our Golden Years, still renting and spending virtually every dime of our pensions on rent and utilities.  Now we have money in the bank with our equity and less than a quarter of what it would cost to rent in living expenses for housing.

Eddie