(12-15-2024, 08:07 AM)rachel83az Wrote: Keep in mind that, with condos, you usually have to pay some sort of "upkeep fee". This may be an HOA fee or it may be called something else. Sometimes, the fee is as much or more than a mortgage payment would be. Like, hundreds per month. Sometimes is as low as $25-50/mo.
Thank you very much, Rachel! That is definitely something to clarify before purchasing. Having an upkeep fee that is higher than the actual mortgage definitely seems like a situation one would like to avoid.
Do you think that prices like in the example I showed are realistic for an ok place in a large city in Houston? Or can I expect to end up in a condo with a hidden mold problem, and all of my neighbors are cartel members or something like this? Because it is hard for me to believe that one could get a small but livable place for just $60,000 in a thriving US metropolis with salaries of $3,000-$5,000 per month.
(12-15-2024, 08:15 AM)Jonathan Whatley Wrote: The typical reason that a condo unit in the U.S. would appear exceptionally cheap for its location is that the condo building or complex is non-warrantable, and therefore a unit there will not qualify for a conventional or a Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage.
If you're buying, that limits you to financing from cash on hand or from arranging a non-conforming mortgage, if you can. When you resell in the future, that will limit your buying pool to buyers who have cash on hand or who can and will arrange a non-conforming mortgage.
Wow! That is something a non-native would have never thought of. I didn't even know that such a classification exists. Is there any way to check this without having to ask the seller and hoping that he is telling me the truth?