Clueless about condos! Please help! :)

Okay, so Steve and I are thinking of buying a condo, but I'm completely clueless and I know the smarty newlyweds can help!

Let's pretend for the purposes of examples, that the condo we might find will be like $350-400k.

First, typically how long is the process once we've actually found one that we like?

When should we start looking (how long before we want to actually move should we start looking?)

How much are closing costs for a condo?

If we put 20% down, how much would our mortgage be?


I'd love any advice/tips/whatever.... I'm clueless!

TIA my pickley friends

I just started reading a book called the New York Coop Bible by Sylvia Shapiro. The title is a bit misleading because it does talk a great deal about condos as well. If you're looking in NYC or on Long Island is seems quite helpful.

For mortgage payments, I would check out the free calculators on mlsli.com or anyone of the banks websites. You plug the numbers in and they will tell you what your monthly payments would be.

Good luck !

I'm no expert, but I can help answer a few things at least! First off, for thinking about buying a condo. I hope you find something you like and the process goes smoothly!

1. As far as timelines, how far in advance you start looking really depends on the real estate market in your area right now. Since you're moving out of a rental, you don't have to worry about timing the sale of one property with the purchase of another, which is great. Assuming you have some flexibility in your lease about when you can leave, that's also very attractive to potential sellers because you're not necessarily pigeon-holing them into moving by a certain date.

2. For a rough estimate of your mortage, calculate 20% of your estimated costs (aka, 70,000 = 20% of 350,000) and assume you'd take a mortgage for the rest. That would mean you'd have a mortgage of 280,000. Bankrate.com has a great mortgage calculator on their site (link ) that lets you put in a hypothetical mortage amount and then see what the monthly payments would be like (not including insurance, taxes, etc). You can also see amortization tables (aka, how long it will take you to pay off the mortage based on how much principal you pay each month)

3. When we bought our townhouse we had a great realtor and a great mortgage guy. Both of them did a lot to help us through the process. I'd suggest talking with a few mortgage lenders to see how much you'd get approved for - you use your local bank where you have your accounts as a starting point. If you get a quote from someone you do not have to use them. Same with a realtor.

4. I highly recommend the 'Dummies' books - Home Buying for Dummies and Mortages for Dummies. There's also a book called '10 Steps to Home Ownership: A Workbook for First-Time Buyers' by Ilyce R. Glink that I found really helpful.

HTH!

thanks for the info ladies...

bumping for any more.....

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Posted by hayleyandsteve

Okay, so Steve and I are thinking of buying a condo, but I'm completely clueless and I know the smarty newlyweds can help!

Let's pretend for the purposes of examples, that the condo we might find will be like $350-400k.

First, typically how long is the process once we've actually found one that we like?

When should we start looking (how long before we want to actually move should we start looking?)

How much are closing costs for a condo?

If we put 20% down, how much would our mortgage be?


I'd love any advice/tips/whatever.... I'm clueless!

TIA my pickley friends

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I am actually a homeowner of a condo and will try to answer these questions to the best of my knowledge.

For your first question about timeline: when Rob and I were first looking for a condo I was renting and he was living at home which made it much easier than having to worry about selling something ourselves so you are in a good position with already renting. As for how long it took.... Our offer was accepted in November and we did not close until February 25th. I think our case was extremely rare for how long it took but I do know that it can either be a quick thing or the homeowners could try to put you off as they did to us. Basically in the end I found out that the management company of the condo complex was going to foreclose on them and so was the bank b/c they were very late with their maintenance payments and mortgage payments. Their realty just kept blowing us off and in the end I was getting aggravated but yes, after all that time, we did close. I wanted to inform you of this to make you aware that getting a closing date can come easy or take time as ours did. We did go to contract within 2 weeks of our offer being accepted.

As for your second question about how long before should we start looking: Rob and I would like to buy a house in the spring or summertime. That's when we can get more serious about the issue b/c we need to payoff some debt before we sell our condo and look for a new home. My advice to you (I am not sure how serious you are or when you will be) is that I would start going to open houses if you plan on purchasing a condo/home this year. This way you can see what's out there so when the time comes and you are serious, you are not second guessing if you find something you like. This is just my opinion. We have been doing this as well. Like I said though since we will not be seroius until spring or summer, we will not go through the mortgage pre-approval process until we are more serious.

As for asking how much closing costs are for a condo: The costs come out to about the same as a home. This is where we were suprised. I believe, if I can remember correctly, our closing costs were about $7,500 - $10,000. If you were buying a co-op the closing costs would be much cheaper b/c you are buying into shares of the home. When you purchase a condo it is like buying a regular residential house b/c you own the interior walls, etc.

Basically if you are looking for a $350,000 home and you put 20% down you would have to finance 280,000. If you were looking at a $400,000 home and put 20% down on that, you would finance $320,000. There are many sites that have mortgage calculators on them and they can help you with this. You would also have to find out what the property taxes are per year and work them in. Your best bet is when you are serious, call a mortgage broker let them run your credit and see what you are pre-approved for and then let them tell you what the costs, etc. would be.

I remember when we were first looking, we were clueless too. It's normal.

If you have any other quesitons that I may be able to possibly answer, don't hesitate to ask.

okay so i dont know much about condos..but i just had to comment because when i first glanced at ur post i thought it said :

'Cluess about condoms! Please help! :)'

lol.clearly i read it to fast.

Find a condo that you love, and here are the steps to buying:

1- get approved for a mortgage

2- Place a bid.

3- If your offer is accepted, you will go under CONTRACT. Get yourself a great real estate lawyer, NOT recommended by your real estate agent.

4- hire an inspector; NOT recommended by your real estate lawyer.

5- get inspected. (do not get excited until this is done)

6- negotiate all items that the seller must take care of before you are ready to make a final agreement.

7-final walk through, close

8-move in.

Good luck!

We just bought last year....our closing was a nightmare. The home we loved did not pass inspection but we went with it anyway and had a lot of things re-done, fixed. its an old brownstone, so all of that charm comes with some headache. We went to contract in August, closed in October, and moved in in November.

i have no experience but the best of luck to you!! i hope to buy in a year or two so i'll need your advice!