bostonbubble.com

[Ranunculus]

Wow, I love reading all of the old threads on this website...I know far less about all of this than most of the post-ers here, but I'm hoping to capitalize on some of your knowledge and experience!

My husband and I own a condo in South Boston and we rent it out for a little less than we pay in mortgage and fees. We rent in the 'burbs for less than we are charging our renters. We have just been assuming that it wouldn't make sense to sell the condo, but looking at current asking prices, I'm finding comparable places listed for nearly $400,000 (our mortgage is $260). So, question # 1 is: are prices still inflated in South Boston? Has it not been hit as hard as the rest of the area? Our are the people listing their condos at $400 delusional?

Watching the market tank in the last year, we have also been assuming that we are going to be getting a sweet deal here in the next year or two when we find the right house in Watertown/Arlington/Newton. However, now I'm starting to think we should just keep our cheap little rental ($1400) and save until it becomes *really* clear that the market has bottomed out. Right now we have about $50,000 to put down on a house, but in 3 years, we would have triple that saved if we kept renting....What do y'all think???

[Shoeshine.]

A good source of info for you
is the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds website

Use the records search engine and see what
you can find for recent sales on your street
and your neighborhood .

Recent sales activity will give
you the acccurate info you need

I will post both links below
hopefully they both work .

http://www.suffolkdeeds.com/

http://www.masslandrecords.com/malr/controller



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[Shoeshine.]

Click the Document Search Link near the top
on the Suffolk's Registry of Deeds homepage

http://www.suffolkdeeds.com/

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[Guest]

THanks, Shoeshine,
Good idea, but the records don't go beyond 2003 for Boston, so we can't find current sales...oh well. Zillow has some information, but since there aren't a lot of recent sales, it's hard to find enough data!

[JCK]

Selling your condo may not be a terrible idea. You're not generating positive cash flow, if you're renting it for less than the mortgage, taxes, fees, etc., and there's always the risk of having a large unexpected expense, either due to something in the building (e.g., the heating system fails), or tenants who cause damage.

If your mortgage is $260k and you can sell for, say $360k, you'd have with your $50k saved up, a $150k for a downpayment on a house.

We will only know in hindsight that the market has bottomed. I think it's reasonable that prices will drop in the coming months, but beyond that, no one really knows.

My suggestion would be either increase the rent to cover your expenses with enough left over for unexpected repairs, or sell.

[Guest]

[Guest]

2 properties sold in all of Boston today

that might be an all time low
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