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theMaskedRenter · Guest

Hello all,

I am a renter (always have been) -- currently in a 3 BR that was new but that the landlord could not sell at his desired price point so rented instead. Now my landlord won't renew the lease because he wants to put the property back on the market (this is 2 x 3BR house which would go as 2 condos).

I have been thinking about making an offer. The way I see it, this cuts out the agent fee, + saves the period during which the property is empty, a benefit to the landlord that might reduce the overall price for me. Also, I know most of what there is to know about this place.

On the other hand, I recognize that my own area of expertise is very far from real estate. I was thinking of hiring someone to do an assessment of what this place would fetch on the market based on comparables, current condition (like everyone else in Mass, we had some flooding this Spring), local trends. I figure that for a true expert with local knowledge, this is something that would take a day of work at most.

Is this something that I can have a realtor do? What would it cost -- $1000? Any other insights the group would be willing to share?

Thanks!

GenXer · Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 703

You'd have to hire an inspector anyway, and of course, like previously discussed, it may help to hire a real estate lawyer to go over the paperwork. But then again, the owner may have his own idea about how much he wants to sell for, regardless of whether it is 'worth' this. You can easily look up the 'zestimate', and wthin +/- 20% of that, would you be able to afford this? Will your cost jump up compared to rental cost? The flooding damage - how much will it cost to repair, etc It may be worth it to find something else to rent. Rents are crashing down, and unless you have a family with certain requirements (and you can't find a unit that fits them) it doesn't make sense to buy something you wouldn't need in the future.

JCK · Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 559

"Rents are crashing down"?

I'm not seeing that.

GenXer · Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 703

I'm seeing it allright. I guess you are not looking in the right places. I'm calling a 12% decrease in a 2b/2b condo rents in Newton a pretty big decrease. I'm seeing so many vacancies I've never seen before. I look at rents almost daily, and yes, there are some high rents, and luxury may yet be too high, but the middle of the road rentals are getting squeezed. Again, I'm talking mainly Newton, Watertown and Waltham. You can now get a 2b/2b in Newton for $1600. Not bad, considering that it went for $1800 only 6 months ago. And that's not the end yet.

CC · Guest

I am not sure about "rents are crashing down", but my rent has not been raised for 3 or 4 years. However, I still think rents in greater Boston are pretty expensive, especially most rental units are so old and bad maintained....

JCK · Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 559

GenXer · Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 703

theMaskedRenter · Guest

Thank you to those who provided input.

To answer some comments. Yes I can afford to buy. Rents right now seem to be about flat to me (at least for the stuff I am looking at)

The pros of buying is that save myself and my family a move and stay in a place where we are satisfied and know very well.

The cons is the loss of flexibility/risk from being so deeply levered and invested. I may want/need to move in a year or three -- job situation not that predictable. For that a +/- 20% estimate won't do. I need a better view of the market value of the place that I am renting, and was wondering if I should hire a realtor by the hour to do this analysis. Then I can make an offer to my landlord and just move out if he wants more.

And indeed, this is in one of the so-called "immune towns"

Guest · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 8:36 pm GMT Post subject:

Let me get this straight. Your major motivation for buying the place that you currently move is to avoid the hassle of moving. Yet, you might be moving in 1-3 years anyway that will likely result losing a lot of money, and be pain in the rear to unload. This makes absolutely no sense.

Buy if:
1. it's a true stealer, below current market value
2. you have 20% down, 8-10 month in emergency savings on top of it
3. planning to live there for at least 10 years.

If you answer "no" to any of the questions, do not buy. It makes no financial sense.

Moving is not a hassle, and it does not have to be costly. Coming from someone who moved 3 times in 3 years with a family and got very good at it. Perfect opportunity to get rid of all your junk.

Good luck.

JCK · Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 559

Yeah, don't buy (in any market) if your time frame is 1-3 years for moving.

I don't think you need to plan to stay somewhere for 10 years to buy, but the conventional wisdom is 5 years, which is probably reasonable.

The transaction costs for purchasing are very high, so you need several years in a place to avoid losing money (and to amortize those costs), even in a rising market. It will make paying movers look like a bargain...

Two-unit condo associations also come with special headaches; I personally would not want to buy into one. You will have to agree with the other owner on every improvement, and if your neighbor decides not to pay their condo fees, you're basically going to have sue your neighbor to compel their payment. God forbid they be an absentee landlord who rents to lousy tenants and wants to pay as little as possible to improve the property.

Your stress level will therefore depend entirely on how reasonable your neighbor is.

Why exactly do you want to buy? Just to avoid hiring movers?

JCK · Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 559

mpr · Joined: 06 Jun 2009 Posts: 344