taffimai: (Ten OMG by cheesygirl)
taffimai ([personal profile] taffimai) wrote2009-02-22 11:57 am

(no subject)

Damnit. My roommate is selling the condo. So now I either try to buy a condo or rent or try to find another roommate situation. I know it might take her forever to sell in this market, but just waiting around for 30 days notice is scary.

Anyone looking for a roommate?

[identity profile] justhuman.livejournal.com 2009-02-22 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
You should think about buying -- not necessarily the one you're living in. It's the right time to be a first time buyer and if you pick a good location, you'll always get your money back if you hang onto it for a couple of years.

Mortgage is an investment, rent isn't.

[identity profile] taffimai.livejournal.com 2009-02-23 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
I agree. Unfortunately, DC is still incredibly overpriced. But I went and saw these condos today, and I think I'm going to start working with a realtor soon.

[identity profile] justhuman.livejournal.com 2009-02-23 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Condo looked like it had a nice layout.

Unfortunately, DC is still incredibly overpriced.

Ah, but that's the joy of it - It'll always be overpriced. But certainly, affordability has to be considered. You never get back high property taxes either, but usually you get all the cool proximity benefits. And bonus - nowadays no bank is going to approve you for what you can't afford.

And actually, if you haven't run the numbers, you'll be *amazed* at how a mortgage works out. Sure I ended up paying more in mortgage than I was paying in rent. But when I claimed the mortgage interest and property taxes on the 1040, I went from a several hundred dollar rebate to a several thousand dollar rebate.

If you use something like Turbo Tax or Tax Act, I could e-mail you some numbers if you'd like to see what they'd do to your return.