Help looking for a condo

[paul253]

i am looking at possibly buying a condo. i am trying to find a good website where i can simply put in information regarding the condo i want (i.e. price, # of bed/bathrooms, amenities, etc.) and then have all the condos that fit that data pop up for me to compare. The catch is the condo has to be in the city of Milwaukee. Do any of you have any good websites in mind to help me find a condo that fits my needs and price range?

[Jimbo]

www.shorewest.com

[paul253]

that really helps....thanks

[temke]

fairly similar...

 

www.wihomes

 

this lists all homes in the MLS directory

[endaround]

Buying a condo may not be the best choice. It really has to do with how you are at saving money. Mortgage payments + condo fees can easily equal or surpass similar rental payments in Milwaukee. Then you have property taxes. If you can trust yourself to save that extra $3500-4500 that you would pay in taxes, renting would work out better.

[mothershipconnection]

www.realtor.com

[blatzlight]

Quote:

---

Buying a condo may not be the best choice. It really has to do with how you are at saving money. Mortgage payments + condo fees can easily equal or surpass similar rental payments in Milwaukee. Then you have property taxes. If you can trust yourself to save that extra $3500-4500 that you would pay in taxes, renting would work out better.

---

 

I have one issue with this. For me to get an apartment with the amenities I want it will cost about $1,100-$1,400 a month in rent. I would rather have that go towards a mortgage to where at least I am paying myself the money, not someone else. Also, the tax break will be nice.

 

The other thing is that I travel about 50-60% of the time for job and the last thing I do when I get home is do stupid yard work. I think the condo life is for some but not all. And for many busy single business professionals (and others) it just makes more sense than buying a home. Plus, the suburbs are boring as sin in my opinion. I grew up in Waukesha and never plan on returning to live.

[homer]

Quote:

---

Buying a condo may not be the best choice. It really has to do with how you are at saving money. Mortgage payments + condo fees can easily equal or surpass similar rental payments in Milwaukee. Then you have property taxes. If you can trust yourself to save that extra $3500-4500 that you would pay in taxes, renting would work out better.

---

 

Can you deduct rent off your income taxes? Because you can deduct the interest on your mortgage. And you don't get your rent back when your lease is up. As long as you are willing to ride out a bump in the real estate market then you should make money on the sale of your condo as well - and that income is tax free I believe if you own your place for more than two years.

[aracko]

buy my house in South Milwaukee - 163500. Id give you more details but I dont want to spam this place.

[endaround]

I'm not saying that if you can find a cheaper condo you like its not worth it, just that people really overestimate the savings.

 

A 225K mortgage at 6.3% is about $1400 a month. Now you'll get back about 20% from taxes. So thats $280 off of that. So you're at $1120 a month. Now you have condo fees. Say they are rather low at $200 a month. So you're at $1320 before property taxes. At Milwaukee's tax rate of $22.93 per $1000 you are looking at a property tax bill of $5159 or an extra $430 per month.

 

So now you're paying an effective rate of $1750 per month. Lets say you can get a comparable apartment at $1400 a month. That means that you're condo has to increase by $4200 a year in value to break even. Real Estate historically increases in value (in real terms) at about 1% per year, meaning it would increase in value by $2,225.

[Barbs4339]

I believe that you can now claim some portion of your rent on your taxes. I believe it happened the year after I was no longer in an apartment to qualify. I love having a house. Currently working on upgrading just about everything in it and it's a lot of work, but it's fun.

[madcrewfan]

Another thing you have to think about is the condo market in Milwaukee - how saturated is it? Will your place hold its value and will you be able to get your money back when you sell? I live in Madison and I feel that the condo market here is getting flooded. New condo buildings are popping up everywhere. I just wonder if people in Madison that buy one will be stuck with it if it isn't on the square downtown or on one of the lakes. Even one of the newer downtown condo buildings on the lake is only 70% full. There is an extremely nice condo place on the near west side with absolutely beautiful condos and it's only about 25-30% full right now.

[madcrewfan]

Quote:

---

I believe that you can now claim some portion of your rent on your taxes.

---

It's called the Homestead Credit. Your income had to be less than $24,500 in 2006 to qualify for it though.

[blatzlight]

Quote:

---

I'm not saying that if you can find a cheaper condo you like its not worth it, just that people really overestimate the savings.

 

A 225K mortgage at 6.3% is about $1400 a month. Now you'll get back about 20% from taxes. So thats $280 off of that. So you're at $1120 a month. Now you have condo fees. Say they are rather low at $200 a month. So you're at $1320 before property taxes. At Milwaukee's tax rate of $22.93 per $1000 you are looking at a property tax bill of $5159 or an extra $430 per month.

 

So now you're paying an effective rate of $1750 per month. Lets say you can get a comparable apartment at $1400 a month. That means that you're condo has to increase by $4200 a year in value to break even. Real Estate historically increases in value (in real terms) at about 1% per year, meaning it would increase in value by $2,225.

---

 

 

I don?t know of many one bedroom condos in the city that are $225,000. Most range in price from $165,000 - $210,000. So take a medium price of $185,000 with a $15,000 down payment you need a loan of $170,000 at 6.3%. Your monthly payment is $1052.25. So the same 20% a year back in taxes is $2525 or about $210 a month. That puts your monthly payment at $842. A $200 condo fee puts you at $1042. Taxes are $4242 or $354 a mo. Total now is $1,396 so let?s say $1,400.

 

Now let?s say you get about a 1% increase annually on the property and it is now worth $190,000 in three years and you sell it. Your principal remaining would be $163,870. So minus transaction fee?s you would make about $6130 ($190,000 - $15,000 down - $163,870).

 

So the return on the $15,000 investment is about 40%. I do not know of many other investments that will bring that in 3 years. Since the $1400 a month mortgage (or rent) is a sunk living cost that will be expensed each month anyway, you might as well pay it to yourself.

 

You need to be smart about what you purchase. But since there are no sensible housing options and renting begins to drain as you make no equity what so ever. The key to this condo market is staying within the restraints of the marketplace and getting something that you can turn.

[endaround]

Given you were looking at $1400 a month in rent I was assuming a 2 bedroom place. And outside of Milwaukee the taxes drop and things make much more sense (assuming you're in a condo you can move, condos in Milwaukee itself will always have better turnaround assuming they stop this spate of new developments at some point).

 

As to the return, a 40% return over three years is a 11.9% annual return, nice but not exactly earth shattering.

[Kennyfelder]

Hey Paul,

My fiancee actually has a condo for sale in Milwaukee right now. It is a really nice 2 bedroom 2 bath at a afforbable price. It is only 4 years old. Email me if interested. marcgrodsky@hotmail.com

[paul253]

sent you an email

[blatzlight]

Quote:

---

As to the return, a 40% return over three years is a 11.9% annual return, nice but not exactly earth shattering.

---

 

12.09% return annually. but that is a safe and conservative estimate too.

[Jimbo]

In Waukesha County one can get a nice 2BR condo for $180,000.

 

So the cash flow is

mortgage (30 yr, 6.75%) = -$1168

condo dues = -$150

property taxes = -$250

tax refund = (.15*(1012+150+250)) = +$212

 

total cash out = -$1356

 

I think rents are typically around $800.

 

So balance that knowing you condo goes up in value but the mortgage stays the same. A renter pays more each year but accumulates no equity. In thirty years there's no more mortgage to pay, but the renter pays forever.

 

To me it's a no-brainer to buy, which we did five years ago with no regrets.

[endaround]

Outside of Milwaukee county, the property taxes plummet and so getting a condo makes more sense. The biggest problem there is unlike Milwaukee, moving a condo at profit is hard given the spate of recent new condo developments.