~100k in savings, no debt, 30 years old, single. Should I buy a condo or keep renting?

Depends on several things. Can you get a mortgage cheaper than what you are paying for rent? Are you going to live in the area long? What would your tax advantages be for having a mortgage?

Not knowing all about your situation and making some assumptions I would say you should buy a house, not a condo because often times condo fees are like throwing money away. Whole many home owners also pay home owners association fees, they are typically less if you have one at all. I wouldn't pull your money from the market or savings to buy if you make more in interest or in the market than what you home loan percentage would be. I bought a house for much less than what rent is in my area and I get good tax advantages for now and have no home owners fees.

keep on renting, it gives you more flexibility when major life events happen.

pay $150 to see a financial advisor. Trust me. They'll give you advice this board won't.

If you put 75% of that into an investment vehicle you'll be able to retire in style. You shouldn't have that money Ina checking account.

Buy.

How much do you make?

Xcskier66 wrote:

pay $150 to see a financial advisor. Trust me. They'll give you advice this board won't.

If you put 75% of that into an investment vehicle you'll be able to retire in style. You shouldn't have that money Ina checking account.

His savings are in the stock market, not a checking account.

OP, I'm in a similar situation and I prefer to rent with a roommate and invest the saved money. The flexibility means a lot to me though.

Makin' moves wrote:

~Should I buy a condo or keep renting because I make more with my savings in the stock market?

Get a 30 year mortgage and buy a condo.

You will be trading rent expense for interest expense.

Your interest expense will decrease every month for 30 years.

Your rent expense will periodically go up.

If you want to move at some point, rent it out. Then someone else will be paying your mortgage as you continue to build equity.

This calculator isn't bad: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html?_r=0

It's worth noting with a condo you have to consider HOA fees which are not a part of the price and which typically do go up with inflation. Not like this should rule out buying a condo, it's just something to consider. It means you might be able to afford a townhouse or single-family home for the same monthly cost without having to worry about an unhealthy HOA; the downside there is that you'll need to take care of external maintenance yourself.

Always always always look into the health of an HOA before you buy a condo and make sure they have adequate reserve funds. Last thing you want is a crazy special assessment dropped on you a year in. I saw one place where dues + special assessment came out to $1100/month not even considering the mortgage.

In my area, $300-400 is more typical for HOA dues.

My Dad bought a condo in the Back Bay in Boston in 1985 for $250k. With the market appreciation, he was able to move into a bigger one ten years later. He did the same move ten years after that. He retired and sold his condo that was @1000 sq ft for $1.4 mil. He bought a condo in Fl. with cash from the sale and paid off a summer house up north in the mountains with the remainder of the cash.

My cousin bought a condo in Philly in the 1990s. He had to move and ended up renting it out because he could not find a buyer. He ended up having to rent a new place where he moved because banks would not give him another mortgage.

Moral to the story: Condos are very tricky investments. With houses, there are almost always buyers who will bargain shop and take it off your hands if the area is not the most desirable or the market is down. But with condos, you can really get stuck with something no one will even touch. If you live in a thriving major metro where condo ownership is ubiquitous, it will generally work out for you as long as you do not buy at the top of the market. But if you live somewhere where condos are the exception and apartments and single family houses are the norm (i.e. most southern cities), then condos can be a very big risk.