Advice on buying a condo

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therealmjay_IHB

New member
Hey,



Looking for some advice. Im looking into buying a condo in irvine. Im an undergraduate student at UCI and i have saved up enough money to the point where it would be more realistic for me to buy a condo that would be the equivalent of me paying around 1500 a month(includes mortgage and association fees) the equivalent of renting a 1 bedroom in irvine. so any suggestions of where i should look into and how i can see these places?



ive heard of watermarke and avenue one how can i see these either online or visiting? who do i contact?



Thanks
 
One of those new paid "shill" bloggers we mentioned in the OT ?



<blockquote>how can i see these either online or visiting? who do i contact? </blockquote>


Never heard of Redfin or Zillow ? Somethings not right here.
 
I'm sorry to be rude in my first post.



try <a href="http://www.redfin.com/search#lat=33.66631816610517&long;=-117.84939765930176&market=socal&region_id=9361&region_type=6&status=1&uipt=2&v=4&zoomLevel=15">this map on redfin</a> if you are indeed serious. By the way, congratulations for being able to save so much before finishing college.
 
[quote author="therealmjay" date=1240493074]oh im serious lol prices are pretty low man and ive saved up....so yeah lol</blockquote>
Good luck finding a lender without 2 solid years of income verification, unless you are coming with an all cash offer.
 
[quote author="mimi" date=1240494445]Man. It's really poor English.</blockquote>


lmao i apologize for not being up to par with your FORUM GRAMMAR
 
I'm a newbe also, but IMHO you need to start by reading all the great prior post with-in this blog. This is just like a "homework" project. Put a couple of weekends reading, then follow-up with going out and looking at eveything you can find. After seeing 50+ (if available) condos you will be in a great spot to ask specific questions.
 
mjay:



Welcome to the boards. You will find the search feature at the top-right corner of your screen to be very useful when you want to research a particular neighborhood. As another has suggested, try using an MLS search engine such as redfin or ziprealty to view listed properties. I am a little curious why somebody of your age (presumably early 20's, if even that) would want to be tied down right now. Who knows where your young life and new career will take you once you have completed school. Also you may find your tastes in properties or living arrangements may change a lot in the next few years as you get older and figure out what works for you. Buying a property right now is a serious commitment, not like switching pairs of shoes every few months. I hope you are able to get some of the answers to your questions on this site. If you see something you are interested in, you could always provide a link and get some feedback on it. Don't be afraid to ask questions but do your homework too. Good luck.
 
[quote author="therealmjay" date=1240452756]Hey,



Looking for some advice. Im looking into buying a condo in irvine. Im an undergraduate student at UCI and i have saved up enough money to the point where it would be more realistic for me to buy a condo that would be the equivalent of me paying around 1500 a month(includes mortgage and association fees) the equivalent of renting a 1 bedroom in irvine. so any suggestions of where i should look into and how i can see these places?



ive heard of watermarke and avenue one how can i see these either online or visiting? who do i contact?



Thanks</blockquote>


There are few, if any, properties selling at rental equivalence in Irvine. Some of the really crappy condos have fallen that far, but they will fall further. If you really want to buy now, look in the South Coast Plaza area of south Santa Ana. There are many condos for sale in there at prices at or below rental parity. However, you will be living in Santa Ana...
 
That's right. So Cal and Moving Back got it right on.



It's not because you can buy something that you have to.



This is a long term commitment. GL
 
If he were to purchase a condo in Irvine within close proximity to UC Irvine then maybe after he graduates he can rent the place out to other college students. Which will probably cover most if not all of his mortgage and housing cost. Therefore I wouldnt think of this as that huge of a commitment. College students are always looking for a place to live and not all college student at UCI rent from the Irvine Company. Some choose to rent a room from someone's house, some choose to rent a huge house and share it amongst a bunch of other college students.
 
[quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1240530610][quote author="therealmjay" date=1240452756]Hey,



Looking for some advice. Im looking into buying a condo in irvine. Im an undergraduate student at UCI and i have saved up enough money to the point where it would be more realistic for me to buy a condo that would be the equivalent of me paying around 1500 a month(includes mortgage and association fees) the equivalent of renting a 1 bedroom in irvine. so any suggestions of where i should look into and how i can see these places?



ive heard of watermarke and avenue one how can i see these either online or visiting? who do i contact?



Thanks</blockquote>


There are few, if any, properties selling at rental equivalence in Irvine. Some of the really crappy condos have fallen that far, but they will fall further. If you really want to buy now, look in the South Coast Plaza area of south Santa Ana. There are many condos for sale in there at prices at or below rental parity. However, you will be living in Santa Ana...</blockquote>


Anaheim has plenty too...
 
None of the UCI students who work for me could afford to pay $2500/mo rent. They seem to pay about $400/mo. So you are looking at 6-8 of them sharing a 2bd condo/apartment.



And remember that your competition is the not just the expensive nearby IAC apartments, but like you said, nearby homeowners who have a room to rent out (and I predict that more of them may be looking for some extra cash soon), and the university dorms.



That, and I also predict that for the next ten years, more UCI students will come from nearby areas and continue to live at home, in order for the families to cut expenses. Already, UCI has a high percentage of students who do this (might be the highest of all the UCs).
 
[quote author="freedomCM" date=1240539491]None of the UCI students who work for me could afford to pay $2500/mo rent. They seem to pay about $400/mo. So you are looking at 6-8 of them sharing a 2bd condo/apartment.



And remember that your competition is the not just the expensive nearby IAC apartments, but like you said, nearby homeowners who have a room to rent out (and I predict that more of them may be looking for some extra cash soon), and the university dorms.



That, and I also predict that for the next ten years, more UCI students will come from nearby areas and continue to live at home, in order for the families to cut expenses. Already, UCI has a high percentage of students who do this (might be the highest of all the UCs).</blockquote>


not to mention that UCI has built a lot more on-campus housing in the past several years (and it looks like they're building more across from Albertsons)



I think you would be better off having your parents buy you a single family residence or townhouse. Those have a better chance at appreciating after you graduate when you will be wanting money to pay for grad school or a nicer car. You could play landlord and rent out the extra rooms to your fellow starving students.
 
[quote author="hehegrl" date=1240531589]If he were to purchase a condo in Irvine within close proximity to UC Irvine then maybe after he graduates he can rent the place out to other college students. Which will probably cover most if not all of his mortgage and housing cost. Therefore I wouldnt think of this as that huge of a commitment. College students are always looking for a place to live and not all college student at UCI rent from the Irvine Company. Some choose to rent a room from someone's house, some choose to rent a huge house and share it amongst a bunch of other college students.</blockquote>


Sure, he'll be able to rent it out. But will his rent be greater than his payment + insurance + property tax + Mello Roos + HOA + repairs? Doubtful. He can't charge more to rent it than the equivalent Irvine Company apartment. Plus, if he's renting to college students, there's a high likelyhood of high turn over and the place being empty during the summer months.



I also don't like the idea of buying and selling property frequently, due to transaction costs (fees, taxes, real estate commisions, repairs, etc.) each time you do so. Unless he plans on living in Irvine after graduation (or maybe staying to do post graduate work), renting is probably the way to go.
 
Just a note of thanks to all the posters that I find on most every question. As you can see I'm new, but I'm reading and learning a lot from postings. Our goal is to be back by EOY and I'm trying to get up to speed as I've been out of OC and the USA about 20 years now. (born in Long Beach B4 most any of you were alive LOL) This thread only has a few post but last time I checked it had over 500 views. I feel a lot of new people are like myself in wanting to learn and not find out our question has already been completely hashed over. So THANK YOU for all of you that put the time and effort to work IHB.
 
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