06-02-2009, 02:43 PM
So, I guess real numbers help.
My purchase price was 310K, which is quite a bargain for So Cal and the area I'm moving into. The market in the area is like 25% down from where it was at it's peak in 2007. The condo I bought was going for over 400K back then.
20% down would have been 62K, to avoid a PMI of, I believe, around $150 - $200 a month. Instead, I put 3.5% down, saving about 30K of my hard earned cash money and anything i would have had to liquidate to make up the 20K needed.
I'm spending 15K total in renovations, which allows me to hold on to the other 15K.
Like you said, with the declining market, I feel that throwing 60K into the condo would be like throwing cash into depreciation, possibly making me hold on to it longer than I might like to to recoup my losses. Meanwhile, the monthly savings from putting 62K down would never allow me to squirrel away that much money over the next 2 - 5 years if it does decline in value.
Possibly a mistake in the long term, but i'm extremely comfortable with the monthly payments as is. It's not like I stretched myself to make this purchase.
My purchase price was 310K, which is quite a bargain for So Cal and the area I'm moving into. The market in the area is like 25% down from where it was at it's peak in 2007. The condo I bought was going for over 400K back then.
20% down would have been 62K, to avoid a PMI of, I believe, around $150 - $200 a month. Instead, I put 3.5% down, saving about 30K of my hard earned cash money and anything i would have had to liquidate to make up the 20K needed.
I'm spending 15K total in renovations, which allows me to hold on to the other 15K.
Like you said, with the declining market, I feel that throwing 60K into the condo would be like throwing cash into depreciation, possibly making me hold on to it longer than I might like to to recoup my losses. Meanwhile, the monthly savings from putting 62K down would never allow me to squirrel away that much money over the next 2 - 5 years if it does decline in value.
Possibly a mistake in the long term, but i'm extremely comfortable with the monthly payments as is. It's not like I stretched myself to make this purchase.
Moristans: err
What the f*** Skelas - I know this is NSFW, but I coudn't watch this at work...
-Orsun
What the f*** Skelas - I know this is NSFW, but I coudn't watch this at work...
-Orsun