Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
Yeah, my girlfriend bought her condo a few years back and I think it's just starting to dawn on her now that it may not have been the great idea she thought it was. Her bathtub needs to be replaced, tiles need to be redone, kitchen cabinets replaced, etc. She's probably easily looking at $15k-$20k in renos and maintenance. So yeah, she may sell her unit for $10k-$20k above the purchase price when she finally moves out, but it's at best a break even transaction for her (probably a loss when including strata and property taxes).
Anyways, the number one reason I'm still hesitant to own is the flexibility renting gives me. I love the fact that I can pick-up and go at any moment.
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You're forgetting the biggest one...real estate agent and lawyer fees. The biggest lesson I learned from buying a freaking condo, other than getting caught up in the speculative frenzy of the late 2000's (let's not go there!), was that transaction costs on selling (agent + lawyer) ate up a lot of the principal I'd paid off. Probably didn't help that I borrowed at 35 years (again, let's not go there!).
If you're going to buy, you better make sure one of the two following thing happen to cover real estate agent fees:
1) You live in it long enough that the principal you've paid down doesn't just go to the real estate agent when you move.
2) The value of your house appreciates.