My real estate agent misquoted the first time I spoke to him, and the mortgage I’d be paying on a 200k place is waaay more than I can afford. I was looking to spend about $1100 a month (mortgage + condo fees) but I don’t think I can do that unless I want to buy rottweilers for home protection.
Sorry to be a downer. I just had to voice my disappointment somewhere.
I’m not sure what the rottweiler connection is. But if you’re ever cutting it close when figuring condo payments, keep in mind that condo fees can and do increase. I had this nasty surprise on my condo. I figured I was all locked in vis a vis payments, and then that fee started going up every year, outpacing inflation by a darn sight.
Hope you find something you like, though.
murky, did you get a chance to look at the condo rules before buying?
murky, NEVER EVER EVER listen to what a RE agent says about how much you’ll be paying. How the hell does he know anyway? Your mortgage lender should be telling you this. The RE agent has zero to do with it.
That came out more of a yell than I intended. Sorry. Too many caps!
Have you investigated all the financing options. You don’t say what you can put down as a downpayment, but assuming 10% or so, it does look like you’d be skating on thin ice with a $200K mortgage with a fixed 6% 30 year mortgage, but a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage at 4.5% looks possible. That would be $912.00/month which leaves $200 for property tax, insurance, and PMI. Then you’d have a 10 or 12K tax deduction which would probably translate into 3K or so available for condo fees.
You’re still skating a bit close to the edge with not much left over for emergencies, and you could get a nasty increase at the end of the five year fixed period on the loan, but at least it seems do-able. It may be more than you can afford, but it’s not waaay more than you can afford.
This is all based on a very quick look at my local paper’s financial section, so you’d do well to talk to a mortgage broker and see what’s available in your area.
oh wow… I was having trouble with the board and didn’t even realize this post made it online.
things have actually changed slightly since I’ve switched to a new real estate agent. The first pre-approval i got from a bank was charging me an insurance rate that was higher than what I should be getting with my good credit score, so I can actally afford more of a space than I thought. But I still need to look at the hard numbers.
And there is still the uphill battle of finding a decent place in DC that isn’t ridiculously expensive.
btw, the Rottweiler connection is just me alluding to the fact that a lot of "ess expensive one bedrooms are in developing areas. Not always a safe place for a woman to walk down the street at night.
Good luck! I know those “transitional areas” in DC can be iffy (OTOH, if you get in on a place that’s on the upswing…).
I’d imagine condo fees on a place that has been around a few years would be more stable - developers often set them artificially low to attract buyers to new buildings (we had this happen many years ago).
Don’t forget to factor in the tax savings - you can lower your withholding because you’ll save a lot on your income taxes. That should help the cash flow! Plus that first year, if you pay any points at closing, that’s a nice extra bump to the deductions 
yeesh. I told my landlord today (who is my roommate’s father) that I’m looking to buy a place. The reason this was kickstarted is because The Roommate is moving out and into a place of her own (also owned by her Dad). I have the option to stay but frankly I’d rather be making a financial investment at this point than keep on renting.
But now I’m worried that he’ll come back and say “okay fine, then you MUST be out by Feb. 1.”