I was smart enough to buy a brand new 1 bedroom condo by ATT Park when I was 25. (I️ used to be homeless so I️ made it a goal to buy my own place to call home.) I’m 35 now and looking to get a bigger place to start a family. Unfortunately, even with my $125k salary and my hubby’s $100k salary, everything near Santa Clara and near a good school district is so expensive even with $260k down payment. We are only looking around there because our parents live there so it would be easier with kids. I’ve gone back and forth on the decision to sell my condo. It is my baby, the thing I worked so hard to earn. Mortgage is only $1500 and the tenant pays $3k so I’m making some profit. But I do still pay $300 HOA and property taxes. I put it on the market but then took it off cause I just couldn’t do it. But after looking for some time, I know I’m limited with my options if I don’t sell and if I do sell, I can pretty much get any property I want - I’m modest so I’m not looking for anything outrageous. I’m hearing that people who have had a property in the city and then sold to upgrade regret it. They are saying hold on to my property at all cost. And I’m hearing from other people that now is a great time to sell and I can get the money to buy the right house for my future family. I wanted to get unbiased opinions instead of playing this tug of war with biased people I know... have you owned a place and sold it, did you really regret or was it a good decision? Are there other options I’m not looking at? I haven’t reached out to financial advisors/real estate agents/loan agents because I feel they only have their interest in mind. Any advice? Thanks 🙏🏼
Sell. You're rolling the money into your next home, so you'll still be invested in real estate. You'll also live in better neighborhood than you would otherwise, which is important with a family.
May I know how much left do you owe the bank? And how much equity in the house if you sell it? Buying bigger house in South bay is basically like renting to the bank. Do you really want to cash out your condo to put you in a bigger handcuff by buying in South bay? If I were you, I would keep it, and enjoy the cash flow, save more.
Keep it. Property rates will continue to raise forever.
Since you are planning to switch money from one house to another house, I feel it is not such a big change because end of the day, it’s still real estate in Bay Area .
I would never “hold onto a property at all cost. “ Everything has a price, you just need to run some analysis. Your mortgage + HOA is pretty cheap. I’m assuming you have a good interest rate. That’s something you would lose if you sold the condo. How much of the property do you own in principal? Is this condo rent controlled or can you continue to increase rents? I’m not sure what houses you are looking at, but $260k seems like a good enough down payment to me. If you are set on buying a property in Santa Clara and not renting for a couple more years, you could get creative with financing. Some examples would be to refinance your condo to get cash immediately. Or to find a loan that allows you to pay 10% down instead of 20%. Or to use your condo as collateral to back up your Santa Clara loan.
Please KEEP it !!
Keep t, with prop 13 and the appreciation you’ve seen you have a cash cow, do not sell.
Keep it, it'll be yours if you divorce. I'd even make it a trust and reinvest all excess money after HOA, taxes expenses.
Keep it. Lock in the low property tax rates.
Keep it...