Talk to me about Pied a Terres for the Middle Class Set (aka a studio condo in downtown)
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Anonymous
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So I'm not the CFO of Fannie and won't have a concierge, but all the same, considering this. We have enough cash flow to feel comfortable with an approximate $1500 monthly payment. Considering a studio condo downtown. We have sufficient funds for at least a 25% downpayment and sufficient income to service the debt in addition to our other expenses without overextending ourselves, so this is more of a location / logistics question than a finance one.
A few specific questions and then please chime in with things I didn't ask (I know this crowd will 
-If we buy a co-op am I correct in assuming this can generally not be rented? I would want to have an option to rent the condo out if we moved out of the area, wanted to offset mortgage with rental income, etc. I noticed a lot of things I liked were co-ops. -If you desired proximity to downtown, dining, etc. What area would you pick if you were me? Any specific building recommendations? -This might be something I look at for a while before acting on, so don't limit ideas to things that are currently listed. |
Anonymous
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Why? As an investment? Because you live in Leesburg and sometimes don't want to commute home?
When I read pied a terre, I think "place to meet my girlfriend for a quickie." Sorry, I just do. |
Anonymous
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I live downtown. I wanted to be two/three blocks from metro, walk to my office, walk to dinning, events, museums, things to do with my daughter.
I wanted a pool in my building, walk to gym and a park (there is one in my building). |
Anonymous
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20:26 One of us has a long commute, and for complicated reasons, moving closer in is not an option right now. I don't think either of us has a need to meet others for a quickie - BUT if we did, I agree this would be an addition to the "plus" column.
We have a lot of friends downtown, love to spend time there, and would like to have a home base. I'm not thinking of this as an investment - if I were, I think 2BD would be a better return. Its mostly just that we would like to, and we can, and with those two things intersecting right now, we are exploring, well why not? |
Anonymous
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Thanks 20:34 - good point about the pool and park. The park is something I hadn't thought of. For us a pool would probably not be a necessity since we have access to one at our primary residence.
Metro is important to us - we are flexible on how many blocks, but want to be able to walk. A vibrant neighborhood is also important - we don't want to do up and coming, we ideally would like to do something that already is experiencing a good live / play balance. |
Anonymous
Why is it any of your business? If you don't want to answer OP's question, then don't respond at all. What's it to you? |
Anonymous
| You may not be CEO of anything, but you're not middle class. No issues with you wanting this pied a terre - go for it! But let's not be under the assumption that you are, in fact, middle class. |
Anonymous
Gym or park in your building? If a park, what building is that? |
Anonymous
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I'd love to have this! I like Metro Center because there is so much going on done there and obviously in the center of everywhere.
Why not rent a place for a year or even sublet to try before you buy? See if you really use it as much as you think and what area you spend the most time in. |
Anonymous
| You can see the coop rules in each building, some allow limited rentals, eg 2 out of every 5 yrs & not more than xx% of the building at the same time, etc. I would make sure to get a building that at least has the option of parking in the building. I have 2 friends who recently have had issues selling downtown condos ( one an alcove studio & one a 2 bdrm) bc they didn't have parking. Especially for the studio I would have thought it'd be a non-issue but it was. A plus would be if you could find a unit w/ a space & rent it to someone else in your building. That could defer ~$300/month of your costs. Finally, there seems to be a huge range of condo fees for similar amenities. I would compare the fees in various buildings bc particularly if you're not going to bd there frequently, you don't need to be paying huge amounts for things you won't use. |
Anonymous
Ha ha. My thoughts exactly. |
Anonymous
Ok ok! I knew this would happen as soon as I hit submit. Pied a terre for the middle class was sort of tongue in cheek 
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Anonymous
I'm adding to the plus column that our friends will now wonder which one of us has a piece on the side; I like a little mystery. |
Anonymous
This is a really good and logical suggestion - thanks PP. I guess I will have to also research if rents are as reasonable as I think costs are. Also thanks to PP who pointed out parking space value - hadn't occurred to me. |
Anonymous
| I would think PQ, unless you wanted to maybe take a chance on the waterfront. |