gsjackson wrote:momopi wrote:There are far better places to invest $40k cash, than one of these 446 sq ft condos in Henderson.
Especially with $400 in monthly HOA fees. They'd have to drop the price of these to almost nothing to have a chance of selling them. Investors would have no interest whatsoever. In Tucson right now you can get decent condos more than twice the size of these, with HOA fees of $160 or less, for around $30K.
These are great examples of how insane prices were during the housing bubble. All that "money" sucked out of the working economy and sent off to the financial sector as debt service. What a scam.
After 12+ years of investing in new or recent-built condos in Southern CA, I've come to the conclusion that it's better to invest in older, smaller, and relatively cheap SFR's with no HOA or low HOA ($50/mo or less) on decent sized lots (5,000-10,000 sq ft). The older SFR's will require some $ up front for repairs & termite work, which the seller or bank is often willing to split with you. With no mello-roose and low HOA, your monthly cash flow is better than condos. Also, instead of buying home warranty, sock away $50/mo into a general repair fund.
The larger lots mean you (the landlord) have to pay some $$ for a gardener, but gives you the option to build expansions. Older homes tend to have fewer bathrooms, so adding a bathroom can make the property more attractive to a buyer or renter. If you trust your tenant to mow the lawn, you can look for tenants with dogs and just tell them that you can accept the dog, but they'd be responsible for the yard work and picking up after their pet. Then you save the $ on gardener.