Reality on Realty

I gave them a lowball offer they could refuse. I got an acceptance two hours later.

And that’s the story of a first-time homebuyer in 2009.

As I’ve been a militant renter for my adult life so far, I didn’t exactly plan on buying a home, even with Obama’s $8,000 late Christmas gift for first-timers. But slowly, surprisingly, every roadblock that made renting better than owning began to come down. Like the Berlin wall, but way less revolutionary.

The first step was overcoming my fear and loathing of new construction condominiums. With a slower rate of appreciation, an uncomfortable feeling of being obnoxious and a bad taste in my mouth from a bad purchase on the South Shore of Boston (not mine, personally), I really didn’t like condos. Your beautiful personal property was oddly managed by a mysterious Other who could raise your fees at the drop of a hat, you’ve got that weird feeling of faux-luxury that could all fall apart at any moment, and you still have very, very close neighbors.

On the flip side, you have equity, laundry, security and no Sicilian landlords from Queens.

Doing the math a few months back, I decided that excessive New York property taxes, common fees, a ridiculous mortgage and closing costs did not make buying any better than renting my utilities-included railroad apartment just a little too far away from everywhere I need to go.

That’s when a 15-unit condo a couple of train stops closer to Manhattan decided they actually wanted to sell the units they developed at the cusp of the bubble burst. After my borderline obnoxious skepticism, I realized exactly what that meant: I can finally buy a place for the cost of renting. Granted, it takes a little up-front cash; but if you got it, use it.

And so the process begins – I will continue to write about my triumphs and travails as a first-time homebuyer in the post-bubble apocalypse. Will it be worth it? Time will tell.