Recent comments in /f/CambridgeMA

technicolourful t1_j7rygij wrote

Reply to People who have bought condos in Camberville - how has your experience been? by NaiveWrongdoer3

> I know from a general economic standpoint there is an idea that condos do not appreciate as well as SFH and are not as solid of an investment.

LOL. I put 10% down on my condo and paid PMI for 13 months before I refinanced for ten percent more equity. Buying a condo here is basically printing money.

​

AND WE SHOULD BUILD MORE OF THEM. EVERYWHERE. AND TALL. AND ON TOP OF TRAIN LINES. AND TEAR DOWN SINGLE FAMILY HOUSES TO DO IT.

10

alr12345678 t1_j7rwft8 wrote

Reply to People who have bought condos in Camberville - how has your experience been? by NaiveWrongdoer3

Many families live in Camberville in condos. It’s nice to be in a duplex or triplex with other families as they can be more understanding about family issues. We lived in a condo for 3 years with our child. We since moved to a single family also in Somerville. SF comes with more expenses and you have to shoulder the cost alone but on the other hand I only have to deal with my spouse in property decision making. I wouldn’t move to the burbs just to have a SF, as I much prefer my car independent life here.

1

DumplingKing1 t1_j7rbfg6 wrote

Reply to People who have bought condos in Camberville - how has your experience been? by NaiveWrongdoer3

Realtor here - I’ve seen unreal returns for condos, especially 3-4 beds. A year ago I saw a condo that gained about $600k in value in a 5 year span in e cambridge. What you’ll find is 1-2 beds generally appreciate at a lower rate.

Biggest mistake families make when buying condos is not purchasing with enough room for growth. Make sure you have space for the kids plus yourself plus work at home space for at least the next 5 years.

You don’t want to be in a situation where you have to move after two years because you’ve run out of space. Good luck!

6

Helen___Keller t1_j7qp2eh wrote

Reply to People who have bought condos in Camberville - how has your experience been? by NaiveWrongdoer3

Don’t recommend thinking/worrying about appreciation. Appreciation in this market is tied to factors you can’t anticipate (incomes in tech/biotech/finance jobs in Kendall / downtown Boston).

My only complaint so far has been old house problems. It’s a duplex so I can’t toss problems to the hoa, I am the hoa. So I’ve had to learn a lot about maintaining an old house, and plan fixes for things that need fixing.

Edit: also if you look at tax rates and the residential exemption you’ll find that you save a lot of money there compared to the suburbs. Cambridge especially, damn near zero property tax

9

pelican_chorus t1_j7q8new wrote

Reply to People who have bought condos in Camberville - how has your experience been? by NaiveWrongdoer3

I bought in Cambridge 12 years ago and it's more than doubled in value. It's one of two units in a wood-frame house.

We haven't had any problem with the HOA. There's only the two of us, so if you're both personable and reasonable people you can make things work. Of course, if one of you is unreasonable, that could of course be a problem.

We haven't had issues with family noise because we were both roughly the same age -- they had kids, then we had kids, then their (now) renters moved in and had kids, so everyone understands kid noise.

I have heard of condo-mates who can't stand kid noises, in this case they were older people, though I don't know that that's always the demographic. I don't really understand that. If you're going to live in a condo, you're going to hear the other people. If you want to live out in the country, go live in the country.

1

wombatofevil t1_j7q89j1 wrote

Reply to Any good Gym recs??? by BrokenBlossom77

I don't know how it compares to Planet Fitness, but the YMCA in Central Square is reasonably priced and has a good amount of free weights and a power lifting room, if that's your thing.

11