Condos?  Been there, done that (back in the 70's in California) and have the T-shirt.  A few words to ponder if you are thinking condo:  Covenants, Owner's Associations, Association dues, Assessments.  Condo's can be full of some real surprises down the road.

I have no idea about a condo but I have lived in apartments in my younger days and all I can say is never again.

Bob

 

when it comes to condo,  how much are the fees and properity tax?  to offset that you do build equity.

I never thought of you, Alaska, as a condo kind of person.....but then, what the heck do I know about you or anyone else here. 

 

Condos.....good for vacations, wouldn't want to live in one. 

It's not my preference but for various reasons it's a good option if, like me, you're not inclined to have a 4 digit mortgage payment every month.

 

Have a look at the crap they are trying to sell up here in Anchorage.  http://www.alaskarealestate.com/

 

One of my personal favorites, this one has been on the market for over a year.  Listing: 08-11586  

This is, allegedly, a 3 bedroom house though they say it's all of 936 square feet... they think.  It's in the shittiest neighborhood in Anchorage and on a massive .14 acre lot.  $120,000.00.  There are photos!  Of the outside.  From a distance.  Across the street, I think.  I particularly like the lawn furnature!

 

The city lot might be worth 10K... dodging bullets and drug gangs tends to depress the price a bit.  The materials for this 'house' might run 40K.

 

'Fixer-upper', btw is real estate agent code for 'a pack of weasles used to live here' and the foundation consists of rocks that were too big to put in the wheelbarrow.

Personally I enjoy working in my own yard. You don't get that with a condo. If it's nice, and something you can afford. I say go for it!

  There is no home worth buying in Mountain view for any price. I lived there when I first returned to Anchorage. I was sick and broke and couldn't even work at the time. I lived on the corner of Hoyt and Peterkin. I didn't need cable. All I had to do was turn off the lights and open my curtains and just watch. It was like Cops, Jerry Springer and a documentary on drug dealing and chronic inebriation. The last straw was when a crazy young neighbor attacked a really nice old man who was also a neighbor with a baseball bat. The old man managed to make it back inside his place and retrieve his .38. He went back out and fired two shots into the ground to try to scare the punk off. They had a standoff in the old man's front yard for awhile. We had called 9/11, but APD seems to like to show up in Mountain View after the bodies are starting to cool. When they arrived, they were all Swatted up and looked very impressive. The only problem was that they responded to and surrounded the wrong house. It took a while for me to convince them that yes, I was the guy that called and they were surrounding the home of a harmless cripple that didn't own a gun or a baseball bat. Long story short, the punk went to jail, and the old man got his gun confiscated. The next day, we saw a Native woman urinating on the sidewalk in front of our house. She was so drunk she fell back into her own puddle. It took us less than a week to get out of there. I won't even go into the nightmare with the FAS kid that broke into our house and molested my dog. Mountain View sucks!

There is two Alaskans on the internet at the same time, where is the other one... going out for Moose Burgers.

Good Luck with the condo.....

MeThinks Alaska is trying to fenagle (sp?) a "bail-out"....

 

I could never live in a condo. I really can't stand neighborhood associations - some condos don't let you have a grill or a bird feeder. And like James, I enjoy my property. But I do understand your frustration with the real estate situation. My opinion is you should keep hunting for a decent fixer-upper.

 

 

DAMN!  It's worse than I thought!