buying an attached home in unattached development

15 years ago

Looking at purchasing an attached home in a new condo/PUD development. All the homes in this development are detached single family except for four homes. The development will be over 200 homes. I am leary about buying attached ( mostly because of resale), but can't afford the detached because of the economy. All homes in my area are very expensive and due to the economy we are forced to sell our home, downsize and move away from our neighborhood of 30 years in order to not lose all of our retirement.(We are baby boomer empty nesters [ husband was downsized before the economy started showing signs of gloom] who took an absolute hit with the economy and probably will never be able to recoup our losses.) A single family home is out of the picture but I don't want to feel like I gambled and lost if I buy this place.

Right now we really feel the price is high as compared to the stand alone homes and feel we can negotiate it to where we are comfortable. We are getting ready for market in the next few weeks and have been told we have a very desireable home and should have no problem selling even in this market. If we don't buy this home we are looking at really bad options that we would have to sink a lot of $$$ into to bring it up to par. This would be new and give us most of the things we enjoy so we wouldn't feel like we were living back as we did 40 years ago. Thanks! ~L

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Comments (3)

Linda
15 years ago
I would think the fact that there will only be four of the attached homes in a subdivision of single family homes would be very desirable. There will always be buyers in your same position who want to live in a "neighborhood" but can't afford the neighborhood. Supply and demand is always the biggest seller in ANY market. The fact that there are only four means little supply which should create lots of demand. I would go for it! (I would also make sure there are rules about investors buying them and renting them out, you dont want to be the only owner in there. Living with a bunch of renters would not be a great investment and would make getting financing very difficult for the attached homes in the future.
elle481
Original Author
15 years ago
Interesting Linda117, I did think of that when we first went to look at these homes. We just LOVE the lifestyle of the community as it was what we always wanted when we eventually both retired. Unfortunatly because of economic downturn, there is just no way could buy the single homes and it is just killing me as I feel I am taking a huge step back. I am also terrified that the economy has not hit bottom and we would pay to high if we buy now, but on the other hand if we wait until we get a contract on our home, we may be out of luck as the spring market is upon us. Like we have all been told, "buy the cheapest home in a real nice neighborhood!" It has also been that these homes have been sitting there and finally two of the four have been sold. ~Elle
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muddypond
15 years ago
In any community with a mix of homes, expensive and not so expensive, the not so expensive homes tend to weigh on the resale prices of the expensive homes, and the expensive homes tend to lift the prices of the not so expensive homes.

Resale wise, you won't get hurt buying the least expensive homes in an upscale development. You should, however, compare how much home you would get in a more mundane development for the same price with what you will get in the development under consideration. You may find you can get more home for the dollar elsewhere. Then again, you may prefer to live in less home in a more desirable development.

It's good to have choices.