My brother and sister-in-law moved into the 360 Condos yesterday and my husband and I took dinner over to celebrate their new home. I gotta say... they're damn nice. The unit has very nice finish-outs, nothing spectacular but what you would expect to see in any modern, upscale urban dwelling. But the public spaces and amenities--wow, I was really impressed. The club room , fitness center and pool area are all top notch. There's even an outdoor "living room" near the pool with a fireplace and 50-in. HD plasma. We were on the balcony looking out downtown and it struck me what a great location it is. You're kind of right at the convergence of 2nd St, Warehouse, 6th St AND West 6th. Easy access to the hike and bike too. But most importantly, 2 short blocks from the Torchy's trailer by Little Woodrow's. Baby bro did good on his first home.
Those monthly condo fees are near what I'm paying for my FULL mortgage living in a 1100 sq ft north/central Austin condo w/ a large patio and two covered parking spaces. I recently read an article that discussed the fees for new downtown high-rises. They said most of the HOA fees are calculated by taking your total sq ft and multiplying it by a certain rate. The article also said the average rate is currently between .38 cents - .40 cents per sq ft. So for isntance, take a 1200 sq ft condo - the monthly fee would be $480. That's $5760 you are spending a year just on fees.
I was just curious. I'm sure it's balanced out to some degree by not having to maintain a yard or drive as far to work. I was just shocked by some friends in bigger cities whose condo fees are $800 plus a month.
I am a person who is fairly young and I always thought that I kind of 'got' urban living. I guess I don't. I am amazed at the fees that are paid out for some of those places. I lived in Chicago and the downtown area is geographically large enough that you almost have to pay big bucks to get anywhere near downtown in a nice area. That just isn't true in Austin. You can live in some great neighbourhood not far from downtown and pay far far less. Maybe I just don't get it. It seems like a waste of money, and the way the prices are now, I just can't see it being any type of good investment either. This coming from a guy who doesn't believe a home should be a primarily be an investment vehicle. I am just amazed. Oh let me point something out, or rather ask a question. Can I assume that your brother and his wife don't yet have kids? Maybe that is part of my being confounded. Kids take up more room than many of those places seem to offer. That being said, please don't think I am trying to be critical. They look like gorgeous homes, and heck, if your brother can afford it, great for him! I hope he and his wife enjoy downtown Austin immensely. I figure it will be an adjustment coming from NY, but I hope they find it to be a great place!
For Stuck_At_Work with a <$600 mortgage, how long have you lived there? Obviously appreciation has helped, I'm guessing closer to 10 years. You also fixed up the place which means you bought it at a discount and put time/money into it to make it better. That's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison to a new condo which requires no fixing up and hasn't had any time to appreciate. Who knows what the downtown condo market will look like in 10 years? I bought a downtown condo over 6 years ago and people told me I was crazy then to pay $300 / sq ft. There's been nice appreciation since then and an expansion in the breadth of properties downtown with Milago and 360 being lower and the W, Four Seasons, and Austonian being higher. THEU says that one could live in a great neighborhood close to Austin and pay far less. THEU's right that Austin doesn't sprawl nearly as much as big cities. But I'd like to know where I can live within a few miles of downtown Austin and not be in a place that's 80 years old or almost as tiny as the downtown condos for a few hundred grand. As for me, being 2 miles out is almost as a bad as being 10 since it would mean that I couldn't walk to a ton a restaurants, bars, and Lady Bird Lake. I would say that downtown is turning into a real neighborhood with the large increase in people living downtown. 8 years ago when I first moved downtown (as renter so I could try before buy) there was hardly anyone downtown. Places like Schlotzky's closed at 4pm because they only catered to people who worked downtown and needed lunch. Things are quite different today and functions like the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association meetings and happy hours are well attended by people that care about downtown and Austin. It has become it's own neighborhood. People here are used to seeing each other inside their buildings and outside and not just driving past each other as they enter and exit a master planned neighborhood of single family homes. The HOA fees are high but this isn't like the Pedernales Electric Co-op that was secretive and wasted a bunch of money on executive compensation and expensive trips. The budget is available to all and if you care about making changes then run for a seat on the condo HOA board (once the developer turns it over to the residents and no you don't get paid). We have spirited discussions about the budget in my building. Living downtown isn't for everyone (I can see the kid thing being an issue) but I've been downtown for 8 years now after having lived in west campus, south austin, and north austin and couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Never having to worry about parking downtown, being able to entertain people often and easily, walking home after partying instead of driving or fighting for a taxi at 2am, having a concierge handle things like package delivery, and being right next to Lady Bird Lake are things that are very easy to get used to. I've also met many more people in my building than I ever did when living in a subdivision just by virtue of seeing them in the hallway or elevator. Sorry I didn't realize I went on so long but I love living in Austin and being downtown! Rayfes
I have no issue with others buying property downtown. In fact, as an advocate of urban density, I applaud it. My point is that I personally don't have the discretionary funds to spend on high HOA fees and inflated property taxes. Secondly, I find it difficult for anyone to argue that a NEW downtown condo is an investment tool. The number of condos being built downtown doesn't meet the demand. Recently one of the largest condo projects changed from being a condo to high-rise apartment because they couldn't get enough demand. You purchased your condo well before the downtown condo boom in Austin really started, so you don't really fit the equation. I'm talking about 'investing' in a condo today, not 8-10 years ago. And by the way, I purchased my condo 3 years ago.
For discussion purposes I also wonder the advantages of new downtown condos. If it appeared there was no chance of over building condos downtown I would think it would be something I would consider. It will be interesting to see what these new condos bring per sq. ft. in the next five to ten years. Especially factoring in HOA fees.
