August 2006 Weddings
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Buying an apartment--calm me down
I think we are going to this week. ?It feels really weird to be going back into debt after being debt-free with the sale of our house (and it's making me kind of nervous). ?
We found brand new flats (they gutted a really old building and are putting in all new apartments--should be done by the end of the year). ?The one we are looking to purchase is bigger than the one we live in now and the mortgage payment would be less than our current rent. ?Property taxes are nothing here (around 5 Kc per square meter per year--so it's like $25 USD tax on a 100 sq meter flat). ?Financially it makes a lot of sense. ?Plus, since we'd be buying before they've actually built it we would get to pick exactly what we wanted.
So why am I so nervous about this??
Re: Buying an apartment--calm me down
its not a bad debt to be in - are you saying you'd rather buy with cash instead of a mortgage? Or are you scared about the whole buying thing in general? Buying an apartment is different to me, so that would throw me for a loop, but I know its more common in other countries than here. Would you be part of some type of HOA (or i guess AOA) entity?
Are there maintenance fees? Those can be pretty insane in NYC, but I'm not sure what it's like in Prague.
If all of your montly payments are equal to or less than your current rent, I don't see how you can not buy, particularly if YH's job is stable.
Oh! Except, how long will you be in Prague? Are there any extra taxes if you sell within a certain time period? I think in the US you have to pay income tax (or something) if you see within 5 years and make a profit.
Just things to consider.
Except she's in the Czech Republic.
Buying in a different country would freak me thefvck out, but largely for illogical reasons. Just make sure you're well informed about the market and buying process there, and you'll be fine.
I don't know if you remember my cry for help a while back, but I literally made myself physically ill with worry before we started the homebuying process. It's healthy to be a little scared
Good luck!
Owning a flat is like owning a condo in the states, except I think the condo board is set up differently different. ?Here it's just the owners of all the flats in the building. ?A certain percentage have to agree to something before it can be done. ?Every owner puts a?certain?amount of money into a repair/upgrade fund every month, and when there is enough money in the fund they will do repairs. ?(So there are never any blind-siding assessments). ?This charge is generally built into rental?maintenance?fees when you rent our a flat, so we're currently paying it for the building we're in now. ?
We're not sure how long we are going to be here. ?There has been talk recently of moving farther east or very far south in a few years, in which case we would rent out the flat. ?We will probably rent it out in a few years anyway if we stay as we'll be needing a bigger place.
I think the fact that I can't read the contract because it's in Czech is really scaring me here--same with the mortgage papers. ?Also, it felt really good to have positive net worth. ?I realize it's just a number, but going back into the negatives is bothering me.?
ugh - a Czech contract would annoy me too. No way to get that translated?