Opinion of this Condo?

[MasterJedi]

So, what does everyone think of this condo? Reason I'm asking this is because I would love to buy this condo but I don't have enough money to buy it obviously. Would have to have about a $210,000 down payment to afford it and I'm well away from that. But I'm curious to see other Atlasian opinions of the place.

http://www.milwaukeecondoman.com/tour.php?condo=1344488&condoname1=Riverfront_Lofts

[Joe Republic]

Very nice actually, but those visible ducts remind me of the movie Brazil.

[bedstuy]

Looks very big and inexpensive.  But, it looks kind of dark and the finishes are fairly standard and Home Depo-y.  Also, just hard for me to see past the ugly furniture and gross/mismatched paint color.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Make sure to try and get the books and the banjo as part of the deal. If you don't want the banjo, I'll take it .

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I wouldn't care for it myself.  I've got better things I can plunk money into.  At 1785 sq ft for only two bedrooms, you are getting into conspicuous consumption territory, and the stairs to the balcony look positively dangerous in those photos.

[bedstuy]

I wouldn't care for it myself.  I've got better things I can plunk money into.  At 1785 sq ft for only two bedrooms, you are getting into conspicuous consumption territory, and the stairs to the balcony look positively dangerous in those photos.

One of my friends just bought a two bedroom condo for $2 million dollars.  This is real estate, the price is dictated by the location.

[traininthedistance]

Looks very big and inexpensive.  But, it looks kind of dark and the finishes are fairly standard and Home Depo-y.  Also, just hard for me to see past the ugly furniture and gross/mismatched paint color.

Most of the country doesn't have NYC housing prices.  I bet it's on the expensive side for Milwaukee.

That being said, it looks like it has a pretty great location (and who cares about furniture colors, you can bring your own?), so Freedom Condo.

[bedstuy]

Looks very big and inexpensive.  But, it looks kind of dark and the finishes are fairly standard and Home Depo-y.  Also, just hard for me to see past the ugly furniture and gross/mismatched paint color.

Most of the country doesn't have NYC housing prices.  I bet it's on the expensive side for Milwaukee.

That being said, it looks like it has a pretty great location (and who cares about furniture colors, you can bring your own?), so Yes.

I just mean that if I'm looking at it aesthetically, it's difficult to tell if I like it because the paint and furniture is super ugly.  And, yes, I have no idea what the Milwaukee real estate market is like so I shouldn't just apply my insane NYC perspective, that's silly on my part.  Looking a little closer at the photos though, it does look like an awkward layout and there are a few annoying design choices.  If this expensive for downtown Milwaukee on a per square foot basis, I'm not  a fan.

[DINGO Joe]

A 210,000 down payment for a 300,000 condo?  I guess the taxes and condo fee are the reason you say that?  I've seen cool houses cheap in Milwaukee if your able to do the sweat equity thing.  Made a big difference for me, and I have cooler bookshelves.

[MasterJedi]

A 210,000 down payment for a 300,000 condo?  I guess the taxes and condo fee are the reason you say that?  I've seen cool houses cheap in Milwaukee if your able to do the sweat equity thing.  Made a big difference for me, and I have cooler bookshelves.

That amout I said is because with calculations that I did I'd only be able to afford a $100,000 mortgage. Well, I could probably be able to afford a larger one but I actually do want to continue to save money up/go out and have fun every once and awhile and not have all my money going to just living. Also I don't want to pull a Bushie and go into debt with owning a place either.

[angus]

Weak.  You'd think that for 310 grand they could find someone to come in and cover up those airshafts.  It's also a bit small (1783 sq ft.)  I think for that price you could probably do better.  In fact, a brief perusal of realty websites suggests that you could do much better for that money.

City-data.com puts the range on that particular condo this way:

Low range value price: $210,645
High range value pice: $315,967

[muon2]

The price seems high, but I like the location. You're right across the river from my favorite restaurant in Milwaukee - the Safe House.

[The Dowager Mod]

A lot of noisy bars in that area because of the campuses around there.

[CultureKing]

Wow... I just realized how much living in the Bay Area has distorted my view of housing prices.

[Dave from Michigan]

300k is way to expensive, you can get a house in Detroit for way cheaper.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I wouldn't care for it myself.  I've got better things I can plunk money into.  At 1785 sq ft for only two bedrooms, you are getting into conspicuous consumption territory, and the stairs to the balcony look positively dangerous in those photos.

One of my friends just bought a two bedroom condo for $2 million dollars.  This is real estate, the price is dictated by the location.

Agreed. price is determined by location, but at those prices you're engaged in conspicuous consumption.

[Joe Republic]

300k is way to expensive, you can get a house in Detroit for way cheaper.

Well yeah, you can buy a house for $20 in Detroit...

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

You should try this one.

[Torie]

Ah, welcome to my world.

Strengths: Very attractive great room, fantastic deck, location, good fits and finishes, particularly the brickwork (but no pic of the bathroom), lots of square feet and big rooms. I assume the master bedroom is at least 12' by 12' or something, with no dimension being less than 11 feet (if it is less, that is a huge negative).

Weaknesses:  Just one bath for two bedrooms it appears (a substantial negative given the price and number of square feet, particularly if it does not even have a power room half bath as a "public" bathroom), the dining area is tucked away in an alcove around the corner from the kitchen (and probably not remediable in a cost effective way, if at all by moving walls), that industrial pipe does not fit well in the architecture given the balance of the design, the floor plan is not depicted, and  the state and layout of the bathroom is an unknown. I assume it has good to excellent closet space. If it doesn't, women in particular will be very displeased.

Price:  A good way to test the price is to find out what the fair market rent is, and figure out your NOI by renting it out. If it is about 4%, that is a fair price, if it is closer to 3% it isn't, if it is pushing 5% it is an attractive purchase price wise. This of course is a macro comment on the market and the price rather than a micro one. I assume everything is very well insulated so you don't hear your neighbors.

As a sidebar, with respect to my Hudson action (duplexes, so not apples to apples at all), the NOI is around 8%, but I am busy "over improving" things (that means essentially gutting the interiors, lowering basement floors and finishing them out, etc.) so it is all done just right the first time in anticipation of a gathering wave of gentrification moving east of the main downtown commercial street into the three short blocks remaining in the urban footprint of the town prior to it suddenly ending in green fields, with the block that is where I am planting my footprints  as my little project clearly the next in line for that to happen, so in the short term, the NOI will probably be down around 5%.  The business plan is to attract much higher end tenants of course, who will pay the rent, not cause problems, and not trash the pads. I expect in 5 years the block will remind one of a nice high density hood in San Francisco, packed with gays and artists and second home folks from NYC.

[Franzl]

300k is way to expensive, you can get a house in Detroit for way cheaper.

Well yeah, you can buy a house for $20 in Detroit...

Really? Prices must have gone up since I last looked.

[Dave from Michigan]

Detroit gets no love.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Looks nice and it's about 1/2 the cost of something vaguely similar here.

But since I have no desire to live in Milwaukee...

[morgieb]

300k is way to expensive, you can get a house in Detroit for way cheaper.

America must be strange. You'd be lucky to find a decent house even double that price here.

[Franzl]

300k is way to expensive, you can get a house in Detroit for way cheaper.

America must be strange. You'd be lucky to find a decent house even double that price here.

Actually, Australia is the strange country on this particular issue....

Yeah America is cheap (outside of a few particular areas), but then the quality of houses is usually rather poor. Take a good house (i.e. one made of stone), and the American prices wouldn't be a whole lot less than what you'd pay in Germany, I think. A decent house can be had for around 250,000-300,000 € in my area.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'm househunting now and I expect to end up paying in the $100-125K range for a basic 2 or 3 bedroom home in a decent neighborhood. (Only need 2 bedrooms, using the second as a home office/den, but unless one goes for a condo or patio home, there isn't a large selection of those on the market.)  Might go higher as I expect real estate to hold its value in this area and time, but I'm not looking for the luxury touches such as central vac, a fireplace, or a pool. Indeed, a pool with its maintenance hassles or a wood-burning fireplace that I'd never use are things I'm using to strike homes from the list of possible choices. If I had to, I could go cheaper for a bad location or a fixer-upper, but I don't need to settle for a bad location and I don't want to spend the time or money on a fixer-upper.