I mentioned in my first post that I would providing information on affordable housing opportunities in Bend, and now is that time!
Every Wednesday will be Neighborhood Preview Day here at Be In The Know, these won’t necessarily always be “affordable” housing options (which I might add I think is a ridiculous term.. what’s affordable to me is certainly different then what’s affordable to Bill Gates, so who decides what “affordable” is anyway?) So, I’ll reword: these won’t necessarily always be neighborhoods that are offering homes at a lower cost than the median home price… but since my focus as a real estate agent is buyers, and my demographic is mostly young first-time homebuyers, I will highlight these neighborhoods as often as possible.
This weeks focus is on The Reserves At Pilot Butte – for those of you who may have driven past them and not known what you were looking at, these are the condos that are across the street from Pilot Butte Cinemas (slightly farther East on Hwy 20).
The Reserves @ Pilot Butte is a forty-two unit condo community ranging from $144,900 for 769 sq. ft up to $206,400 for 1567 sq. ft.
All of the units come standard with hardwood floors, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, and tile in the bathrooms. These are high-end finishes that you almost never see in starter homes.
As I alluded to before, there are opportunities to buy in Bend that will cost you little (if any) more than you currently pay in rent… unless you rent from your parents, in which case: live it up while you can!
For instance, say you make an offer on the smallest condo available in The Reserves (let’s say you even make a full price offer.. which hardly anyone is doing these days..)
Purchase Price: $144,900
Interest Rate: 6%
Mortgage Type: Standard 30 year Fixed (if you did an ARM you could get an even lower monthly payment, but for the purposes of this illustration we’ll use the most standard type)
Monthly Payment: $868.75
now.. the fact that these are condos puts a little hiccup in this math because condos traditionally have high HOAs (Home Owner Association dues). The Reserves at Pilot Butte, for instance, charge $201 a month in HOA dues.. BUT.. keep in mind that this covers the cost of maintaining the exterior of the buildings, landscaping, upkeep of the roads, maintaining the fencing, street lights, signage, trash service, porches, gutters, paint, decking, siding, roofing.. the list goes on and on. And these are all things that you normally have to pay for as a homeowner.
So.. GRAND TOTAL to purchase a condo in the Reserves at Pilot Butte….
$1069.75
Now, if you remember from my first post.. this comes with benefits that you don’t get from renting:
At least $700 of that (especially in your first few years) would all be interest payments on your mortgage which is… say it with me folks… all tax deductible.
So, if you are paying taxes on $700 less a month, you’re actually saving roughly $233.33 a month on taxes (which pays for the HOA dues and then some)
Ok, that concludes this weeks Neighborhood Preview Day.. So I’ll wrap it up with some pictures of The Reserves at Pilot Butte:
