Thoughts on Co-op, condos as a Real Estate Investmant

[Kevin Jones]

Hello fellow BP members. I am new to the Real Estate investment world and have come across some condo and co-ops that I could possibly purchase and use as rental incomes. I was wondering what everyones thoughts were with the positives and negatives on this kind of investments. Thanks everyone. 

[Josh Anderson]

So we have several condos and townhouses. 

I have mixed feels. Its somewhat easier to rent, as there are all the perks to the complex. And there is less to maintain, and cost to get in is generally cheaper.

The downside, is the HOA fees will eat a lot of cash flow, the turn over is higher I've found as they would rather live in a house than a complex. And talk about a beating when it's vacant. HOA, note, taxes, insurance. It'll eat your lunch in a hurry. We are moving away from them as they aren't fitting in our model as well as we thought they would. And if the complex is mismanaged things really turn ugly.

You may consider out of state investing. Birmingham is pretty cheap to get into. Worth exploring