Okay, so this video is going to be all about condos and is buying a condo a good idea or a bad idea here in Temecula, California? So we're going to get into the pros and the cons and hopefully give you guys some good information to help you decide if buying a condo is a good fit for you and your family. So let's go ahead and get into it. Hey guys. Hey again, my name is Justin Short. I'm a realtor and team leader for the short real estate team here in Temecula, California and Murrieta California. And this video, again, is going to be all about condos. So we're going to get into the pros and the cons. Hopefully give you guys some good information to decide of buying a condo here in Temecula is a good idea for you and your family. So the first thing though, if you're liking videos like this, do me a favor, please hit like please hit subscribe.

So obviously it helps me, it helps the channel. So we're going to continue to put out videos each and every week. We have all types of videos talking about cities of Temecula, Murrieta, and menifee. We talk about best neighborhoods, worst neighborhoods, market updates, all types of good information. And we have probably about 150 different videos that we posted by now with all types of good information in there as well. So talking about where you want to live, where you don't want to live, et cetera. But if you want to keep updated on all the newest stuff and see our new videos, please hit like please hit subscribe, and we're going to continue to put 'em out each and every week. And then if you guys have any real estate questions specifically, of course, I'd love to hear from you. So you can always feel free, you can call, you can text, you can email me.

You're going to see my information down below. I will definitely get back to you. I love answering any questions that you guys have and of course myself and my team would love to help you if you're actually going to be making a move here to the area or if you just have some questions to kind of start that process. I want to kind of start putting some feelers out there. So please feel free to reach out. We'd love to hear from you. We get people that contact us all the time, so I'm happy to answer any questions that you guys might have. So first thing though, I guess we're ready to talk about condos. So we're going to talk about pros and cons. We will go over the positives first. So really the three biggest pros with condos and the number one reason that makes 'em desirable is they're more affordable of a price point as opposed to a house, right?

So right now the average home in the city of Temecula is right around pretty close to $800,000 is right where average price point is. And then the average price point of a condo is about almost $300,000 less. So $545,000 is the average condo price point. So that's significant. That's why you are going to consider a condo just because the affordability. We will talk a little bit more about some of the different HOA fees and some of the hidden costs that are associated with the condo as well. So it's not quite as clean as those numbers may show. But regardless, buying a condo is definitely going to be a less expensive way to get into home ownership and to be able to buy your first property, and especially for getting a low down payment option, it's a lot easier to put three and a half percent down of 500,000 as opposed to 800,000.

So it's a great way for a first time home buyer to get into the market and be able to buy a place. Again, our average price point right now for condos is about 545,000, but you can get a condo starting at about 360,000. So you can get 'em pretty affordable, I mean, for our city. So that could be a really good way to get in. Just know that there's kind of different variations in levels and condos. So something that's priced right around the $360,000 range is probably going to be like a one bedroom or a two bedroom. Usually you will probably have someone that lives on top of you and you probably won't have a yard space, but you will have a little balcony. So you have a little area where you could set up a little barbecue and some patio furniture and that type of thing, but you're not going to have any true yard, any grass or anything like that.

So usually most of the buildings either are one, two or three stories. So if you have a middle unit, you might have some below and above you, just something to be aware of. That's kind of your entry level condos and how the that's going to look here. And although you can get all the way up to a nicer condo where you can actually have a condo where it's almost like townhome type living. So where someone, you have a attached walls on either side of you, but you may also have a little grass area in the back, a little yard space to be able to live in. And so you can get a little bit of space with a condo. It doesn't necessarily have to be true apartment style living, so just know that, but the price point's going to dictate. So lower end you're going to have less space, higher end, you're going to have a little bit more yard space, but that's the biggest pro, it's just going to be more affordable.

The second thing that a lot of people don't actually know is there is significantly less maintenance with a condo. So yes, of course if you don't have a grass in the backyard to mow, you won't have to mow it. You're not going to have to take care of it or pay a landscape or whatever you're going to do. So yes, I mean that's kind of a no-brainer. But also most people don't realize when you buy a condo, you have an HOA fee included in that HOA fee. They will typically take care of the exterior maintenance to the building. So like the roof maintenance painting, the exterior stucco or structure, whatever that is. Usually they're going to take care of maintenance in the front yard or most of the front yard. So if there's little shrubs or grass or whatnot, it's usually going to fall under the HOAs portion of maintenance, not you as the homeowner.

So those are really good things to know and things that most people don't know if you've never actually lived in a condo. So the HOA usually will cover the exterior maintenance for the building. Alright, and then the last thing I wanted to mention as far as a pro with a condo is right now in Temecula, you actually have a few options to buy in a brand new community if you are buying a condo. So there's four or five different communities where you can get a brand new condo right now. So, which is kind of a nice option, especially because on the single family homes type side of things, there's really not very many options. There's one community that you can buy in and get a single family house, and there's a few different options on the condo side of things. So if you're drawing a new construction, that could definitely be a pro for buying a condos.

You have a few more options there. Alright, so next I wanted to talk to you about the biggest cons with buying a condo here in Temecula. So we talked about the biggest pro is just if they're more affordable, right? It's easier to get in, especially for as a first time home buyer, and that's definitely the biggest plus to buying a condo. But on the flip side of that, the biggest con in my opinion is that a condo is not going to appreciate near as much as a single family house would, at least here in Temecula. So that means you're going to not going to gain as much equity over time in a condo as you would a house. So it's probably about 50% too. So let's say in 10 years, let's say the price of your house would go up a hundred thousand dollars, the price of your condo might only go up about 50,000 or maybe even slightly less. So if you are trying to buy something that's going to gain equity over time, and that's a big thing for you or that's a big consideration, you would be better off with a single family home to

Build more equity over time. So just keep that in mind. Also, the second biggest con is you do have pretty significant HOAs with condos. So right now, most condo HOAs are anywhere from $250 up to about $400 per month. And so a lot of times people don't factor that in when they're looking at the sales price. So let's say if you're looking at a sales price for a condo that's $550,000 and comparing it to a $700,000 house, right? Well, yes, you're not just looking at sales price, you're looking at usually your monthly mortgage amount. So once you factor in that additional, let's call it $250 H o a, that's going to make the difference between how much a house costs versus how much a condo costs, it's going to be less, right? It's going to eat into that difference. So that's just something for you to know if you're arguing buying a condo is you're going to have a pretty significant HOA.

Again, that can be something that a high HOA might just depend on where you're coming from. I've had some clients that are coming out from different parts of LA and Orange County and they're paying a thousand dollars for their HOA and their condo out there. So they come out here and they're like, oh, it's so cheap, and that's not my feeling, but just your point of reference might be different. But in my opinion, that's a high H O a, at least for this area, usually between two 50 to $400 per month. Also, the next thing to know is that when you're going to buy a condo, especially as a first time home buyer, especially if you're using an FHA loan or you're a VA loan, that you are not able to use those loan types on all condo units or in all condo developments.

So a lot of people don't know this, but each community, so when you buy a home that's in, let's say it's in a condo building or a condo community, and if you're going to buy a unit that's in there, that community needs to be approved for your loan type if you are doing an FHA or a VA loan. So not all the communities are approved for both loan types. So especially FHA is very, very common for first time home buyers or va, either your active military or retired military or past military. Very, very common loan type that people use as well. And so if you are going to use those loan types, your agent needs to check each and every building to see if it's going to qualify, if your loan is going to qualify for that type of property. So there's something to be aware of.

Sometimes there can be some workarounds with other loan options, et cetera, but that's a big deal, especially right now with where interest rates are and how the mortgage process is. That's something you got to be aware of and really think about. And so just make sure you narrow down your list if you are going to be using either one of those loan products. And then the fourth thing that I wanted to mention is just, especially if you don't live here in the area, probably it's going to be hard for you to realize this, but condo living in the Temecula area and really kind of this overall suburb area is definitely an uncommon way of life. So just know I would say probably 80% of people that live out here live in some type of tract housing. I would say probably about 15% live on some type of land.

So they're on a half acre to an acre to four acres to 10 acres, a little bit of space, horse property, whatever it may be. And with that, I would say probably about 5% of people live in some type of a condo type of a setup. So because of that, condos are not why most people make a move here. So when you go to sell your condo, it might be a little bit tougher to sell as opposed to a single family house. You might just have a little bit smaller of a market. Over the last five, six years, they've actually been selling really, really well. So there's not like, we haven't had any issues selling condos, but when most people think of Temecula in our area, they think of kind of the suburbs and coming out and getting some yard space and getting more for your money as opposed to other parts of Southern California.

And because that condos are not really their number one priority. So that's just something to know. Again, that's going to vary by market, depending where you're coming from and exactly what you're used to, right? If you're used to living in downtown San Diego or some other type of big city or something, living in a condo is going to be a super common thing. So it just depends on what you're used to and just something to be aware of. Not a ton of condos here locally and not why most people come out here to the area. So I hope that's good information for you guys. If you have any questions, you can feel free to reach out. Like I said, you're going to see my information at the end. You can feel free to call, text, email, and hopefully we'll talk to you soon. Thanks.