For a little more background – I am 29, she is 28. I have never owned property before. Earlier this year, she and I decided to live together, but her condo (a studio loft) was not an option. So we are renting an apartment together, and she is renting out the condo to a tenant. She is renting it for ~$200 less than her mortgage-plus-condo-fee payment, which is in turn about $200 more than her share of the rent on our apartment – upshot is that her cashflow is increased by about $200/month in this situation.

So in the short term, things are fine – we both have good careers, combined income of about $140k with the potential to grow substantially in the next few years. We had no trouble at all renting the condo for the upper end of the range we were shooting for. We are very much in love and have discussed the possibility of marriage in the near future.

With our future in mind, I am concerned about the condo. Zillow’s high estimate has it worth about $145k. This may still be on the low end, as the previous owners renovated the heck out of the place, everything is in great shape, and it shows VERY well so we should not have trouble renting it. But should she lose her job or have some other financial catastrophe, we would be sunk – she could not sell it for the amount left on the mortgage.

What can we do in the near and medium term? I think we will probably just keep renting it out – and perhaps I will look into buying a condo that we could pay for on my income alone, once the market has truly bottomed out and marriage looks like a probability – but, for my peace of mind, is there anything else we can do?

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Now either my mortgage bank will not accept the situation and would not qualify me for a loan.

OR

The bank says ok, but personally i have to decide if it’s right for me in the future to live in this unit. If i have to sell it in the future; no records would be a problem?

Help!

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I’m looking to in the future sometime buy a condo so I Can have my own place. What is the main difference in between buying a condo and a house? Or is there none?

And is it true that condos also appreciate in value? I know houses always go up…Meaning if I buy a condo for say $150-200k, it will guarantee go up in value so I can make some $ when I sell it?

How much of a down payment do you need to have for a $200k condo? Any idea on monthly payments? Or is that all related directly to my credit? Thanks.

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To get a ordinary loss or a capital loss with a traditional investment like a stock or annuity, you sell it, don’t buy it back for x period of time, and then you are able to declare the amount you lost.

So if I owned my condo outright (no mortgage) I would sell it to a trust or a friend and declare my 100k loss. 300k went in, 200k came out.

Unfortunately I have a mortgage so I don’t think the bank is going to let me re-title the property since I owe about 250k on the books.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
THIS IS OFF A TAX SITE

Any asset you hold as an investment (stocks, bonds, real estate, for example) is a capital asset. Of course, you can also lose money when you sell a capital asset: a capital loss.

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• Girlfriend has negative equity in condo – what to do?

To get a ordinary loss or a capital loss with a traditional investment like a stock or annuity, you sell it, don’t buy it back for x period of time, and then you are able to declare the amount you lost.

So if I owned my condo outright (no mortgage) I would sell it to a trust or a friend and declare my 100k loss. 300k went in, 200k came out.

Unfortunately I have a mortgage so I don’t think the bank is going to let me re-title the property since I owe about 250k on the books.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
THIS IS OFF A TAX SITE

Any asset you hold as an investment (stocks, bonds, real estate, for example) is a capital asset. Of course, you can also lose money when you sell a capital asset: a capital loss.

• Bought condo for 300k, now 200k how do I capitalize on loss?
• I bought condo with interest-only payments. Should I sell, refinance, or rent condo to recoup loss?
• Girlfriend has negative equity in condo – what to do?
• A 2yr old condo had no accounting records….what to do??

• Bought condo for 300k, now 200k how do I capitalize on loss?
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