thinking about buying a studio on north side stx

Don't know if it's a good deal, but ask about the condo fees. These can actually be higher than your mortgage payment. Also insurance is very expensive here. What condos are you looking at?

Seems like your math is correct if you're paying cash. If you are financing it may take more than ten years or a rent increase.

That seems more then a little high for those studios...I wouldnt pay more then 60k for one of those.

Zum
Be sure to check the MLS listing to see if other units are listed at that condo development. Compare the asking price against others listed. It should be about 6% less as they will not be paying a real estate agent. The condo fees for many of those units are ($6000 to$10,000) Six to ten thousand dollars a year.

If you go to the St Croix MLS you can easily compare prices. For a studio condo $80,000 is a little high for Long Reef and sounds good for Club St Croix. GET the facts...

Need to know where they are to know if its a deal or not. If its Long Reef you should be able to get it for less then 80,000. I used to own one there. Long Reef's condo fees aren't that high and they include insurance, and cable.

Zum,

I agree with what everyone has been saying. From experience I agree that condo fees and insurance can get extremely costly. For a 2 bedroom, with a ocean view you are looking at around $500-700 a month for fees and insurance, just so you get an idea of the fees.

By the way have you thought about renting for a while?

yea i thought about what everyone was saying and im not gonna waste 80 some k on a studio unless id rent it out, because i dont want to live in a studio....id rather rent for a year a house, but cant find any really....im not going to be living there year round, but itd be nice to get a 3-4 bedroom house, or 3 bedroom with a basement for under 2200 a month or 2200. anyone know of a 6- 12 month lease for a house like that on st croix?

I've never seen a house with a "basement" on STX.

Linda J: Ditto on the basement, but wouldn't it be nice come hurricane time?

Sure would. However the neighbors might object to one's blasting through the rock!! I can see it now - a $200,000 house with a million $ basement!!!

About the studio, If it is the Long Reef condo complex--- $65-70K is about the top end you could get that to appraise for--- so if you want to pay $80K, well--- you won't get it financed. Hope you have cash. Basements on St Croix, well, actually a lot of the houses here have basements. They're just not referred to as such. FNMA defines a "basement" as "any portion of a structure that is below grade". Here in the USVI they are euphemistically referred to as "lower levels". Technically they are basements since a portion of the lower level is below grade but since realtors do not distinguish between above and below grade square footage here--- neither do appraisers. The lower level is equivalent to what is referred to back on the mainland in most markets as a "walk-out" basement. Since it is market typical to sell the homes with "lower levels" and since realtors and assessors do not distinguish between above and below grade square footage, they are not categorized as basements. True sunken basements are indeed rare here due to topographical and geological considerations.

You don't have a basement as under your house is where you normally bury your cistern.

Jim

My house has two stories. I live on the second floor - 2 BR/2BA. The down stairs has a 1BR/1BA and the 30,000 gallon cistern behind the apartment.