Island Hill Association has announced success of its three prototype units on Douglas’s Cordova Street.
“They all have great views,” said Wayne Coogan of Coogan Construction, to the Juneau Affordable Housing Committee on Tuesday.
The company plans to start construction in 2013 on as many as 24 two-bedroom one-bath apartments. Eventually Coogan plans to build 56 units. However, he will need to permit the remaining 32 units.
The first 24 apartments are expected to rent for $1,200 per month without utilities.
• Contact reporter Russell Stigall at 523-2276 or at russell.stigall@juneauempire.com.
Comments (36)
Add commentsync - when was...
the last time you went to visit a lender? Granted, you have to be responsible enough to have good credit and to have saved some $ for a down payment, unless you qualify for some kind of program - first time home buyers, military, whatever. But I still contend that if you have good credit and have saved a little - it's cheaper to own.
If rent is $1,200 for a two-bedroom condo -
I paid $650 a month for a 15-year loan (would have been cheaper at 30 years) plus $300 a month dues, plus between $50-100 per month electric (for those places which include electric) Then I've paid $1,050 per month. ON TOP OF WHICH, about $400 of my mortgage payment for the last few years went towards the principal of my loan - which is the same as paying yourself back, presuming your house is worth what you paid for it when you sell it. It's like putting $ in savings - yes, a gamble - but a pretty good one so far in this town/state.
So I was paying up front $150 less than I would have if I'd rented, (add another $50-100 for rentals that don't include electric) and in actuality $550 a month less than paying to build someone else's equity. At the end of 15 years in the condo - I had close to 100,000 to show for it, between equity and appreciation. As a renter - you have exactly 0.
Sync - I highly, highly recommend you take 30 minutes, call a lender, get some paystubs together, and see what you qualify for. Or at least, what kind of a down payment you need to save in order to afford a mortgage payment. At least check it out......
don't assume
sg- did you actually read my entire post? If you had read what I posted, you would have clearly seen that we are a one-income FAMILY (of four) and that we are PREAPPROVED for some crazy-high amount. All summer long, we saw our lender about twice a month, depending on how many offers we were making on houses. We put in several offers and all were either outright ignored or semi-politely declined.
I am not whining; I am stating facts. I am impressed with your math skills, truly. That is definitely half the battle right there. Your figures seem accurate and you seem very savvy. You should be commended for that. But sometimes your facts are yours and my facts are mine. No amount of math is going to change that, and unless I post all my actual income figures and such (which I am obviously not going to do), you will just have to trust me when I say that Juneau's housing situation is poor, laughable, broken, and severely lacking in long-term, DESIREABLE solutions.
Your condo purchase looks like it worked out for you, but there are some instances where it IS smarter to rent than be underwater on a fixer-upper in Juneau where the taxes keep creeping up and up and up. And where the appreciation on a home is less than 1% annually. I can think of plenty of other more profitable ways to invest.
When I emphasize "desireable" what I mean is this: Not everyone in town is signing on to Agenda 21 the way CBJ is. We're not all the complacent sheeple that ICLEI needs, excited to live in condos with an association that tells us what type of pets we can or can't have, how many visitors and vehicles we can have, etc. I grasp that owning a condo for many is a means to an end, building equity to transition to a home eventually, but condo living is not an option for us.
One main reason can be summed up in the Gastineau fire. Living in such close quarters, trusting that everyone else is practicing the same level of safety and consideration that we are is folly. Not worth the risk to us. (And let me also emphasize that I am definitely in the camp of accepting that sometimes things just happen and that this particular fire was obviously an accident. No malicious attempts, no outright neglect or causation by anyone, just a plain ol' accident. No blame or finger-pointing coming from me.)
One last thing before I leap off my sturdy, well-used soapbox... None of us (my fam) have ever had a manicure, latte, salon/shop haircut, or cable in the twelve years we've lived in Juneau. We do not have nice furniture. We shop at thrift stores almost exclusively. Others would say our main "luxury" is probably organic food. Maybe travel, which we do about every other year. Oh, our boat- that's probably a luxury too. It's a 22' skiff with an open cabin, no heat, and a honey bucket. We drive fourteen year-old truck, but our "new" car is a 2001. Pathetically, I was so excited to get it this year; it's the first car I've ever had with a key fob and a cd player! :)
So, again, stick to your facts and please don't assume. You might want to reread my original comment, too. Sorry if this was a bit off-topic, but I hope that clarified my lack of whining a bit for you.
Swimmer, we tried that. We
Swimmer, we tried that. We lived in a condo. When we bought it, all th erealtors justified it being over assessed value as thats just the market in Juneau. When we sold ten years later, they wouldn't sell for anything above appraised value as condos just dont hold their value well... And everytime I increased my income, the housing market would increase by the same rate so we were always just out of reach. There is a very definite class warfare in this town when it comes to housing. Very happy you made it, but it isnt that easy. I am now in a major fixer upper and working on the house every night.
points taken.....
ru and kpaw.
Certainly everyone's situation is different. RU, you make my point that it's your choice, based on your lifestyle and things you aren't willing to compromise, to rent rather than own.
I'm simply saying that it's not impossible, as some folks always indicate. Just depends on what, if anything, you are willing to compromise temporarily, and how far down the road you are willing to plan.
I would have been in a house years earlier if I had been a couple. I figure if I can do it as a single, it's pretty doable.
We are single income too.
We are single income too. Family of five. Makes it much harder. Need more bedrooms etc.
Kpawsuh
Well, good luck on your fixer upper - certainly choosing to have a larger family on one income also affects your options. Fortunately, we live in a country where your choices are up to you.