I don?t know of many one bedroom condos in the city that are $225,000. Most range in price from $165,000 - $210,000. So take a medium price of $185,000 with a $15,000 down payment you need a loan of $170,000 at 6.3%. Your monthly payment is $1052.25. So the same 20% a year back in taxes is $2525 or about $210 a month. That puts your monthly payment at $842. A $200 condo fee puts you at $1042. Taxes are $4242 or $354 a mo. Total now is $1,396 so let?s say $1,400. Now let?s say you get about a 1% increase annually on the property and it is now worth $190,000 in three years and you sell it. Your principal remaining would be $163,870. So minus transaction fee?s you would make about $6130 ($190,000 - $15,000 down - $163,870). So the return on the $15,000 investment is about 40%. I do not know of many other investments that will bring that in 3 years. Since the $1400 a month mortgage (or rent) is a sunk living cost that will be expensed each month anyway, you might as well pay it to yourself. You need to be smart about what you purchase. But since there are no sensible housing options and renting begins to drain as you make no equity what so ever. The key to this condo market is staying within the restraints of the marketplace and getting something that you can turn.