Pinnacle at Town Center
Pinnacle at Town Center is an apartment complex in Germantown, MD and it is one of the more highly sought after apartment buildings in Germantown. It has a fantastic location being within walking distance to the Germantown Library & pretty much attached to the Shops at Town Center & Century Station. This location has it all from Wells Fargo, CapitalOne, H&R Block and a Safeway grocery store. Some of the local restaurants enjoyed by the community are Zoe’s Kitchen, &pizza, Chipotle, Burger King, Zane Japanese Eatery and a crowd favorite in Starbucks. This is just to name a few of the different attractions in the immediate area.
High-end retail shopping at the Clarksburg Premium Outlets is just 1 exit away, the Germantown hub for Ride On public transit is across the street, MARC train within a mile, easy access to I-270 and 355 for drivers. There is no wonder why it attracts so many people.
The amenities also include a clubhouse, swimming pool, fitness facility, business center and a few more bells and whistles. This is highly attractive and some may say, hard to pass up. The reality of the situation is that none of that comes FREE.
While it has so many great things about it, the price tag reflects that and keep in mind, rent usually goes up yearly. A 1 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment rents for $1540-$1545 a month. 2 bedroom 1 bathroom units are $1730-$1760. If you want 2 bedrooms and a second bathroom, they go for $1799-$2280 a month. 3 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms is $2250.
I know that the argument may be that the complex is centrally located and in close proximity of so much great stuff. But, the thing to keep in mind is that there are single family homes within walking distance to Pinnacle at Town Center. Not only are their single family homes close by, they are REALLY affordable. In fact, you will more than likely pay LESS money than rent.
The median sales price for Germantown real estate is $325,000. What that breaks down to is $1490 for your monthly mortgage payment with a 4% down payment! This is you principal & interest and does not include taxes and insurance. Average property tax in Germantown is slight below 1% of the assessed value which would put taxes just over $3,000 yearly on average (about $250 a month).* Maryland’s annual premiums for homeowners insurance average $982 per year for an HO-3 policy (about $85 a month).**
For the same or less money per month as a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment in Pinnacle at Town Center, you could buy your own single family home just a couple blocks away. I’m talking a 3-4 bedroom home with a yard and not being boxed in with other tenants (upstairs, downstairs, both sides and behind). No quiet hours like a college dorm. You can paint walls (or knock ‘em down).
Here are the numbers I ran to give you a breakdown of why I say you could buy real estate in Germantown for a comparable or lesser monthly payment than renting at Pinnacle at Town Center. Keep in mind if you have never owned a house or haven’t owned in 3+ years you can take advantage of a first time home buyer program in MD.
$325,000 is the median sales price so let’s use that for the purchase price of our fictional property (44 properties currently for sale within a 5 minute commute of Pinnacle at Town Center at or below that $325,000 price point). FHA loans let you put as little as 3.5% as a down payment on a 30 year FIXED Mortgage (Won’t go up like your rent usually does). So to go with a clean round number I used 4% which is $13,000.
Financing $312,000 ($325,00-$13,000) at a rate of 4% over 30 years gives us $1490 monthly for principal & Interest. If we throw in the average numbers for property taxes (roughly $250 a month) and Homeowners Insurance (roughly $85 a month) our monthly payment would come out to $1825 per month. This is just a made up situation but your real life scenario could look something like this or better. A loan officer is essential to advise you on what loan program may work best for you. There’s even down payment assistance programs available to qualified buyers.
Make sure you check out the buying page on mccordrealtor.com for resources and info.
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*= https://smartasset.com/taxes/montgomery-county-maryland-property-tax-calculator#ci0kGOmxfS