Mexico City apartment: buying at MX$24,390,000 versus renting for another 5–7 years

[drawTheHarbor]

I’m comparing my current rental with a similar Mexico City apartment priced around MX$24,390,000. Mortgage interest, tax, maintenance and association dues would put the ownership cost well above my rent, although principal payments would build equity.

The complication is that I may move within five to seven years. How would you account for purchase and eventual sale costs, resale liquidity, rising building fees and the possibility of keeping it as a rental? I’m looking for the downside case, not reassurance that buying is automatically better.

 

[isa.east]

Separate principal from the cost comparison because principal becomes equity. Then compare rent with interest, tax, association dues, insurance, maintenance, purchase costs and eventual selling costs. I’d also include the return forgone on your deposit and other upfront cash.

With only five to seven years, resale liquidity matters heavily. A plausible gain on paper may not compensate for high carrying and transaction costs if selling takes time.

 

[WorthyVale]

What are the current association dues, what do they include, and how well funded are the shared-building reserves? A high fee covering major maintenance, energy use and building insurance is different from a high fee that still leaves owners exposed to large future work.

I’d also want to know whether expensive repairs are already being discussed. The purchase price alone doesn’t reveal the building’s maintenance intensity.

 

[isa.east]

I agree those details are essential, but a healthy reserve does not guarantee stable dues. Costs can still rise, while unusually low increases may simply mean maintenance is being postponed.

Rather than treating the current fee as fixed, model several higher-fee cases. Also clarify where the building’s insurance ends and your own exposure begins. If the numbers only work under today’s dues, the decision is fragile.

 

[mae.meadow]

I’d push back on giving tenant demand too much weight unless you genuinely want to become a landlord. Keeping the apartment after moving could avoid selling at a bad time, but it adds vacancy risk, management workload and maintenance from a distance. That is not the same flexibility as renting now and leaving cleanly when your plans change.

 

[mae.meadow]

One practical way forward is to run three cases: buy and sell after five years, buy and sell after seven, and buy then rent it out. Stress each for slower resale, higher association dues, an unexpected shared-building expense and a vacant rental period.

Compare the resulting downside with the simple rental path, including what happens to the cash you do not put into the apartment. If buying only wins through optimistic appreciation or a trouble-free rental conversion, that answers the flexibility question.