two million is the new starter home price for close in neighborhoods

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TONS of SFH inventory under $1M in FCC, SS and PG County.

FCC?? Falls Church City? You have GOT to be kidding. Maybe if you want a townhouse in crappy Winter Hill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

Lol..valid point.

Close in means Bethesda, CC, McLean or Arlington..didn't you know that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even cheap starter homes aren’t cheap. It’s hard to start the ladder without spending too much of your take home pay. For some reason people here think $600-$800 is NBD. It is.

Have you checked the median HHI in the area?

Yes. And I make more. I still think these prices are stupid since they’re for tiny, ugly houses in terrible condition.

Go look at pictures of a Levitt house. Do you think those were beautiful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

Lol..valid point.

Close in means Bethesda, CC, McLean or Arlington..didn't you know that?

How are the schools in SE DC? Because if they’re terrible, why spend money on tuition instead of more on a house in Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A starter home is $166,000 in Bethesda. https://www.redfin.com/MD/Bethesda/5225-Pooks-Hill-Rd-20814/unit-1315S/home/12449988

When I was a newlywed I lived in a one bedroom coop till wife 8 months pregnant.

This one $800 maint includes, heat, water, electric, cable, property tax, landscaping, pool, tennis use of gym. I recall my coop bank wanted 25 percent down bear rate.

Let’s assume you get this place $160,000. Put down 25 percent. That is around a $124,000 mortgage. A 7 year ARM no points is 6 percent. That is like a $700
A month mortgage. So for $1,500 a month as literally your only bill you live here a few years and bank cash.

Same floor yet different unit, this was my 5 year starter rental until grad school, better job, and eventual Bethesda colonial. Great building!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

Lol..valid point.

Close in means Bethesda, CC, McLean or Arlington..didn't you know that?

How are the schools in SE DC? Because if they’re terrible, why spend money on tuition instead of more on a house in Arlington?

We lived in SE for awhile and sent our kid to private. Living where we were in SE allowed us to save, pay down debts, and ultimately buy a house in a "nicer" area in a very good school distinct (not that all of SE is some hellhole, far from it). Kept our kid in the same private for continuity's sake, as well as the fact its a terrific school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:???

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5906-Roosevelt-St-Bethesda-MD-20817/37178845_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6204-Long-Meadow-Rd-McLean-VA-22101/51756617_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/12833-Huntsman-Way-Potomac-MD-20854/37098964_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1445-Madison-St-NW-Washington-DC-20011/469181_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7735-Falstaff-Rd-McLean-VA-22102/51748073_zpid/

That first one is adorable. We recently bought at the 950-ish mark (we are trolls, I know!) and would have totally gone for that first place. Adorbs.

Agree! Nice street, Whitman cluster [at this time], so I am guessing that sitting next to 2 newish builds that went for $1.7M+ years ago, will either get a builders' all cash look, or a live-in buyer around $1.25M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

Lol..valid point.

Close in means Bethesda, CC, McLean or Arlington..didn't you know that?

How are the schools in SE DC? Because if they’re terrible, why spend money on tuition instead of more on a house in Arlington?

There are kids that go to these schools in SE DC. Many will be successful in life.
Sure if you insist on living in McLean or Arlington and you can afford it, fine. But if you are priced out, don't come here crying as if the sky was falling. There are many options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TONS of SFH inventory under $1M in FCC, SS and PG County.

FCC?? Falls Church City? You have GOT to be kidding. Maybe if you want a townhouse in crappy Winter Hill.

What's wrong with a Winter Hill townhouse? That is exactly the type of house that's an affordable starter home in a good school district!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

Lol..valid point.

Close in means Bethesda, CC, McLean or Arlington..didn't you know that?

How are the schools in SE DC? Because if they’re terrible, why spend money on tuition instead of more on a house in Arlington?

There are kids that go to these schools in SE DC. Many will be successful in life.
Sure if you insist on living in McLean or Arlington and you can afford it, fine. But if you are priced out, don't come here crying as if the sky was falling. There are many options.

+1. These are my least favorite threads on this entire website which is saying a lot.

Bottom line is that there is plenty of affordable inventory close in, you just don't want to live there. Be honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prices have gone up for sure but obviously your definition of starter home is insane if you think the entry point is $2m. A starter home is not a new-build 5bd/4.5ba on a massive lot. A starter home is a dated 3bd/2ba with a weird layout and no parking

That’s what a starter home used to be but currently, if you’re a first time homebuyer and want to buy a sfh closer in, most of the homes in the market at moment are new build starting starting at 2.1M, minus a few here and there.

Why does it have to be a SFH? Townhouses and condos can be starter homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$875K for that sh^thole?

I had a budget of up to 900k back in 2019 and even then, pre-COVID run up, it didn’t go far in the close-in neighborhoods. We lost out on multiple bidding wars, bought as-is, and have had to pour more money into updates. 875k has not been a big budget for desirable inside the beltway neighborhoods for a very long time, certainly not for anything like OP is searching for.

Exactly! Our starter home (and forever home, it looks like) was around $875k in 2017. Townhouse in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prices have gone up for sure but obviously your definition of starter home is insane if you think the entry point is $2m. A starter home is not a new-build 5bd/4.5ba on a massive lot. A starter home is a dated 3bd/2ba with a weird layout and no parking

That’s what a starter home used to be but currently, if you’re a first time homebuyer and want to buy a sfh closer in, most of the homes in the market at moment are new build starting starting at 2.1M, minus a few here and there.

Why does it have to be a SFH? Townhouses and condos can be starter homes.

Not my TH, thank you very much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$875K for that sh^thole?

I had a budget of up to 900k back in 2019 and even then, pre-COVID run up, it didn’t go far in the close-in neighborhoods. We lost out on multiple bidding wars, bought as-is, and have had to pour more money into updates. 875k has not been a big budget for desirable inside the beltway neighborhoods for a very long time, certainly not for anything like OP is searching for.

Exactly! Our starter home (and forever home, it looks like) was around $875k in 2017. Townhouse in Arlington.

Paid that in a bidding war for a tear down in 2011 at the bottom of the market and still live in that tear down today. The think I’ve learned about real estate is that there are very few people that have any long term perspective because most people are only in the market once a decade or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

Lol..valid point.

Close in means Bethesda, CC, McLean or Arlington..didn't you know that?

How are the schools in SE DC? Because if they’re terrible, why spend money on tuition instead of more on a house in Arlington?

There are kids that go to these schools in SE DC. Many will be successful in life.
Sure if you insist on living in McLean or Arlington and you can afford it, fine. But if you are priced out, don't come here crying as if the sky was falling. There are many options.

The one thing that everyone complaining pretends doesn’t exist but always exists are options. There are always options.