How is the spring close-in DMV housing market looking like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capitol hill - things are moving but feels overpriced. In the last week, 2 homes closed but both about $100K below list.

Too many sellers (and their RE agents) on the Hill seem to think it's still a time when people were willing to look past comparatively high crime and uncertain public school situations because they had low interest rates. Those days are long over.

Crime. Or the perception of it, anyway, is a big factor with this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The point is that the only option is not to immediately go and buy a smaller home with 100% of your proceeds.


DP here. But where would they move? If they're staying in the area, then some believe that they might as well keep their current house. If they're moving somewhere else then the housing inflation for those areas has outpaced DC since 2020.

The real estate inflation (especially in the South and beach towns) has unfortunately altered plans for some retirees. Some might still sell their home and buy a condo, but that plan doesn't work for everyone.

+1 Why would we rent in a building when we can walk from our driveway to the house in only a few feet. We have lived in those parking lot apartment buildings. No thanks. No thanks on the noise either. You cannot count on making money with the money you pull out of the house. Especially now. Plus you cannot rent something that is as nice as your home (and you are stuck with a landlord who may or may not be fix things or put in quality appliances, etc.) Ask me how I know.

We are waiting until we need to move to a CCRC. At that point we will sell. Those places are not cheap either, but they provide what elderly people need. People do not want to move to one of those until they need to (because they are $$$).

I wonder if more retirees are skipping the "downsize to a smaller house" step in between the "SFH to raise the family" and "CCRC" steps?

There is no break anymore with Gen X and Boomers marrying later in life and Millennials and Gen Z having kids even later in life.

My friends are all early 60s, none of their kids have yet to buy a house, none are engaged, none have kids. They still come home on holidays and events and stay in their childhood bedrooms and some like me the younger ones are still home.

It means you cant pack up that big house til yoru are like 70. Who the heck wants to pack up a 6,000 square foot house at 70 and then pay $100K realtor commission and closing costs plus moving costs and closing costs new places.

Very few. Most on my block who are 70-90 are still in their large home. A few bought small bungalows or small cheap condors where there are "snow birds"

My good buddy retired Bonita Springs Florida and bought a big house and tried to push us maybe to retire there. We visited him and realized we hate Florida but also I could buy a furnished small Condo for like $180K pay cash and just go a few months a year. Maybe rent it out when not there or let kids use it. To move to Florida would cost me almost $180K anyhow.

And I think Florida Condos are falling on older ones. I most likely in 2027 when retired get one for as little as $150K

This resonates. DH and I don't have kids, but his sisters do -- one sister who is 68 has a son (39) and daughter (37), and neither are married and neither have kids. The son has no partner and the daughter lives with a boyfriend. The other sister (70) has two sons (35 and 31) and neither are married and neither have kids. One has a girlfriend who has a teenage daughter and they are all living together in a horrible small apartment, and the other son lives in a group house in DC. We consider a miracle that these two sons are living away from home at this point; they spent virtually all of their 20s still living at home, unemployed for most of it, staying up all night playing video games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


+1 Why would we rent in a building when we can walk from our driveway to the house in only a few feet. We have lived in those parking lot apartment buildings. No thanks. No thanks on the noise either. You cannot count on making money with the money you pull out of the house. Especially now. Plus you cannot rent something that is as nice as your home (and you are stuck with a landlord who may or may not be fix things or put in quality appliances, etc.) Ask me how I know.

We are waiting until we need to move to a CCRC. At that point we will sell. Those places are not cheap either, but they provide what elderly people need. People do not want to move to one of those until they need to (because they are $$$).


I wonder if more retirees are skipping the "downsize to a smaller house" step in between the "SFH to raise the family" and "CCRC" steps?

Yes, this. There's no point to selling twice and paying for the realtor and fees twice (aside from the hassle). Waste of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The point is that the only option is not to immediately go and buy a smaller home with 100% of your proceeds.


DP here. But where would they move? If they're staying in the area, then some believe that they might as well keep their current house. If they're moving somewhere else then the housing inflation for those areas has outpaced DC since 2020.

The real estate inflation (especially in the South and beach towns) has unfortunately altered plans for some retirees. Some might still sell their home and buy a condo, but that plan doesn't work for everyone.

+1 Why would we rent in a building when we can walk from our driveway to the house in only a few feet. We have lived in those parking lot apartment buildings. No thanks. No thanks on the noise either. You cannot count on making money with the money you pull out of the house. Especially now. Plus you cannot rent something that is as nice as your home (and you are stuck with a landlord who may or may not be fix things or put in quality appliances, etc.) Ask me how I know.

We are waiting until we need to move to a CCRC. At that point we will sell. Those places are not cheap either, but they provide what elderly people need. People do not want to move to one of those until they need to (because they are $$$).

I don’t know what it means to rent something “as nice as your home” if you don’t need the space.

Does your home have a nice gym, pool, rooftop clubhouse, etc that is maintained by someone else at no additional cost to you (beyond rent)?

Again, if you buy some treasuries you are guaranteed the return if you want safety and you can tap the liquidity immediately if you need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


+1 Why would we rent in a building when we can walk from our driveway to the house in only a few feet. We have lived in those parking lot apartment buildings. No thanks. No thanks on the noise either. You cannot count on making money with the money you pull out of the house. Especially now. Plus you cannot rent something that is as nice as your home (and you are stuck with a landlord who may or may not be fix things or put in quality appliances, etc.) Ask me how I know.

We are waiting until we need to move to a CCRC. At that point we will sell. Those places are not cheap either, but they provide what elderly people need. People do not want to move to one of those until they need to (because they are $$$).


I wonder if more retirees are skipping the "downsize to a smaller house" step in between the "SFH to raise the family" and "CCRC" steps?

Yes, this. There's no point to selling twice and paying for the realtor and fees twice (aside from the hassle). Waste of money.

You aren’t selling twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


+1 Why would we rent in a building when we can walk from our driveway to the house in only a few feet. We have lived in those parking lot apartment buildings. No thanks. No thanks on the noise either. You cannot count on making money with the money you pull out of the house. Especially now. Plus you cannot rent something that is as nice as your home (and you are stuck with a landlord who may or may not be fix things or put in quality appliances, etc.) Ask me how I know.

We are waiting until we need to move to a CCRC. At that point we will sell. Those places are not cheap either, but they provide what elderly people need. People do not want to move to one of those until they need to (because they are $$$).


I wonder if more retirees are skipping the "downsize to a smaller house" step in between the "SFH to raise the family" and "CCRC" steps?

Yes, this. There's no point to selling twice and paying for the realtor and fees twice (aside from the hassle). Waste of money.

You aren’t selling twice.

DP here, I think pp may mean that you're selling twice if you sell your SFH then buy another one and sell that too.

[Anonymous]

I guarantee that there are plenty of "smaller" SFHs further out in Leesburg that you could purchase with the proceeds from the sale of your in-beltway SFH home. In that $1.2M home case, you would spend $100K selling, use $700K buying an arguably still way too large home in Leesburg, and still have $500K left over that you could put into treasuries to get a guaranteed 4% yield.

Or you could spend less than $700K too - get a smaller home, something further out. Or get a 2 bedroom condo in DC. Or offset your rent with the proceeds from $1.1M in treasuries.

Regardless, there are plenty of very profitable options. There is no boohoo, I just have so much equity in my home and nowhere I could possibly go scenario.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t find it now but someone on Threads - a real person from the looks of their profile which I checked when I saw the post last night - said they missed out on a house in Arlington and there were eleven offers.

May have been the same house we did not get. Agent didn’t tell our agent how many offers received but did say there were seven pre inspections. Our agent sold a house sight unseen to another client because they pad $100,000 above the $1.4M price. We may do that because in our price point there is no perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guarantee that there are plenty of "smaller" SFHs further out in Leesburg that you could purchase with the proceeds from the sale of your in-beltway SFH home. In that $1.2M home case, you would spend $100K selling, use $700K buying an arguably still way too large home in Leesburg, and still have $500K left over that you could put into treasuries to get a guaranteed 4% yield.

Or you could spend less than $700K too - get a smaller home, something further out. Or get a 2 bedroom condo in DC. Or offset your rent with the proceeds from $1.1M in treasuries.

Regardless, there are plenty of very profitable options. There is no boohoo, I just have so much equity in my home and nowhere I could possibly go scenario.

Maybe the homeowner would rather stay where they are than move to Leesburg?

It's not that the elderly person with home equity can't possibly move ANYWHERE; it's that in many cases the numbers don't work for the places they would rather live due to the inflation over the last five years.

You're acting like the empty nesters must move, but they don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The point is that the only option is not to immediately go and buy a smaller home with 100% of your proceeds.


DP here. But where would they move? If they're staying in the area, then some believe that they might as well keep their current house. If they're moving somewhere else then the housing inflation for those areas has outpaced DC since 2020.

The real estate inflation (especially in the South and beach towns) has unfortunately altered plans for some retirees. Some might still sell their home and buy a condo, but that plan doesn't work for everyone.

+1 Why would we rent in a building when we can walk from our driveway to the house in only a few feet. We have lived in those parking lot apartment buildings. No thanks. No thanks on the noise either. You cannot count on making money with the money you pull out of the house. Especially now. Plus you cannot rent something that is as nice as your home (and you are stuck with a landlord who may or may not be fix things or put in quality appliances, etc.) Ask me how I know.

We are waiting until we need to move to a CCRC. At that point we will sell. Those places are not cheap either, but they provide what elderly people need. People do not want to move to one of those until they need to (because they are $$$).

I wonder if more retirees are skipping the "downsize to a smaller house" step in between the "SFH to raise the family" and "CCRC" steps?

There is no break anymore with Gen X and Boomers marrying later in life and Millennials and Gen Z having kids even later in life.

My friends are all early 60s, none of their kids have yet to buy a house, none are engaged, none have kids. They still come home on holidays and events and stay in their childhood bedrooms and some like me the younger ones are still home.

It means you cant pack up that big house til yoru are like 70. Who the heck wants to pack up a 6,000 square foot house at 70 and then pay $100K realtor commission and closing costs plus moving costs and closing costs new places.

Very few. Most on my block who are 70-90 are still in their large home. A few bought small bungalows or small cheap condors where there are "snow birds"

My good buddy retired Bonita Springs Florida and bought a big house and tried to push us maybe to retire there. We visited him and realized we hate Florida but also I could buy a furnished small Condo for like $180K pay cash and just go a few months a year. Maybe rent it out when not there or let kids use it. To move to Florida would cost me almost $180K anyhow.

And I think Florida Condos are falling on older ones. I most likely in 2027 when retired get one for as little as $150K

This resonates. DH and I don't have kids, but his sisters do -- one sister who is 68 has a son (39) and daughter (37), and neither are married and neither have kids. The son has no partner and the daughter lives with a boyfriend. The other sister (70) has two sons (35 and 31) and neither are married and neither have kids. One has a girlfriend who has a teenage daughter and they are all living together in a horrible small apartment, and the other son lives in a group house in DC. We consider a miracle that these two sons are living away from home at this point; they spent virtually all of their 20s still living at home, unemployed for most of it, staying up all night playing video games.

Don’t care whether you move or not, but you really should - not “pack up” your house, but get rid of the vast majority of the stuff in it. If you don’t, your kids have to, and it can be so much work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guarantee that there are plenty of "smaller" SFHs further out in Leesburg that you could purchase with the proceeds from the sale of your in-beltway SFH home. In that $1.2M home case, you would spend $100K selling, use $700K buying an arguably still way too large home in Leesburg, and still have $500K left over that you could put into treasuries to get a guaranteed 4% yield.

Or you could spend less than $700K too - get a smaller home, something further out. Or get a 2 bedroom condo in DC. Or offset your rent with the proceeds from $1.1M in treasuries.

Regardless, there are plenty of very profitable options. There is no boohoo, I just have so much equity in my home and nowhere I could possibly go scenario.

Maybe the homeowner would rather stay where they are than move to Leesburg?

It's not that the elderly person with home equity can't possibly move ANYWHERE; it's that in many cases the numbers don't work for the places they would rather live due to the inflation over the last five years.

You're acting like the empty nesters must move, but they don't.

Of course they don't have to move. I'm just responding to PP's who seem to imply that they would like to move but can't because they have nowhere to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The point is that the only option is not to immediately go and buy a smaller home with 100% of your proceeds.


DP here. But where would they move? If they're staying in the area, then some believe that they might as well keep their current house. If they're moving somewhere else then the housing inflation for those areas has outpaced DC since 2020.

The real estate inflation (especially in the South and beach towns) has unfortunately altered plans for some retirees. Some might still sell their home and buy a condo, but that plan doesn't work for everyone.

+1 Why would we rent in a building when we can walk from our driveway to the house in only a few feet. We have lived in those parking lot apartment buildings. No thanks. No thanks on the noise either. You cannot count on making money with the money you pull out of the house. Especially now. Plus you cannot rent something that is as nice as your home (and you are stuck with a landlord who may or may not be fix things or put in quality appliances, etc.) Ask me how I know.

We are waiting until we need to move to a CCRC. At that point we will sell. Those places are not cheap either, but they provide what elderly people need. People do not want to move to one of those until they need to (because they are $$$).

I wonder if more retirees are skipping the "downsize to a smaller house" step in between the "SFH to raise the family" and "CCRC" steps?

There is no break anymore with Gen X and Boomers marrying later in life and Millennials and Gen Z having kids even later in life.

My friends are all early 60s, none of their kids have yet to buy a house, none are engaged, none have kids. They still come home on holidays and events and stay in their childhood bedrooms and some like me the younger ones are still home.

It means you cant pack up that big house til yoru are like 70. Who the heck wants to pack up a 6,000 square foot house at 70 and then pay $100K realtor commission and closing costs plus moving costs and closing costs new places.

Very few. Most on my block who are 70-90 are still in their large home. A few bought small bungalows or small cheap condors where there are "snow birds"

My good buddy retired Bonita Springs Florida and bought a big house and tried to push us maybe to retire there. We visited him and realized we hate Florida but also I could buy a furnished small Condo for like $180K pay cash and just go a few months a year. Maybe rent it out when not there or let kids use it. To move to Florida would cost me almost $180K anyhow.

And I think Florida Condos are falling on older ones. I most likely in 2027 when retired get one for as little as $150K

This resonates. DH and I don't have kids, but his sisters do -- one sister who is 68 has a son (39) and daughter (37), and neither are married and neither have kids. The son has no partner and the daughter lives with a boyfriend. The other sister (70) has two sons (35 and 31) and neither are married and neither have kids. One has a girlfriend who has a teenage daughter and they are all living together in a horrible small apartment, and the other son lives in a group house in DC. We consider a miracle that these two sons are living away from home at this point; they spent virtually all of their 20s still living at home, unemployed for most of it, staying up all night playing video games.

I’m surprised about this. Almost everyone I went to HS and college with are getting married, buying houses and starting to have kids. But my peers are mostly UMC or above that went to competitive universities. Most of my friends are getting substantial help to buy their home, their parents paid for college and even fertility treatments though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in Rosemont. Things are selling in one day.

I wish some decent 4br+ houses would hit the market. Other than this stupid house, for which the builders deserve to go out of business.

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/3113-Circle-Hill-Rd-22305/home/11849126

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in Rosemont. Things are selling in one day.

I wish some decent 4br+ houses would hit the market. Other than this stupid house, for which the builders deserve to go out of business.

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/3113-Circle-Hill-Rd-22305/home/11849126

This house is an abomination

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So real estate not getting reflected negative way ?
I thought prices will go down with everything going on now.
Wasn’t that the prediction ?

It was wishful thinking by the strivers