Beyond Frustrated in Vienna market

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why Town of Vienna specifically?

Yeah, what is the deal with Vienna? Seems like it’s blowing up recently.

Agreed. I don’t bat an eye when I see McLean or N Arlington over $2-3M but I’m befuddled by the amount of $2M+ homes in Vienna and even $3M+ - and how fast they sell!!

What do these people do - are they all working in Tyson’s or remote given the commute to DC from Vienna is brutal? Are they overleveraged? Family $ in some form or another eg they’re going to inherit so they can skip saving and double down on a large mortgage?

Not everyone works in the District. Lot of large companies in Northern VA (Tysons, Reston). And even then, Orange Line from Vienna to DC is not a brutal commute (at least on days WMATA has no issues).

[Anonymous]

You could look outside the town limits too. Tends to be a bit cheaper giving you more firepower in any offer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many options at $2M dollar range

Yeah I just searched and there are several properties between 1.5 - $2M in Vienna. If OP wants to be in Vienna the can be.

Well to be fair, I do have to actually like the house if I want to put an offer on it. I haven't been too selective. I am still confused how everyone is able to afford this housing to have this intense level of competition. We are frequently outbid to a level that is out of our budget. And we have a very high budget.

[Anonymous]

I like TOV because of the walkability factor. That's what we want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like TOV because of the walkability factor. That's what we want.

If you want truly walkable suburbs you want Arlington near the orange line corridor or Bethesda / CC near downtown DC. Throw in Del Ray too. All of which you can get into for $2M (or less, or more). Hard to get more specific without knowing job location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like TOV because of the walkability factor. That's what we want.

If you want truly walkable suburbs you want Arlington near the orange line corridor or Bethesda / CC near downtown DC. Throw in Del Ray too. All of which you can get into for $2M (or less, or more). Hard to get more specific without knowing job location.

** Near downtown Bethesda

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many options at $2M dollar range

Yeah I just searched and there are several properties between 1.5 - $2M in Vienna. If OP wants to be in Vienna the can be.

Well to be fair, I do have to actually like the house if I want to put an offer on it. I haven't been too selective. I am still confused how everyone is able to afford this housing to have this intense level of competition. We are frequently outbid to a level that is out of our budget. And we have a very high budget.

Yes, but still a lower budget than th people you are competing with. You need to drop your budget, and assume you are going to get into a bidding war that brings you to your budget. That’s how this market is going.

[Anonymous]

We didn’t have an inspection contingency but we always went to see the houses we really liked with an inspector, to decide whether to make an offer or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many options at $2M dollar range

Yeah I just searched and there are several properties between 1.5 - $2M in Vienna. If OP wants to be in Vienna the can be.

Well to be fair, I do have to actually like the house if I want to put an offer on it. I haven't been too selective. I am still confused how everyone is able to afford this housing to have this intense level of competition. We are frequently outbid to a level that is out of our budget. And we have a very high budget.

If your budget is $2M max then you look at homes that are in the $1.5-1.7 range so you have room to escalate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many options at $2M dollar range

Yeah I just searched and there are several properties between 1.5 - $2M in Vienna. If OP wants to be in Vienna the can be.

Well to be fair, I do have to actually like the house if I want to put an offer on it. I haven't been too selective. I am still confused how everyone is able to afford this housing to have this intense level of competition. We are frequently outbid to a level that is out of our budget. And we have a very high budget.

If your budget is $2M max then you look at homes that are in the $1.5-1.7 range so you have room to escalate.

Agreed. OP you could also look during the fall or winter if you want a less competitive environment and aren’t tied to the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like TOV because of the walkability factor. That's what we want.

If you want truly walkable suburbs you want Arlington near the orange line corridor or Bethesda / CC near downtown DC. Throw in Del Ray too. All of which you can get into for $2M (or less, or more). Hard to get more specific without knowing job location.

The housing stock is not comparable. Somebody who likes Del Ray will not like Vienna, and vice versa.

I live in Vienna outside of TOV and while we're walkable to things i use (school, transit) we're not walkable to retail the way we would be inside TOV. I get why OP wants to be there instead of outside.

[Anonymous]

I suspect the issue is that OP wants a single family house that is be walkable to Maple. Searching Redfin for a single family house in the Vienna Elementary district (a rough proxy for walkability) yields one active listing priced $1.5-2.25M. It’s $2M and will likely sell after this weekend for more than list price.

OP will have to increase their budget to get what they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how people ask how everyone is affording it, when they themselves apparently are affording it. So maybe OP should share how they're affording it, and we can learn something?

BTW, the answer for many people is stock market gains. Secondarily, huge increases in salaries over the past five or so years.

Totally agree. It’s almost as if OP is like “how dare they afford what I can afford!”

So OP, how’d you make your money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its stupid to wave contingencies.

Fail to waive all contingencies and you will not get a house in Vienna.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find a cheaper location.

Not everyone wants to live in Haymarket.

Most people don't want to live in Haymarket, lol.