Did you sell (or try to sell) your house this past summer/spring?

[Anonymous]

We sold our house in Arlington in April for list price in one weekend. All depends on location and price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with PP We bought in Arlington in 2001 before the spike in prices and sold in March 2010 and did very well with multiple offers. We bought a larger house in Arlington and houses in our new neighborhood also seem to sell quickly.

Sure, anyone who bought in 2001 or prior and who sells now will make a profit. But most people with young families aren't in that situation.

[Anonymous]

We bought and sold in a weekend this past March. As others have noted, we were fortunate to sell a house that qualified for the tax credit in a very good, metro-accessible location. We had two solid offers on it, countered one, and reached a deal within $5k of our asking price.

The house we bought was also in a good location, not as close in, but in a neighborhood with little turnover.

This upcoming Spring may be tougher with the tax credit gone, but I think interest rates will play a big part in whether stuff moves.

[Anonymous]

We have a contract on our condo and got within $6,000 of asking price in two weeks. We are not taking as much money as was put in, however, we are moving to a SFH in a good school district that has a great yard. The best part is that we locked down a 4% interest rate!

[Anonymous]

We have been looking at open houses for the past month or so in western Fairfax and they are dead. It is rare to see anyone else even looking and we are often the only people on the sign-in sheet.

[Anonymous]

8:35, we have two young kids and bought in 1999. Why do you say that people with young kids did not buy before 2001?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have been looking at open houses for the past month or so in western Fairfax and they are dead. It is rare to see anyone else even looking and we are often the only people on the sign-in sheet.

What constitutes western Fairfax?

[Anonymous]

We have one young kid (6) and bought in 1996 -- waaay pre-kids and when all of our also-single peers were spending that same disposable income on $13 Cosmopolitans, courtside Wizards tickets, Vegas trips, status handbags, the 1996 equivalent of "shoo-ties" and Equinox memberships.

We have so much $#@^ equity now it's sick. I could tap that $800,000 I guess and buy my Prada shoes now ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This past spring was actually one of the best times to sell in the past three years due to the homebuyers' tax credit which expired. This coming spring will not be comparable to last spring at all.

exactly! We sold our house (10mi outside the beltway) in NOVA) within one day. We got exactly what we were looking for and did not have to give any consessions. We also bought and it was VERY competitive as a buyer and we had to pay full price. I actually think prices were iflated a bit. Our price range was 550k and under and they were flying off the market.

[Anonymous]

We bought in western Fairfax while the tax credit was going on, and it was very competitive. Then, we tried to sell our condo in Cleveland Park after the credit had expired, and it was completely dead.

3 months, one price drop (and it was priced competitively from the start), and nothing. Not a single offer. Our realtor (who has lots of experience in the area) was flummoxed.

Now we've just rented it out and while I'm relieved, it's a little disheartening because the spread between the mortgage and the rent is....$650!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have one young kid (6) and bought in 1996 -- waaay pre-kids and when all of our also-single peers were spending that same disposable income on $13 Cosmopolitans, courtside Wizards tickets, Vegas trips, status handbags, the 1996 equivalent of "shoo-ties" and Equinox memberships.

We have so much $#@^ equity now it's sick. I could tap that $800,000 I guess and buy my Prada shoes now ...

this must be how it feels like when hitting a $800K jackpot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have one young kid (6) and bought in 1996 -- waaay pre-kids and when all of our also-single peers were spending that same disposable income on $13 Cosmopolitans, courtside Wizards tickets, Vegas trips, status handbags, the 1996 equivalent of "shoo-ties" and Equinox memberships.

We have so much $#@^ equity now it's sick. I could tap that $800,000 I guess and buy my Prada shoes now ...

this must be how it feels like when hitting a $800K jackpot!

There's gotta be a happy medium here, though. When I was single, I also took Vegas trips and drank (plenty of) $13 Cosmos. I didn't run up any debt, but didn't save a lot either. Could I have socked that all away in savings? Sure. Do I wish I did? Not a chance. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. After I met my (now) husband and got engaged, our priorities and lifestyle changed, and we started saving in earnest for a house, kids, etc. Priorities change, and that's fine. Fun is also important.

[Anonymous]

I live in a townhouse in Burke, and a man 2 houses down put his house on the market two weeks ago. It sold this last weekend for the asking price.

[Anonymous]

We have one young kid (6) and bought in 1996 -- waaay pre-kids and when all of our also-single peers were spending that same disposable income on $13 Cosmopolitans, courtside Wizards tickets, Vegas trips, status handbags, the 1996 equivalent of "shoo-ties" and Equinox memberships.

We have so much $#@^ equity now it's sick. I could tap that $800,000 I guess and buy my Prada shoes now ...

PP again; I misspoke, we actually have totaled about $1.1 million in equity since 1996. $300K on the first house 96-2000, and $800K on the current house 2000-2010. I"m 41.

I agree, there is a happy medium and we surely have less cool stuff than even I would like. I would like hipper shoes and less-dowdy coats.

I guess my point in posting twice now is that going "without" sometimes doesn't suck entirely. OP will find a buyer somewhere who was socking it away OR who made a pile of cash like we did in equity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have one young kid (6) and bought in 1996 -- waaay pre-kids and when all of our also-single peers were spending that same disposable income on $13 Cosmopolitans, courtside Wizards tickets, Vegas trips, status handbags, the 1996 equivalent of "shoo-ties" and Equinox memberships.

We have so much $#@^ equity now it's sick. I could tap that $800,000 I guess and buy my Prada shoes now ...

this must be how it feels like when hitting a $800K jackpot!

How old are you? Most of our friends (almost all in small children mode right now, in their early thirties) were still in college then and definitely not in house buying mode.
I think young families with older parents (40ish?) are more likely to have hit the real estate jackpot just by timing--being at that stage of buying before the market went crazy.