No houses - what to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were thinking of moving in 2019 and did not. We were going to flee n Arlington for the suburbs in Vienna. After covid (and now gas) we are not moving and giving up our walking lifestyle here. I think a lot of people who own homes appreciate them more and are not listing anytime soon.

North Arlington is a suburb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were thinking of moving in 2019 and did not. We were going to flee n Arlington for the suburbs in Vienna. After covid (and now gas) we are not moving and giving up our walking lifestyle here. I think a lot of people who own homes appreciate them more and are not listing anytime soon.

North Arlington is a suburb.

You're making a real estate decision based on a 5-day gas crunch? I bet you were panic buying toilet paper last March, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this area, housing prices tend to go up. Impossible to time when the dip will happen.

Right, prices tend to go up. That’s true. But not 20 percent in a year. That is not normal. You don’t normally expect that a house that sold for $1 m a year ago would now go for $1.2 m a year later. I certainly didn’t see anyone predicting that increase a year ago - when unemployment was skyrocketing

I’m frankly surprised the increase is that small.

Really or is that sarcasm? If so, hope you were smart enough to buy a couple extra properties a year ago!

[Anonymous]

There are tons of houses under $1.2 mil. -Buyer limited to $500k

[Anonymous]

Don't do what my parents did. They moved from a lower COL place. They couldn't (or didn't sell) the house there. So they just rented here. They rented for 13 years. The amount of money they lost out on in 13 years for not buying is sickening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this area, housing prices tend to go up. Impossible to time when the dip will happen.

Right, prices tend to go up. That’s true. But not 20 percent in a year. That is not normal. You don’t normally expect that a house that sold for $1 m a year ago would now go for $1.2 m a year later. I certainly didn’t see anyone predicting that increase a year ago - when unemployment was skyrocketing

I’m frankly surprised the increase is that small.

Really or is that sarcasm? If so, hope you were smart enough to buy a couple extra properties a year ago!

Or that prices were WAAY too cheap for the entire 2010-2019 period. The 2007 depression seriously scarred housing markets outside the central cores of a dozen cities.

We're going to learn that anyone who bought in 2012 got the deal of a generation. Low prices AND low interest rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this area, housing prices tend to go up. Impossible to time when the dip will happen.

Right, prices tend to go up. That’s true. But not 20 percent in a year. That is not normal. You don’t normally expect that a house that sold for $1 m a year ago would now go for $1.2 m a year later. I certainly didn’t see anyone predicting that increase a year ago - when unemployment was skyrocketing

I’m frankly surprised the increase is that small.

Really or is that sarcasm? If so, hope you were smart enough to buy a couple extra properties a year ago!

Or that prices were WAAY too cheap for the entire 2010-2019 period. The 2007 depression seriously scarred housing markets outside the central cores of a dozen cities.

We're going to learn that anyone who bought in 2012 got the deal of a generation. Low prices AND low interest rates.

That was me! Finally, something worked out in my favor.....

Now I'll have to figure out how to pay the property taxes on my new assessement lol

[Anonymous]

'At first we were stuck in a lease...'

The cost of breaking a lease cannot be worth the loss of purchasing a home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: 'At first we were stuck in a lease...'

The cost of breaking a lease cannot be worth the loss of purchasing a home.

Now, I can see that. But at the time it seemed like no harm waiting a few month until our lease finished. Who knew Covid would happen and the recent drastic price increase. Lesson learned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do what my parents did. They moved from a lower COL place. They couldn't (or didn't sell) the house there. So they just rented here. They rented for 13 years. The amount of money they lost out on in 13 years for not buying is sickening.

Buying and selling real estate is EXPENSIVE. Yes, real estate tends to appreciate over time. But the current market growth is not normal and not what people should expect in the long term. Factoring in transaction costs and maintenance costs (which can also be huge) over time, renting instead of buying is far from "sickening."

[Anonymous]

We moved much further out and bought a much smaller and quirkier house that we would have two years ago. Oops. Oh well. -buyer limited to $420k

On the bright side, my partner just got a job offer within walking distance, so only one of us will have the commute from hell, we can continue to get by with one car, and I just hope 5 days in the office is a thing of the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were thinking of moving in 2019 and did not. We were going to flee n Arlington for the suburbs in Vienna. After covid (and now gas) we are not moving and giving up our walking lifestyle here. I think a lot of people who own homes appreciate them more and are not listing anytime soon.

North Arlington is a suburb.

You're making a real estate decision based on a 5-day gas crunch? I bet you were panic buying toilet paper last March, right?

Hey, she has to watch gas prices, having bought her giant gas guzzler when gas prices were super low a couple years ago.

[Anonymous]

Maybe a positive sign for buyers . . .

Our neighborhood in Alexandria has a number of houses hitting the market in the next couple of weeks. I think people are finally deciding this is an irresistible market in which to sell.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been shocked how “affordable” DC real estate has been since I arrived in 2000 when you compare to other major cities. I think this is just the start of the housing boom for this area. I personally would stop waiting and just get in.