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Buying a house for less than 400K?
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Anonymous
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We're looking for a house under 400K somewhere in the DC metro area. Is that a completely lost cause? Even in this market?
It has to be a SFH (or else we'll just keep renting). Safe neighborhood. Within 2-3 miles of the metro. Preferably with sidewalks. We have one 3 month old baby, so a 3BR/1.5 bath would be nice. Please stop laughing, there has to be one somewhere! Any recommendations? |
Anonymous
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OP here - if you can't already tell, we're not originally from this area. Moved here from St. Louis, which is obviously waaaay cheaper.
Any advice would be helpful. Or, if we're just unrealistic, that's fine also. |
Anonymous
| Advice: Make do with a smaller space. Or keep renting, which, as you suggest, might suit you better. |
Anonymous
| You're going to be hard-pressed to find a house for under $400K that is close-in, metro accessible, great schools, etc. If you are willing to move further out (Prince William County, further north in Montgomery County), you could definitely find something for under $400K,but it might not be in your most desirable neighborhood or school district. In this market, I'd keep renting. There's no telling how far housing prices are going to drop with the state of our economy. |
Anonymous
| Why does it have to be a SFH? |
Anonymous
| probably. go to realtor.com and do some searches for big areas (i.e. fairfax, va) and limit the serach to $400k. |
Anonymous
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There are few in my area (20878 - Gaithersburg/North Potomac) that are on the smaller side. They may be oddly shaped or need some work. There are also several foreclosures or short sales that are less than $400K but they are also not always the greatest.
Anyway, we don't live near a metro, but we do live walking distance to a bus that takes you to the Shady Grove Metro. You will do better looking for a house near a bus to the metro than looking for something right on a metro. Our neighborhood is very safe and close to shopping and restaurants at the Kentlands. The Elementary School is supposedly fantastic (my daughter is only 1 1/2), the High School is just okay. I think this is about the closest to the city you'll get for the money. We have good back road access so we don't need to take 270 during rush hour at all. You can do it but you're not going to get a dream home. You could get a nice little house though in a good area. http://www.franklymls.com/default.aspx?m=R&h=400K&s=20878+detached |
Anonymous
| I'm thinking that you may be able to find a SFH under $400K (maybe just under) but it might be a fixer upper. We live in Mt. Vernon and I sometimes do shopping on Richmond Hwy (St. Alexandria)-we've seen homes just under $400K. The Richmond Hwy area isn't the best area but it's not the worst either. There's a Sears Craftsman on the market for just under $400K in the Groveton neighborhood. |
Anonymous
| I've actually been looking for homes/townhomes in the <$300K range and there are some. Not as many as at the $500k range, but a decent selection. You'll likely be outside the beltway, maybe not quite within 2-3 miles of the metro, although possibly but at the very end of the lines. I've looked mainly in VA, which means the schools are better than either my DH or I went to so that works for us. Townhomes may give you a larger selection than single family homes but I think its doable. Now it also depends on what you expect a 3 BR home to look like. If you want one with 15'x20' (exaggerating here) bedrooms and high-end appliances, you're out of luck. If you don't mind a 50s rambler with older fixtures, you should have some selection. |
Anonymous
| if you're willing to not wholly dismiss pg county, you could probably find something. but you have to do your research and pick a good pocket of a neighborhood. they do exist. oh and you have to not be racist. |
Anonymous
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OP here - We'd be completely fine with a smaller, older house. I realize that we're not getting a palace in this area for $400K on our government salary.
I have searched on realtor, but we're not sure what areas to go with. We'll end up getting a realtor, but thought I could get some ideas on here before getting a realtor. |
Anonymous
Thanks for that link, and for the suggestions! There are some decent options there. |
Anonymous
Our nanny bought a house in Annandale, VA for $375,000 in June. It sounds like it fits most of your criteria, except for the metro part. It was a foreclosure, but is in good shape in a nice, quiet neighborhood. I am not sure of the schools, but in Fairfax County you really can't go wrong. |
Anonymous
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8:59 PP here - Are you going to be working downtown, or somewhere else? That may influence where you look, particularly if you're not both working at the same place. Maybe closer to one, or halfway in between.
In VA, Fairfax county & City are worthwhile to look at. Fairfax county covers a large area and includes a number of towns with some range in price and personality. Not all of it is metrorail accessible, but there are lots of bus lines and the VRE (virginia commuter rail). |
Anonymous
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8:59 PP again -
And another thing for you to know. In VA, some cities (Falls Church City, Fairfax City, Alexandria City) are county-like entities which means they usually are listed separately from their surrounding county. This can be true at real-estate websites so by entering Fairfax county you can actually be missing some of the area enclosed. |