Still lots of buyers looking?

[Anonymous]

We keep deferring buying. The AI bubble is gonna pop (which will lead to market collapse since most gains have been AI related), Trump is starting wars left and right, and job security is bad. So...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't figure out the pattern for which houses sell quickly and which houses don't. We just had a house on the main road (major traffic) with three bedrooms sell for $1.4 million in a day or two. Meanwhile, a better located (albeit smaller) four bed for $1.05 million has been sitting for months. A larger house that's probably overpriced and listed for $1.7 has also been sitting for months. But a $4 million gut reno sold in days.

What did they look like inside? IME people in their 30s buying their first house are scared of anything that isn't instagram-worthy. If a house needs even the tiniest bit of work (like there are carpets in the bedrooms or the cabinets have outdated hardware or there is yellow paint on the walls), they run away.

This trope is sooooo tired. First time buyers are stretching as far as they possibly can to buy their first home, literally tapping out all savings to buy $1M++ homes. They have no $ left to repaint a whole house, replace outdated fixtures, etc. They also probably have little kids and demanding careers and don’t want to spend their free weekends making cosmetic improvements (or hiring out - but they’ve never owned a home before so they don’t have a Rolodex of contractors to reach out to get quotes). Updated, reasonably priced homes come up every so often - it’s just not worth it to offer on a boomers outdated home that needs work, sorry.

I think it's very true that many buyers need to finance their purchase and don't have cash to pay for improvements after they buy, as they're sinking all their cash into a down payment.

We got an amazing deal on a house, I think mainly for this reason, as we had an extra $150k in cash to sink into immediate improvements. Those improvements took our $930k purchase (in 22207 on a quiet street) up to $1.3m a few months later, and it's continued to appreciate. Finding contractors was a pain. Supervising contractors was a pain. But we're very happy with the end product.

I would much rather buy a well-built older home that hasn't been renovated so I can do what I want and not have a gray and white interior with LVP floors and a painted brick exterior. But getting the work done is SUCH a hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We keep deferring buying. The AI bubble is gonna pop (which will lead to market collapse since most gains have been AI related), Trump is starting wars left and right, and job security is bad. So...

The AI bubble was supposed to have popped every year for the last 3 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw a house I like at 1.3M, but it has 203 Saves in 22180.

So what? Put in an offer if you’re interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We keep deferring buying. The AI bubble is gonna pop (which will lead to market collapse since most gains have been AI related), Trump is starting wars left and right, and job security is bad. So...

The AI bubble was supposed to have popped every year for the last 3 years.

You do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rate changes are not meaningful enough to impact the market. The jobs outlook will be more important.

+1 The DC area has suffered job losses not only from federal jobs, but IT, non-profits and many fed adjacent private companies. A small decline in mortgage rates to slightly below 6%, when rates were at 3-4% just a few years ago, is not meaningful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw a house I like at 1.3M, but it has 203 Saves in 22180.

So what? Put in an offer if you’re interested.

+1 If you're basing your house purchases on how many saves a house has, you're not a serious buyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We keep deferring buying. The AI bubble is gonna pop (which will lead to market collapse since most gains have been AI related), Trump is starting wars left and right, and job security is bad. So...

The AI bubble was supposed to have popped every year for the last 3 years.

Yes, trying to time the stock market is basically impossible. I can feel that the market is irrational, and even lots of commentators might agree with me, but the market has behaved irrationally for long periods of time throughout history.

[Anonymous]

Rockville market really cold. Will pick back up once 1)telework comes back for fed workers and 2)biotech picks back up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rockville market really cold. Will pick back up once 1)telework comes back for fed workers and 2)biotech picks back up

After this year’s experience Feds would be foolish to base any buying decisions on telework policies.

[Anonymous]

As one data point - we tried to go to an open house for a $1.4M split level in Arlington this Sunday. It was so packed the entire cul de sac was filled with cars for it and we couldn’t get parking nearby. Curious to see if it goes pending asap and what it sells for. Looked like a lot of pent up demand.

[Anonymous]

I live in a nicer Baltimore suburb and houses are selling within days unless there's something wrong. Which can include very dated. A house sold in August and was relisted by new owners in December and they got an extra 5% more.

[Anonymous]

How's the condo market looking in Arlington, specifically 22206 (fairlington villages) I'm considering offloading an investment property and not sure if it's better to try to sell it or rent it again.