Remember how people used to have a bachelor pad, then an apartment together, then a starter home....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I has a two bedroom condo in Logan Circle for 15 years before we bought out house. I bought it for 300K. It was basically paid off when we decided to sell and move to the suburbs when our oldest started K. I was a single guy when I bought the unit, right out of law school. My wife moved in seven years ago when we got engaged. We had two kids in that unit. It was cramped, for sure, but we made it work. We sold it for 750K last spring.

That's how we were able to afford to live in North Arlington while being dual feds.

$300k for a 2 bedroom in Logan Circle 15 years ago was probably on the higher side at the time. It's great for you that it appreciated so well over that time. We bought our first house on Capitol Hill in late 1999 for under $400k, and the recent sales on our street for comparable houses, (actually fewer bathrooms and without parking like we have) for $1.2M, so slightly more appreciation than Logan.

[Anonymous]

I bought a townhouse condo when I was single that we are living in now. I guess my plan is to see how much it appreciates by the time we feel truly cramped. We'll see what happens when kids come, but it'll be okay for at least a few years and it's in Arlington in a good school district. Plenty of my neighbors have school-aged kids in them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one in the millennial generation will admit they are poor. It's the whole participation trophy thing. There are plenty of people who can afford to buy houses. Look around, they are selling everyday. If you can't afford to buy, it's because you don't make enough money, not that the entire system is flawed.

This is the same tired fallacy that gets posted here anytime this issue comes up.

You're right but...

Instead of a 300k condo in Logan Circle, millennials are faced with a 300k townhouse in manassas and a 4 hour commute. This is why they complain. You cannot deny that it was easier to buy close to work 15-20 years ago. So the people who are working in the same jobs as those 15-20 years ago are worse off. I don't understand how you can dispute that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I has a two bedroom condo in Logan Circle for 15 years before we bought out house. I bought it for 300K. It was basically paid off when we decided to sell and move to the suburbs when our oldest started K. I was a single guy when I bought the unit, right out of law school. My wife moved in seven years ago when we got engaged. We had two kids in that unit. It was cramped, for sure, but we made it work. We sold it for 750K last spring.

That's how we were able to afford to live in North Arlington while being dual feds.

$300k for a 2 bedroom in Logan Circle 15 years ago was probably on the higher side at the time. It's great for you that it appreciated so well over that time. We bought our first house on Capitol Hill in late 1999 for under $400k, and the recent sales on our street for comparable houses, (actually fewer bathrooms and without parking like we have) for $1.2M, so slightly more appreciation than Logan.

I forgot to say that neither one of us sold our condos when we bought this house, we paid 10% down and initially had a 80-10-10. We kept them for years as rentals and sold them for other investment properties later.

[Anonymous]

You want to believe that rent back then was lower but it only was because mortgages were lower. When I rented a bachelorette pad, we paid the same as my brother's mortgage. But 4 of us lived in a 2 bedroom, because we needed to save money and we were young and not spoiled, so sharing a room was not unheard of. We saved money and then we bought when we could. Some of us bought without men and *gasp* rented a room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I has a two bedroom condo in Logan Circle for 15 years before we bought out house. I bought it for 300K. It was basically paid off when we decided to sell and move to the suburbs when our oldest started K. I was a single guy when I bought the unit, right out of law school. My wife moved in seven years ago when we got engaged. We had two kids in that unit. It was cramped, for sure, but we made it work. We sold it for 750K last spring.

That's how we were able to afford to live in North Arlington while being dual feds.

$300k for a 2 bedroom in Logan Circle 15 years ago was probably on the higher side at the time. It's great for you that it appreciated so well over that time. We bought our first house on Capitol Hill in late 1999 for under $400k, and the recent sales on our street for comparable houses, (actually fewer bathrooms and without parking like we have) for $1.2M, so slightly more appreciation than Logan.

I forgot to say that neither one of us sold our condos when we bought this house, we paid 10% down and initially had a 80-10-10. We kept them for years as rentals and sold them for other investment properties later.

So you are saying having rental income in no way made it easier to buy an expensive home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I has a two bedroom condo in Logan Circle for 15 years before we bought out house. I bought it for 300K. It was basically paid off when we decided to sell and move to the suburbs when our oldest started K. I was a single guy when I bought the unit, right out of law school. My wife moved in seven years ago when we got engaged. We had two kids in that unit. It was cramped, for sure, but we made it work. We sold it for 750K last spring.

That's how we were able to afford to live in North Arlington while being dual feds.

You came out of law school with likely $100k in debt, how did you finance the house and come up with at least $30k down payment in only a couple of years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I has a two bedroom condo in Logan Circle for 15 years before we bought out house. I bought it for 300K. It was basically paid off when we decided to sell and move to the suburbs when our oldest started K. I was a single guy when I bought the unit, right out of law school. My wife moved in seven years ago when we got engaged. We had two kids in that unit. It was cramped, for sure, but we made it work. We sold it for 750K last spring.

That's how we were able to afford to live in North Arlington while being dual feds.

$300k for a 2 bedroom in Logan Circle 15 years ago was probably on the higher side at the time. It's great for you that it appreciated so well over that time. We bought our first house on Capitol Hill in late 1999 for under $400k, and the recent sales on our street for comparable houses, (actually fewer bathrooms and without parking like we have) for $1.2M, so slightly more appreciation than Logan.

I forgot to say that neither one of us sold our condos when we bought this house, we paid 10% down and initially had a 80-10-10. We kept them for years as rentals and sold them for other investment properties later.

So you are saying having rental income in no way made it easier to buy an expensive home?

I don't think I said that at all. Of course having rentals helped but we didn't make much in profit when we first bought our Hill house and rented out the condos. Rents certainly covered the expenses and a few hundred more per month. We had to get the 10% down payment from savings not from the proceeds of moving up the property ladder and it could be done in 1999. Not so much now for many people. I also think the guy in Logan bought high but lucked out that he did so just as that neighborhood went gangbusters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I has a two bedroom condo in Logan Circle for 15 years before we bought out house. I bought it for 300K. It was basically paid off when we decided to sell and move to the suburbs when our oldest started K. I was a single guy when I bought the unit, right out of law school. My wife moved in seven years ago when we got engaged. We had two kids in that unit. It was cramped, for sure, but we made it work. We sold it for 750K last spring.

That's how we were able to afford to live in North Arlington while being dual feds.

You came out of law school with likely $100k in debt, how did you finance the house and come up with at least $30k down payment in only a couple of years?

I didn't have much debt. Had a full ride to Boalt. I was working in big law and put five percent down. It really wasn't terribly difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i met some chinese couples when i worked in tysons, they all bought their first and forever $1M+ home with help from both families in mclean/vienna/potomac

Those couples will have two sets of grandparents living with them for 20+ years. They will definitely "earn" that downpayment help.

The Asian sterotypers have found the real estate forum.

[Anonymous]

You are remembering wrong, OP.

There have always been swathes of the population (and areas of the country) for which this was not possible.

Stop dreaming, and start living, otherwise you'll never be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience people are just buying their dream homes right out of the gate. No renting, no fixer upper.

The transaction costs are way too high. With a "starter" SFH in a good school district starting at $700K in the DC area, no way in hell I'm interested in paying nearly $100K in fees simply to trade-up. (In DC: $20K closing cost to buy, $50K in realtor fees to sell, another $15K in sellers' transfer tax, plus $20K closing costs to buy my "forever home").

-Millennial Married Renters in our mid-30s about to Buy Our First & Forever Home

I agree with your larger point but you're leaving out a few pieces of the analysis. You're paying the $20K in closing costs to buy your forever home whether you buy it first or second so you have to back that out of the equation. The other thing you have to add in is the differential in interest expense you're carrying for those years you're living in your forever home (which presumably is more expensive than what a starter home would be) when you would otherwise be living in the starter home.

[Anonymous]

Also trading up does not mean selling or even moving. I have my starter house still, may give it to kids or something or rent it out. I still have my condo that is rented out. And my trade up home.

My wife and kids like my 1,500 square foot home more than my 6,000 square foot trade up home. I may also keep it for retirement.

The trade up home is a Rental Home even if you own it. You don't need one till at least your third kid is born and soon as oldest one is gone you don't need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one in the millennial generation will admit they are poor. It's the whole participation trophy thing. There are plenty of people who can afford to buy houses. Look around, they are selling everyday. If you can't afford to buy, it's because you don't make enough money, not that the entire system is flawed.

This is the same tired fallacy that gets posted here anytime this issue comes up.

You're right but...

Instead of a 300k condo in Logan Circle, millennials are faced with a 300k townhouse in manassas and a 4 hour commute. This is why they complain. You cannot deny that it was easier to buy close to work 15-20 years ago. So the people who are working in the same jobs as those 15-20 years ago are worse off. I don't understand how you can dispute that.

I am a foreigner. What I am seeing in this area is that way too many boomers do not retire and move out, giving a very small room for younger generations to move up. In the end it's all supply and demand. The number of houses is not increasing fast and the old people dont move out.

[Anonymous]

This is not the 1950's. People are rich now and have intergenerational wealth, to boot.