First time homebuyer: lower-price condo or stretch for rowhouse in DC?

[Anonymous]

Stretch.
We lived in a condo with two little, well behaved kids. We still got several noise complaints from our neighbors.

[Anonymous]

I think you really want a house so you are going to be itching for one soon enough. We bought a tiny two bedroom condo and made it through till the 2nd kid was born and now are renting a house. However we are city people and hadnt wanted a house particularly. If we had stretched to get a bigger 2 bedroom condo (and better sound proofing between floors) we would still be there. We were very motivated to live small, but I definitely enjoy the little backyard space and a room for each kid now.

I think you should expand your neighborhoods in DC a bit and maybe you could find something. (Hill East, Kingman Park, Stadium Armory.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here — our income is 235k now. Partner is lawyer so has more income potential than I. We have just over 200k saved.

Early 30s lawyers? So is he on cusp of making partner or something? You income seems low for senior associate so unclear where you think lawyer salary bump will come from?

Clerking.

Stretch. If you plan on upgrading, you’d have to sell the condo and pay for both buyer’s and seller’s agent which means you’d lose more in the long run on transaction costs. HOA is also a huge waste and condos are harder to resell.

I’m assuming you’ve talked to the bank and have a pre qual letter for $850K so you have $200K DP plus reserves. Your partner should be pulling in a lot more income if he is currently clerking (assuming he goes into biglaw after and collects his clerkship bonus), which means you can very comfortably afford the mortgage on just one salary.

[Anonymous]

I would stick to the $850k and look at other neighborhoods or do $750k for a 3 bedroom condo. Kids are super expensive so I wouldn’t stretch more than necessary plus you can live somewhere with crap schools until they are about 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here — our income is 235k now. Partner is lawyer so has more income potential than I. We have just over 200k saved.

Early 30s lawyers? So is he on cusp of making partner or something? You income seems low for senior associate so unclear where you think lawyer salary bump will come from?

Clerking.

Stretch. If you plan on upgrading, you’d have to sell the condo and pay for both buyer’s and seller’s agent which means you’d lose more in the long run on transaction costs. HOA is also a huge waste and condos are harder to resell.

I’m assuming you’ve talked to the bank and have a pre qual letter for $850K so you have $200K DP plus reserves. Your partner should be pulling in a lot more income if he is currently clerking (assuming he goes into biglaw after and collects his clerkship bonus), which means you can very comfortably afford the mortgage on just one salary.

I don’t get this. Sure, it’s conservative and safe to live in a place where you only need one earner to cover mortgage in case someone’s laid off. But that’s a rare event, and when it does happen, people get other jobs. I’m not advocating for living beyond your means, and it sounds like OP isn’t either. DC real estate is very expensive and I think if you’re early in your careers with plenty of income hikes coming, you’re fine to overextend for a few years if it means finding a house you can be in long-term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would stick to the $850k and look at other neighborhoods or do $750k for a 3 bedroom condo. Kids are super expensive so I wouldn’t stretch more than necessary plus you can live somewhere with crap schools until they are about 5.

You think OPs neighborhoods aren’t realistic? Seems very possible to me to find small rowhouse for under that in Columbia heights area.

[Anonymous]

Stretch — or better yet, look north (Brightwood and nearby) or East (Edgewood) for a rowhouse that is under $750k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends: if you do condo, will you be in a neighborhood you prefer for schools and thus want to stay in longer (noting that in DC places with higher-regarded schools have a lower chance of you getting a PK space)? Do you like DIY or will you be happy not to have to deal with roof, gutters, windows, landscaping, etc. while you are also dealing with young children? Is there any chance you can find a 3br condo you like, for example https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/3930-Connecticut-Ave-NW-20008/unit-501H/home/145670981 (a coop, so the fee includes utilities and taxes) or https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/4201-Cathedral-Ave-NW-20016/unit-405E/home/9951663 (I do think the fee here is ridiculous and the unit should be cheaper given that)?

There's a house on Primrose St. in Shepherd Park that if you can nab it would also be good and in your price range, but I wouldn't rule out a condo if that works better for you.

Please don't recommend 4201 Cathedral Avenue.

Uh you can’t leave us hanging...

[Anonymous]

Neither. Townhouses have horrible noise/smell transfer.

[Anonymous]

Stretch. We put $100k down on $850k in Alexandria (so not the same situation, we left DC be we wanted a SFH but similar price/income consideration) with $280k HHI and probably not a ton of income growth. Will likely top off at $300k/$320k. We have 2 young kids and because of the pandemic have our own nanny which is the priciest childcare and we still manage. We meet our savings goals every month. We don’t max out retirement but one of us is close and the other has generous employer contribution in addition to employee contribution. I will caveat this by saying we have no debt other than the mortgage. We will, of course end up paying for PreK, but when we left DC we got into our absolute last preK lottery option (Inbound school was IMPOSSIBLE to get into for preK. They even rejected siblings.) so we were going to do private preK anyways And then we just decided to move.

[Anonymous]

I was in exactly your position a few months ago, same budget too. We elected to stretch for a townhouse. Mainly because we wanted a third bedroom and there are very few condos with 3 bedrooms.

I don’t agree that HOA is money thrown away though, it does cover major expenses of the building. Just don’t move into a building with $500+ HOA fees that exist mainly because they can because it’s in a good neighborhood. We saw some with HOAs in the $300s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither. Townhouses have horrible noise/smell transfer.

What a helpful comment.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- thanks for the feedback. Fingers crossed the market this spring/summer isn't completely insufferable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in exactly your position a few months ago, same budget too. We elected to stretch for a townhouse. Mainly because we wanted a third bedroom and there are very few condos with 3 bedrooms.

I don’t agree that HOA is money thrown away though, it does cover major expenses of the building. Just don’t move into a building with $500+ HOA fees that exist mainly because they can because it’s in a good neighborhood. We saw some with HOAs in the $300s.

If you don't mind my asking, how much was your townhouse? Was it in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stretch. We put $100k down on $850k in Alexandria (so not the same situation, we left DC be we wanted a SFH but similar price/income consideration) with $280k HHI and probably not a ton of income growth. Will likely top off at $300k/$320k. We have 2 young kids and because of the pandemic have our own nanny which is the priciest childcare and we still manage. We meet our savings goals every month. We don’t max out retirement but one of us is close and the other has generous employer contribution in addition to employee contribution. I will caveat this by saying we have no debt other than the mortgage. We will, of course end up paying for PreK, but when we left DC we got into our absolute last preK lottery option (Inbound school was IMPOSSIBLE to get into for preK. They even rejected siblings.) so we were going to do private preK anyways And then we just decided to move.

What DC neighborhood were you in?