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House Hunting Sucks When...
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Anonymous
it is so funny when you encounter people who just don't understand that there are households in this area where both people work and still don't bring in more than $150K. When we bought our little TH, our combined income was $80K with both of us working. His income has more than doubled, while mine has gone down (working PT instead of FT). Our combined income is now $125K before taxes. We're very lucky that we don't have student loans, though. Again, best of luck to you. This area can make you nuts when it comes to real estate. |
Anonymous
Not PP, but it strikes many of us as odd to read this because our family homes are urban apartments/ condos-- by choice. |
Anonymous
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Wow, I must be a terrible parent. I have 2 kids and rent. Am I cheating them out of a happy childhood because I don't have a deed? We rent for MUCH less than a mortgage. Our house is in a sought-after neighborhood. Also, because our rent is 1/10th of our salary, we a saving a lot of money for retirement and the kids' college funds. We also have plenty of disposable money too. I wouldn't turn up my nose at renting! Currently there are many advantages to renting. Once the market stops crashing, we will buy.
Why, don't you wait until the end of the summer when the Fed lowers the amount of conforming loan amounts? I see a very rough road ahead for housing but good luck! |
Anonymous
Who are you talking to? |
Anonymous
someone may have already said this, but until your kids are elementary school age, you dont' necessarily need a yard. Walkable access to a park is better. I have a decent townhouse yard and a 2.5 year old and we rarely hang out in the yard; we go to the park and playground almost every day. So maybe if you can't find a good yard, you can find a teeny yard and a very close park. Bonus for you: much less maintenance. 
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Anonymous
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Well, I don't think you are a terrible parent for renting and not owning. If we could rent for significantly less than a mortgage, we'd probably feel better about it. With job/commute constraints (I travel all over the DC/Baltimore area daily for work and fly out of DCA at least 4 times per month- so living centrally is a must for us). So, a situation like ours means that we can't buy without taking a significant hit in quality of life (ie spending 2 hours in the car each way). And I am not looking for a McMansion. I'd settle for a 2 or3 BR/1BA hovel!
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Anonymous
I'm confused -- who turned their nose up at renting? I don't remember seeing that anywhere in the OP or the discussion. People need to chill out on here. |
Anonymous
There is nothing wrong with renting and I don't think anyone on here said that it was. If I could rent for much less than a mortgage then that would be great but that is not the case for me. I don't have money to save, invest, retire or anything else because it is going towards rent. And actually, I just got a rent increase notice envelope. Everyone has to do what works for them. We all have different situations, different income levels, etc so whether one should rent or buy all depends. |
Anonymous
If this was directed at me (the poster who mentioned rent being equal to mortgage), let me clarify. In the area where we are looking, I have not seen many houses for rent for much less than the mortgage on it would be. I would love to run across a bargain, but I haven't yet. Our current mortgage is about 1/5th of our takehome. The rent on a SFH under 2000sf (I'm not looking for something huge) will still run us an extra $700-$800/month. So, probably bringing us closer to 30% of takehome. We can stay where we are, but our child is about to start K and we are in one of the half-day K districts in FFX. I want my daughter in a full-day K. Hopefully, the school board will make them all full-day for the fall, but who knows. This isn't my only reason to want to move, but it helps. I have no idea what my house should sell for - there have not been a lot of actual comps this year, and I'm seeing house listings for MUCH less than we thought it would be (based on the only recent sale in our neighborhood) We also have not decided to stay in the area for the long term. We were supposed to have moved by now, but that didn't happen as discussed. My husband isn't willing to commit to long term, so here we are. We probably will wind up renting a SFH, but in monthly cash flow, it doesn't make a dent. Yes, the cost of repairs not being on us does help, but renting for us does not really add up to extra money to save. If it does for you, great. We save our 15% for retirement and put a little into regular savings and college funds currently, but not huge amounts. |
Anonymous
We want to be in our choice neighborhood (Dupont, East Village side of Georgetown, West End- North of K Street or possibly Cleveland Park- if very close to the metro). We want 3+ real bedrooms (incuding a real master bedroom), 3+ baths, a formal living room, a den or family room or bedroom we can use as a family room or den, and parking at the property. We want the house to be pretty move in ready, but would be willing to do some work for a great house. |
Anonymous
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I'm not anywhere near your price range, but if I were, I would imagine the biggest limiting factor to be fugly but expensive renovations I often see in ads for high-end period homes in the District. So much violence was committed against original details in previous decades, and so many high-end kitchens are crowded with dark, fussy cabinets without a lot of urban style sense.
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Anonymous
Ok, I posted the comment about wanting to buy a house before I had kids since this is so ODD to people (which its not bc there are other posters who did the same thing) let me clarify: 1. We want a bigger space. We live on top of each other with our dog in a 906 sq ft condo with no storage. 2. We want to be settled in a house before a baby is born. 3. We have the money so why would we stay cramped up? Why do some posters care so much? Its our decision and it makes a lot of sense so not sure whats so hard to understand. To the supportive pp’s thanks! You are the ones I should be responding to and not posters who can only complain about other peoples decisions. |
Anonymous
Fortunately for some and unfortunately for others a lot of young people in this area actually have very high incomes and cash on hand from savings/bonuses- big firm associates, consulting firms, lobbyists etc. You'll find places like N Arlington are rife with young homeowners in their 20s and 30s buying $700k-$1M SFHs and THs, so not everybody is heading to the distant 'burbs. Unfortunately for those not in the top bracket professions that reward early financially, they're not left with much choise but to buy far, far away. Even renting is not a ball, esp. if you want to rent a TH or SFH in close-in areas or DC...those rents often exceed the mortgage payment for a comprable property with 20% down- ours did. |
Anonymous
In "NYC," millions of people live in townhomes, attached homes, brownstones and -- hang onto your britches -- single family homes. I know, right? Amazing but true. My father grew up in one, my FIL grew up in one, and this is still happening all over "NYC." Just not in Midtown Manhattan. Folks, I introduce to you Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and heck, Staten Island. Meanwhile, it's utter horseshit that "New Yorkers" all hunker down in their Junior 4 for the long haul when they have kids. Just as we hopelessly unsophisticated Washingtonians enjoy barbecuing on our own green space, so do many, many "New Yorkers" who head to Westchester, NJ, Long Island, CT, etc etc when they can't take it anymore. |
Anonymous
| Wow 14:44, grind it in harder that we're poor. Haha. |