WSJ: rapidly growing mismatch between the price of available housing inventory and demand

[Anonymous]

I've said this before but even a 1 million dollar house is only a 5k a month mortgage

That's very doable on 250k HHI

Now, that's before you factor in student loans and potentially daycare but your income is going to keep rising

It might be tight the first couple years (might have to not do retirement a year or two) but I think people forget that it gets easier every year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same here. I loved my charming older home, until we had kids.
We are relocating to a less expensive city, and I want a new home. I want double sinks, walk in closets, laundry located off the master, open concept family/kitchen, a mudroom off an attached garage...
Sign me up.

Yup. Not huge, but not small, I love my 5BR 3.5BA home with a closet the size of a small bedroom with floor to cieling built ins.i too had a small shit shack and almost suffocated with baby #2 came along and couldn't move fast enough.

Just set up the deck and patio today and will enjoy my additional 1,000 sq feet of deck and patio.

I'm thinking of something like this.
Anyone care to guess what it's gonna cost to build? I'm wondering if I can do it under 400k....

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/4-bed-craftsman-beauty-with-exterior-options-500002vv

OMG, all those kits look exactly like what's being built in Bethesda and Arlington right now: craftsman on steroids.

Well that's all relative. On a 10,000 sq ft lot- sure, it looks huge. It will look very nice on 3-4 acres..

That's a good starter home. Large lots are anti environmental

That is still a large house. Once you add the basement, which is not shown on the plans, you are talking about 5,500-6,000 sq ft or so. That is about the same size as most of the new build craftsmen houses in this area. If you bought this in McLean as a new build it was cost you $1.5-$1.8 million (including lot, permits, teardown, and new house) or so depending on how much you could get the lot for.

We are looking at a 2-3 acre lot for approx 100k

Shouldn't you be posting in the WVSM (West Virginia Suburban Moms) forum then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need to expand affordable housing, increase density by changing zoning laws, in places that increase accessibility to transit. And yet instead, all the new developments seem to be either giant mcmansions way far out there, or giant new 1-bedroom apartment buildings in urban neighborhoods.

The giant fat McMansions are also replacing old housing stock close-in. There is going to be a glut of 6+bedroom Craftsman houses all over the area with a 'dated' look in 7-10 years. These are going for $1.6-$2.5 million around us--but they are all very similar. I just don't see a market for all of these very gigantic houses down the road.

Agreed. We briefly looked in Vienna, and the Craftsman McMansions right next to original ramblers just look laughable. I'm all for updating the housing stock, but they seem so out of place. Once the "newness" has worn off, I can't imagine they'll be all that desirable.

Ah yes, the inevitable criticism of the new Craftsman-style house one finds in Bethesda and North Arlington. Undoubtedly this criticism comes from folks who cannot afford to buy one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same here. I loved my charming older home, until we had kids.
We are relocating to a less expensive city, and I want a new home. I want double sinks, walk in closets, laundry located off the master, open concept family/kitchen, a mudroom off an attached garage...
Sign me up.

Yup. Not huge, but not small, I love my 5BR 3.5BA home with a closet the size of a small bedroom with floor to cieling built ins.i too had a small shit shack and almost suffocated with baby #2 came along and couldn't move fast enough.

Just set up the deck and patio today and will enjoy my additional 1,000 sq feet of deck and patio.

I'm thinking of something like this.
Anyone care to guess what it's gonna cost to build? I'm wondering if I can do it under 400k....

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/4-bed-craftsman-beauty-with-exterior-options-500002vv

OMG, all those kits look exactly like what's being built in Bethesda and Arlington right now: craftsman on steroids.

Well that's all relative. On a 10,000 sq ft lot- sure, it looks huge. It will look very nice on 3-4 acres..

That's a good starter home. Large lots are anti environmental

That is still a large house. Once you add the basement, which is not shown on the plans, you are talking about 5,500-6,000 sq ft or so. That is about the same size as most of the new build craftsmen houses in this area. If you bought this in McLean as a new build it was cost you $1.5-$1.8 million (including lot, permits, teardown, and new house) or so depending on how much you could get the lot for.

We are looking at a 2-3 acre lot for approx 100k

Shouldn't you be posting in the WVSM (West Virginia Suburban Moms) forum then?

Silly rabbit, it's not WVA. Don't be a hater, now go sit quietly in traffic while the grown ups chat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've said this before but even a 1 million dollar house is only a 5k a month mortgage

That's very doable on 250k HHI

Now, that's before you factor in student loans and potentially daycare but your income is going to keep rising

It might be tight the first couple years (might have to not do retirement a year or two) but I think people forget that it gets easier every year

But not if you prioritize spending money on something else aside from your house, which people are starting to do more and more. A lot of people want to travel, retire early etc.

We make well over 250K HHI and the problem with 1 million dollar homes are that many around here (close in, which is a priority for us commuting-wise) are shit. We choose a smaller mortgage, smaller house, and we did renovations to fit our lifestyle (wanted a large, eat in kitchen so took out a wall, etc.). I wish the trend toward the 5-6 bedroom houses would die. Not everyone who can afford them, wants them. We have 2 kids. We don't need a 5 bedroom 5 bathroom house, but that's what is on the market when we do consider trading up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've said this before but even a 1 million dollar house is only a 5k a month mortgage

That's very doable on 250k HHI

Now, that's before you factor in student loans and potentially daycare but your income is going to keep rising

It might be tight the first couple years (might have to not do retirement a year or two) but I think people forget that it gets easier every year

But not if you prioritize spending money on something else aside from your house, which people are starting to do more and more. A lot of people want to travel, retire early etc.

We make well over 250K HHI and the problem with 1 million dollar homes are that many around here (close in, which is a priority for us commuting-wise) are shit. We choose a smaller mortgage, smaller house, and we did renovations to fit our lifestyle (wanted a large, eat in kitchen so took out a wall, etc.). I wish the trend toward the 5-6 bedroom houses would die. Not everyone who can afford them, wants them. We have 2 kids. We don't need a 5 bedroom 5 bathroom house, but that's what is on the market when we do consider trading up.

This. Not everyone wants 5 tykes and live in cousins

[Anonymous]

You don't have to have 5 kids or mooching relatives to want a big house. Maybe a lot of people who buy these houses just have the extra rooms sitting there catching dust, but I personally use extra rooms in my house for my hobbies/side business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same here. I loved my charming older home, until we had kids.
We are relocating to a less expensive city, and I want a new home. I want double sinks, walk in closets, laundry located off the master, open concept family/kitchen, a mudroom off an attached garage...
Sign me up.

Yup. Not huge, but not small, I love my 5BR 3.5BA home with a closet the size of a small bedroom with floor to cieling built ins.i too had a small shit shack and almost suffocated with baby #2 came along and couldn't move fast enough.

Just set up the deck and patio today and will enjoy my additional 1,000 sq feet of deck and patio.

I'm thinking of something like this.
Anyone care to guess what it's gonna cost to build? I'm wondering if I can do it under 400k....

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/4-bed-craftsman-beauty-with-exterior-options-500002vv

Under 400k in the DMV? Nope. Nope. Nope. My brothet is in construction and even the illegal day laborors are $18/hr.

You might be ablento get it under 400k if you do a modular home. Site work will cost you at least 100k, then you would want to find prefab thatbthey could plop doen for 300k or less.

Not in the DMV. We are leaving the area. We're selling a shit shack for 800k and we'd like to not have a mortgage.

Our second home is in the Blue Ridge, bordering WVA. We purchased a lot with utilities to the curb and a modular cabin (much smaller and probably more basic that your picture). Site work alone was 75K, 2,000sq foot fully completed modular dropped on it was 275k. This was 8 years ago.

[Anonymous]

In terms of a bubble happening again, I think the risk factor there is that a lot of people are in debt up to their eyeballs...we got pre-approved for up to a $1M house, which is absolutely INSANE on our HHI (a shade under $250K), even taking into account our frugal lifestyle and solid savings. I imagine many people in this area don't make the same pragmatic decisions that we do, though...so we'll see if the job market and local economy (which, like it or not, are both heavily fed-dependent) support their risk-taking.

NP. I think the larger risk (inevitability) of interest rate normalization is what will kill the market for these things. You made a smart choice. The $250k HHI crowd will be mathematically unable to afford a million dollar mortgage. The average rate since the 30-year fixed began is 8.5%. Everyone thinks 4% is 'normal' and will be with us forever. Ha Ha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've said this before but even a 1 million dollar house is only a 5k a month mortgage

That's very doable on 250k HHI

Now, that's before you factor in student loans and potentially daycare but your income is going to keep rising

It might be tight the first couple years (might have to not do retirement a year or two) but I think people forget that it gets easier every year

But not if you prioritize spending money on something else aside from your house, which people are starting to do more and more. A lot of people want to travel, retire early etc.

We make well over 250K HHI and the problem with 1 million dollar homes are that many around here (close in, which is a priority for us commuting-wise) are shit. We choose a smaller mortgage, smaller house, and we did renovations to fit our lifestyle (wanted a large, eat in kitchen so took out a wall, etc.). I wish the trend toward the 5-6 bedroom houses would die. Not everyone who can afford them, wants them. We have 2 kids. We don't need a 5 bedroom 5 bathroom house, but that's what is on the market when we do consider trading up.

I live with my wife in a 5 bedroom house. No kids. It works just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've said this before but even a 1 million dollar house is only a 5k a month mortgage

That's very doable on 250k HHI

Now, that's before you factor in student loans and potentially daycare but your income is going to keep rising

It might be tight the first couple years (might have to not do retirement a year or two) but I think people forget that it gets easier every year

But not if you prioritize spending money on something else aside from your house, which people are starting to do more and more. A lot of people want to travel, retire early etc.

We make well over 250K HHI and the problem with 1 million dollar homes are that many around here (close in, which is a priority for us commuting-wise) are shit. We choose a smaller mortgage, smaller house, and we did renovations to fit our lifestyle (wanted a large, eat in kitchen so took out a wall, etc.). I wish the trend toward the 5-6 bedroom houses would die. Not everyone who can afford them, wants them. We have 2 kids. We don't need a 5 bedroom 5 bathroom house, but that's what is on the market when we do consider trading up.

I live with my wife in a 5 bedroom house. No kids. It works just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same here. I loved my charming older home, until we had kids.
We are relocating to a less expensive city, and I want a new home. I want double sinks, walk in closets, laundry located off the master, open concept family/kitchen, a mudroom off an attached garage...
Sign me up.

Yup. Not huge, but not small, I love my 5BR 3.5BA home with a closet the size of a small bedroom with floor to cieling built ins.i too had a small shit shack and almost suffocated with baby #2 came along and couldn't move fast enough.

Just set up the deck and patio today and will enjoy my additional 1,000 sq feet of deck and patio.

I'm thinking of something like this.
Anyone care to guess what it's gonna cost to build? I'm wondering if I can do it under 400k....

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/4-bed-craftsman-beauty-with-exterior-options-500002vv

OMG, all those kits look exactly like what's being built in Bethesda and Arlington right now: craftsman on steroids.

Well that's all relative. On a 10,000 sq ft lot- sure, it looks huge. It will look very nice on 3-4 acres..

That's a good starter home. Large lots are anti environmental

That is still a large house. Once you add the basement, which is not shown on the plans, you are talking about 5,500-6,000 sq ft or so. That is about the same size as most of the new build craftsmen houses in this area. If you bought this in McLean as a new build it was cost you $1.5-$1.8 million (including lot, permits, teardown, and new house) or so depending on how much you could get the lot for.

We are looking at a 2-3 acre lot for approx 100k

Shouldn't you be posting in the WVSM (West Virginia Suburban Moms) forum then?

Silly rabbit, it's not WVA. Don't be a hater, now go sit quietly in traffic while the grown ups chat.

Well, then name where you're getting this 2-3 acre lot for 100K. Because it sure isn't DC or anywhere close to it.

[Anonymous]

So if you had a shitshack you wanted to sell in the next few years,
When would you sell it? Now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've said this before but even a 1 million dollar house is only a 5k a month mortgage

That's very doable on 250k HHI

Now, that's before you factor in student loans and potentially daycare but your income is going to keep rising

It might be tight the first couple years (might have to not do retirement a year or two) but I think people forget that it gets easier every year

But not if you prioritize spending money on something else aside from your house, which people are starting to do more and more. A lot of people want to travel, retire early etc.

We make well over 250K HHI and the problem with 1 million dollar homes are that many around here (close in, which is a priority for us commuting-wise) are shit. We choose a smaller mortgage, smaller house, and we did renovations to fit our lifestyle (wanted a large, eat in kitchen so took out a wall, etc.). I wish the trend toward the 5-6 bedroom houses would die. Not everyone who can afford them, wants them. We have 2 kids. We don't need a 5 bedroom 5 bathroom house, but that's what is on the market when we do consider trading up.

This. Not everyone wants 5 tykes and live in cousins

Yup. We live in a N. Arlington cape that had a well done addition. So many friends come over and remark that they wish they could find something comparable. It's a great size--5 bedrooms, but two are perfectly sized to be a small guest room and an office. Large great room with a kitchen. Large master with large shower and a nice closet. Nice big, flat backyard (unlike nearly all new builds, which hog the whole lot). In total, 2400 sq ft above ground. Unfinished basement. I don't want 5,000 sq feet to clean.