This must be some sort of housing bubble again

[Anonymous]

Welcome to DC.
when we bought our home 15 years ago it was a situation of multiple bids and houses off the market in 3 days or less. It took us 8 unsuccessful bid before we landed a house. That was 98!! and it wasn't a bubble. It's just DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
white people don't want to live with brown people in "affordable" neighborhoods, so there is a lot of competition for specific areas.

OP, there are plenty of affordable homes EOR. You can get in on the ground floor basically. 20-30 years from now that area will be awesome.

[Anonymous]

The area is not in a housing bubble. It is called supply and demand. Limited supply = prices going up.

Wait until the spring and get serious -- inventory will start to build starting in March.

But, and OP, I mean this kindly, you really don't understand the real estate market. Just because you got outbid on a house does not make it a bubble.

[Anonymous]

my stock prices have climbed 90% since 2009, should i sell my stock now and rent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whatever prices may do - how much longer can buyers count on locking in these interest rates?

WHen rates go up that means salaries do as well. The fed said that.

Maybe that was the old paradigm. I am not sure anymore. Any excuse not to give people raises....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whatever prices may do - how much longer can buyers count on locking in these interest rates?

WHen rates go up that means salaries do as well. The fed said that.

Maybe that was the old paradigm. I am not sure anymore. Any excuse not to give people raises....

then people would leave and go to another job that hits the market

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waiting is a recipe for disaster. Houses are appreciating at a 10 percent clip. On a $600k house, thats $60k per year. I doubt the OP will be able to get ahead of that snowball unless they purchase yesterday.

OP the truth is that there is a ton of money in this area pushing up prices, particularly for 'family housing'. In order to compete in this market you must become comfortable with the idea of being house poor to 'win' a decent house, because otherwise you will continue to be outbid by those who are willing to do that.

[b[How long can double digit appreciation continue? Not forever, but certainly longer than you afford to wait on the sidelines.[/b]

This is exactly the kind of mentality that leads to bubbles.

No economist anywhere would say that a 60k increase a year in housing value is healthy. At that point, for the taxes alone, it becomes a better option to rent.

Yet reality is not dictated by if something is 'healthy'. Irrational behavior can go on MUCH longer than you can wait. If you choose not to buy today, tomorrow the prospect of EVER purchasing in this area recedes a bit further into the horizon. Good luck with that strategy.

If someone can't afford what it takes to get a house in this market in their desired location, then "strategy" is moot. I think too many people are encouraged to take on loans that they really can't afford, to wipe out whatever savings they have on escalation clauses, et cetera, out of fear of being priced out of the market entirely. But being completely house poor for the next couple of decades and possibly not even being able to afford to make necessary repairs a better prospect than renting indefinitely? I'm not for sure. I don't think it's ever a good idea to make big financial decisions based on fear.

[Anonymous]

DC is immune to housing bubbles. So no, sorry OP - this is not a housing bubble. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
white people don't want to live with brown people in "affordable" neighborhoods, so there is a lot of competition for specific areas.

OP, there are plenty of affordable homes EOR. You can get in on the ground floor basically. 20-30 years from now that area will be awesome.

What does "EOR" mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waiting is a recipe for disaster. Houses are appreciating at a 10 percent clip. On a $600k house, thats $60k per year. I doubt the OP will be able to get ahead of that snowball unless they purchase yesterday.

OP the truth is that there is a ton of money in this area pushing up prices, particularly for 'family housing'. In order to compete in this market you must become comfortable with the idea of being house poor to 'win' a decent house, because otherwise you will continue to be outbid by those who are willing to do that.

How long can double digit appreciation continue? Not forever, but certainly longer than you afford to wait on the sidelines.

We bought into this line of thinking and I truly regret it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waiting is a recipe for disaster. Houses are appreciating at a 10 percent clip. On a $600k house, thats $60k per year. I doubt the OP will be able to get ahead of that snowball unless they purchase yesterday.

OP the truth is that there is a ton of money in this area pushing up prices, particularly for 'family housing'. In order to compete in this market you must become comfortable with the idea of being house poor to 'win' a decent house, because otherwise you will continue to be outbid by those who are willing to do that.

[b[How long can double digit appreciation continue? Not forever, but certainly longer than you afford to wait on the sidelines.[/b]

This is exactly the kind of mentality that leads to bubbles.

No economist anywhere would say that a 60k increase a year in housing value is healthy. At that point, for the taxes alone, it becomes a better option to rent.

Yet reality is not dictated by if something is 'healthy'. Irrational behavior can go on MUCH longer than you can wait. If you choose not to buy today, tomorrow the prospect of EVER purchasing in this area recedes a bit further into the horizon. Good luck with that strategy.

If someone can't afford what it takes to get a house in this market in their desired location, then "strategy" is moot. I think too many people are encouraged to take on loans that they really can't afford, to wipe out whatever savings they have on escalation clauses, et cetera, out of fear of being priced out of the market entirely. But being completely house poor for the next couple of decades and possibly not even being able to afford to make necessary repairs a better prospect than renting indefinitely? I'm not for sure. I don't think it's ever a good idea to make big financial decisions based on fear.

This.

[Anonymous]

The 'Welcome to the Jungle' theme should start playing when you 1. enter the doors of any DC-area Realtor office, 2. or mortgage lender 3. or open house, because the process is a battle full of hard lessons and humility. It is the purest example of social darwinism outside of NYC or SF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my stock prices have climbed 90% since 2009, should i sell my stock now and rent

yay strawman argument! but yes, stock prices are a bubble to. what do you think the fed has been doing with qe? supporting asset prices to try to stoke demand.

[Anonymous]

EOR = east of the Anacostia River

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
white people don't want to live with brown people in "affordable" neighborhoods, so there is a lot of competition for specific areas.

OP, there are plenty of affordable homes EOR. You can get in on the ground floor basically. 20-30 years from now that area will be awesome.

What does "EOR" mean?

East of the River? I think they mean EOP (east of the park)? Or maybe anacostia? Essentially a leveraged bet that gentrification will work out your favor. 30 years! who the heck wants to wait 30 years to have a decent place to live? OP is looking for a home, not stock tips...