Reply to I will never be able to afford a house in Arlington

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have lived in Arlington for 15 years, mostly as a renter. I bought a condo a couple of years ago because that’s what I can afford and I wanted to stay in Arlington for the commute and because my kids are in school here. I’m in my mid 40s. I’m a single mom. Income of $170k. Even if I sell this condo in a few years and break even or make a small profit and am able to roll that money into a down payment on a larger home, I will never be able to afford the monthly payment on a larger home because my income isn’t going up. I’m maxed out as a GS15. So my choices are live in a condo forever, change jobs, or move further out, right? [b]There is no property ladder for me.[/b][/quote]

Not when you buy in an already appreciated area. If you had bought in an area that had a lot of potential for growth, yes, you would have had more of an opportunity for appreciation. But you wanted to live in Arlington. [/quote]

She's mid-40s, she probably bought for good schools and good commute 10 years ago, when her kids were young.  She might have even bought 15 years ago when [b]everyone said condos were a great investment[/b], not everyone was part of the Big Short and knew it was a bubble.  Her problem is that SFH and condo appreciation have diverged since 2008.  Condos don't appreciate anymore, and COVID probably was even worse.

She could have bought in Petworth or H street and seen mad appreciation, but then she would have been gambling on good charter school lotteries versus home appreciation, and could still be in a bind by moving before her home appreciated because schools don't work out.

You are building equity in your condo, regardless, and as long as you are paying less in PITI and condo fees than you would in rent, you are coming out ahead (though do the math, the place we were renting had such high fees that the INTEREST payment along + HOA fee was higher than our rent -- it only made sense for our landlord since they had bought it in the 80s).  The PP suggesting you rent a home is not a bad one; maybe just rent a house for the summer when kids are home more and being outside is nicer?  I can see not wanting to move your kids or increase your commute; we both work downtown and have Fed jobs so while have more money not Arlington money, so we lived in a rental until our 40s with 2 kids and only just bought our first home in Arlington, and its some crummy tear down but works for us.[/quote]

Nobody (who wasn’t try to sell a condo) has ever said condos were a good investment. 
[/quote]

Maybe you are too young to remember in early 2000s when property was eye bleeding appreciating and you had to buy SOMETHING or be PRICED OUT FOREVER. we resisted buying b/c we could only afford a condo and we thought it was a bubble, but everyone thought we were crazy and foolish.  In the end SFH did okay through the bust but condos didn’t. [/quote]

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