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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is OP. Responses to several questions:
1) the condo feels small. It’s 800 square feet. We are on top of each other. I want a yard. I wanted no maintenance and no yard when I bought it, but covid has made me see the benefits of having more space and more of our own space. Also our condo fees have gone up precipitously and it’s painful paying those every month.
2) Zillow’s calculator may say I can afford that home, but I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable doing it, and my financial advisor would say that’s too much for me to spend on a house. No debt. One child still in daycare, which is a major expense.
3) I don’t care what others think about me living in a condo. That’s not what this is about. Or about me living in Arlington versus somewhere else. I realize that’s important to some folks on DCUM but I picked Arlington because I had already been living here for a decade before I bought and because of the commute. I looked in Burke and Springfield but couldn’t actually make the commute timing work out to make drop off AND pick up and be in the office for 8.5 hours each day. So Manasass is theoretically fine with me, and I might even like it better than Arlington, but I need to live closer to work than that.
4) I get it that I either need to move to a different area or stay in this condo or find more money. Or at least I get it now. I am, I think, expressing surprise that there will be trading up this condo for a larger house in a couple of years, like what I once imagined and like people suggested when I bought the condo. Because it hasn’t appreciated that much and houses have. And because my salary has plateaued (which I knew it would). When I bought the condo, everyone (friends, family, realtor) said things like, “this is great! And if you want something bigger when the kids get older, you can sell the condo and use that for a down payment on a house.” I didn’t think it through and realize I would never be able to afford the house.[/quote]

You can trade up. I did the exact same thing! Just not in Arlington. Or, look in S. Arlington if you want to stay so badly. Or maybe a townhouse with a yard. So many options besides just throwing up your hands and thinking it’s unfair and you should be entitled to some Arlington property ladder.

Look, I lived a decade in Arlington myself and thought I’d never move. Turns out I’d never move BACK to Arlington now that I left. The SFHs are way too crammed together for my taste and I feel like a lot of things are actually more convenient outside of Arlington. Just giving you another perspective. We all have to make tradeoffs. [/quote]

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