Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was so close to buying in 2020 and 2021 and now those properties I could afford at 1.2 and 3% are at 1.7 and 6.8% and I am locked out of the UMC for the rest of my life. No equity here.

Moral of the story: buy at $900K when interest rates are 3%, even if you’re dreaming to get into the $1.2m house.

But what you can afford as soon as possible. The equity gains will compound any increases in your salary. Trying to save income alone isn’t enough because prices generally are also going up and it’s difficult to stay ahead of the price increases.

but will there be equity gains now that are as significant as the last few years? If I buy now - I feel like I'm buying at the top of the market - which may not go down but I doubt will go up as significantly as it has.

its easy to look back and say yeah - should've bought that 900k home a couple years ago - but what do we do right now.

DP here, of course it's the top of the market right now. Most neighborhoods will see price declines.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It does not have to be a great place to start.

I have a 1,200 square foot older garden apt condo I rented to a newlywed couple in Sept 2018. They were making $120k with zero debts and showed me bank info. My complex units were $320k to $340k at time. At lease renewal in Sept 2019 the young wife chatted to wife briefly about rent. We were keeping it the same. She said great they want to save to buy a place. My wife mention my husband told me the unit next door will be listed in next few weeks as an estate sale if you want to stay on complex. The women kinda got snotty and said we are getting house and rambled off two neighborhoods where homes were 800k to 950k.

Well they are still renting. Homes in that rich area are now 1.1-1.3 million and my condo units are $400k to $550k.

By end of this lease year five they will have paid $135,000 in rent, married 5 years and by then will have a 2.5 year old kid.

They were too good a condo or starter home in second tier neighbor hood in 2018.

well you're assuming they knew that prices were going to go up by 30-40% since 2020. no one knew that. its easy in retrospect

This. If prices stayed level, it would be a bad idea to buy a place they didn't really want only to move in less than 5 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was so close to buying in 2020 and 2021 and now those properties I could afford at 1.2 and 3% are at 1.7 and 6.8% and I am locked out of the UMC for the rest of my life. No equity here.

Moral of the story: buy at $900K when interest rates are 3%, even if you’re dreaming to get into the $1.2m house.

But what you can afford as soon as possible. The equity gains will compound any increases in your salary. Trying to save income alone isn’t enough because prices generally are also going up and it’s difficult to stay ahead of the price increases.

but will there be equity gains now that are as significant as the last few years? If I buy now - I feel like I'm buying at the top of the market - which may not go down but I doubt will go up as significantly as it has.

its easy to look back and say yeah - should've bought that 900k home a couple years ago - but what do we do right now.

Anonymous wrote:OP’s heartache is valid and I am sure lots of people at different price points share her sentiment. We bought a 1.3 mil house in McLean in May/2019, DH was dragging his feet but I stayed the course. If we had missed that opportunity, there’s no way we could have bought the same property.

We are 2.75% on 1.3mil which is now estimated at 1.65 mil. 1.65 mil at 6.5% would have been impossible for us, I truly feel bad for first time home buyers. Rates stayed low for too long and that caused the current inventory hell.

+1000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you buy a house and get a roommate to defray the costs?

I'm not having some rando living with my 2 kids. I would rent out a basement apartment though.

There is a 3000 sq foot house in my Bethesda neighborhood that borders DC listed at $1.06m. 4 BR, 4.5 BA, 2 car garage. It's not new, and certainly a little quirky, but perfectly fine.

Point being, OP *can* buy a house in a neighborhood with good schools. Those houses aren't her dream houses, though. Her primary consideration isn't getting on the property ladder, it's living a certain lifestyle. That's why so many people have so little sympathy for you, OP. You can definitely live an UMC life, and you're still whining about it.

I get it, OP. We have been trying to move from our downtown row home where we've raised two kids and owned for 20 years. Even with significant equity and a windfall from a parent who passed away, a new house may not be attainable. I am trying to practice gratitude for what we have. I say that realizing I have done a bad job of that, every week dragging kids to open houses we can't afford, the grass is always greener, etc.

this am my 13 year old casually mentioned when she grows up she wants to make more money so her family can have nicer things. It broke my heart. My parents were immigrants and sacrificed all for me and my brother. We had excellent educations. But my values drew me to journalism and now nonprofits. Same for my husband, except for the immigrant background. I feel like I have taught them to value the wrong things. Like telling them not to obsess about body weight while complaining about my weight. I vowed this am to do a better job. There is a difference between wants and needs. If we always insist on more, bigger, more expensive and prestigious, we will never win.

I feel your pain OP. I have had to keep raising my budget and could kick myself for not having that budget when rates were lower.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not look in another state where real estate isn't bonkers? Are you close to retirement? Maybe a jump start on finding a low key place to spend your twilight years?

No. Because of inflation and this lack of equity I will be working until I die.

This is just nonsense.

Anonymous wrote:Was so close to buying in 2020 and 2021 and now those properties I could afford at 1.2 and 3% are at 1.7 and 6.8% and I am locked out of the UMC for the rest of my life. No equity here.

Moral of the story: buy at $900K when interest rates are 3%, even if you’re dreaming to get into the $1.2m house.

But what you can afford as soon as possible. The equity gains will compound any increases in your salary. Trying to save income alone isn’t enough because prices generally are also going up and it’s difficult to stay ahead of the price increases.

OP’s heartache is valid and I am sure lots of people at different price points share her sentiment. We bought a 1.3 mil house in McLean in May/2019, DH was dragging his feet but I stayed the course. If we had missed that opportunity, there’s no way we could have bought the same property.

We are 2.75% on 1.3mil which is now estimated at 1.65 mil. 1.65 mil at 6.5% would have been impossible for us, I truly feel bad for first time home buyers. Rates stayed low for too long and that caused the current inventory hell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you buy a house and get a roommate to defray the costs?

OP is a single mother of 2 kids.

... with an unrealistic expectation of where she "deserves" to be able to buy a house.

Anonymous wrote:Was so close to buying in 2020 and 2021 and now those properties I could afford at 1.2 and 3% are at 1.7 and 6.8% and I am locked out of the UMC for the rest of my life. No equity here.

This must be quite the unicorn area that you're looking in that saw a 40%+ rise in real estate value between 2021 and 2023. The stats don't back you up on this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is correct. Houses in my neighborhood that would have been $1.2 a few years ago are now going for $1.6 or more. It is depressing for those of us who were looking and could have bought but didn't do it quickly enough and now find that we missed the boat. But it really doesn't help to dwell on it! You can only move forward from where you are and who knows what the future will bring.

Same. We’re now priced out of a neighborhood we love and hoped to buy in.

It’s pathetic that so many of the people on this forum can’t have compassion for people priced out by a ridiculous and unimaginable sharp increase in such a short time. Just confirms my suspicions that half of you are corporate slumlords, brokers, and builders greedy for cash.

I have zero compassion for someone who is mad they can afford a $1M house. Zero.

Same. There are plenty of nice houses available below $1m. That’s where I and all my friends live. How absolutely insane to argue that you’re priced out of home ownership because you can’t afford a $1.5m house.

Not OP and I hear you but we can all have compassion for OP, it is the same across the board. In 2 years the 1.2 M house became 1.6 or 1.7. And the 500k house became a 650/700k one. And double interest rates. When for some reason you where almost ready to buy in 2019-2020 but could t yet and missed the boat during those 2 years, it feels super hard and unfair.

OP I am a slightly better position because i own my starter home, but I feel depressed too as I was looking to upgrade now that my kids are bigger… and yes the 1.2 M dollar home that I wanted to stretch for and get is now completely out of reach and I need to reset expectations (not moving, turning garage into a bedroom…)

this exactly - we are looking at a much lower price point than OP - but we've also pretty much been priced out. we are now looking at much smaller/older/fixer upper homes. But yes its depressing when I see what we could've afforded just a couple years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is correct. Houses in my neighborhood that would have been $1.2 a few years ago are now going for $1.6 or more. It is depressing for those of us who were looking and could have bought but didn't do it quickly enough and now find that we missed the boat. But it really doesn't help to dwell on it! You can only move forward from where you are and who knows what the future will bring.

Same. We’re now priced out of a neighborhood we love and hoped to buy in.

It’s pathetic that so many of the people on this forum can’t have compassion for people priced out by a ridiculous and unimaginable sharp increase in such a short time. Just confirms my suspicions that half of you are corporate slumlords, brokers, and builders greedy for cash.

I have zero compassion for someone who is mad they can afford a $1M house. Zero.

Same. There are plenty of nice houses available below $1m. That’s where I and all my friends live. How absolutely insane to argue that you’re priced out of home ownership because you can’t afford a $1.5m house.

Not OP and I hear you but we can all have compassion for OP, it is the same across the board. In 2 years the 1.2 M house became 1.6 or 1.7. And the 500k house became a 650/700k one. And double interest rates. When for some reason you where almost ready to buy in 2019-2020 but could t yet and missed the boat during those 2 years, it feels super hard and unfair.

OP I am a slightly better position because i own my starter home, but I feel depressed too as I was looking to upgrade now that my kids are bigger… and yes the 1.2 M dollar home that I wanted to stretch for and get is now completely out of reach and I need to reset expectations (not moving, turning garage into a bedroom…)

Anonymous wrote:Can you buy a house and get a roommate to defray the costs?

I'm not having some rando living with my 2 kids. I would rent out a basement apartment though.