This thread is delusional. 2 m is NOT starter home material.

Anonymous wrote:Silver Spring? Why not move here? Lots of nice houses for less than 1M!

OP only wants to live in Arlington or Bethesda it seems

Silver Spring? Why not move here? Lots of nice houses for less than 1M!

Anonymous wrote:A “starter home” (obnoxious phase anyways) is generally not in one’s dream size, condition, and/or location. Our starter home was a lovely SFH further out but on the MARC line. Commute sucked a bit pre-COVID, mortgage and the resulting equity and savings sure didn’t. Put us in a terrific financial position.

We’re 36 with one young kid and another on the way. Student debt, no help with down payments…your typical older Millennials.

People may want to stretch themselves and buy closer in or pick renting over buying, which can both be totally valid choices. But gimme a break with the premise of this thread.

This. We still live in our starter home, which is a 2-bedroom condo with an okay but not great school that is convenient to our jobs and is appreciating alright. If we plan well and catch a break, we hope to upgrade to a 3 bedroom house with better schools (especially MS/HS) with a worse commute but better appreciation.

This is the norm for middle class families. The people buying $1.5m SFHs in nice neighborhoods with great schools are wealthy and do not need to buy "starter homes" in order to start climbing the housing ladder. Many of them likely already bought condos in the city near their work with money from mom and dad, and are simply upgrading now that they are married with kids. They will have lots of options, though yes, they may not be able to afford the very best neighborhoods with the very best schools. Boo hoo.

Although having met people like this before, often they will complain that they simply cannot afford what they want and then magically they do afford it because they have access to the Bank of Mom and Dad and all they have to do is announce a new baby or complain hard enough to get a no-interest loan they never intend to repay.

These aren't real problems.

Anonymous wrote:TONS of SFH inventory under $1M in FCC, SS and PG County.

That’s patently incorrect information. There’s literally nothing in FCC under 1.4 mil in FCC for a SFH.

Anonymous wrote:I suspect we have very different ideas of what a starter home is.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

“close in” evidently means white, even if it is geographically further away.

I would love to live in a majority black DC neighborhood with affordable housing and good schools. Please tell me where to look.

You’ve got to put in the work for good schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

“close in” evidently means white, even if it is geographically further away.

I would love to live in a majority black DC neighborhood with affordable housing and good schools. Please tell me where to look.

Crestwood.

Roosevelt High School? I don’t think so.

Jackson Reed High School. You’re ignorance is showing.

I am ignorant then, I guess. Isn’t this in Crestwood?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1617-Allison-St-NW-Washington-DC-20011/467188_zpid/

Both Redfin and the DC Schools boundary locator put this school in bounds for Roosevelt. If that is inaccurate they should clean up the listing info to reflect Jackson Reed and they might find more buyers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

“close in” evidently means white, even if it is geographically further away.

I would love to live in a majority black DC neighborhood with affordable housing and good schools. Please tell me where to look.

Crestwood.

Roosevelt High School? I don’t think so.

Jackson Reed High School. You’re ignorance is showing.

NP but lol. Your.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

“close in” evidently means white, even if it is geographically further away.

I would love to live in a majority black DC neighborhood with affordable housing and good schools. Please tell me where to look.

Crestwood.

Roosevelt High School? I don’t think so.

Jackson Reed High School. You’re ignorance is showing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

“close in” evidently means white, even if it is geographically further away.

I would love to live in a majority black DC neighborhood with affordable housing and good schools. Please tell me where to look.

Crestwood.

Roosevelt High School? I don’t think so.

TIL our forever home is considered a starter home by DCUM

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SE DC not considered a close in neighborhood?

“close in” evidently means white, even if it is geographically further away.

I would love to live in a majority black DC neighborhood with affordable housing and good schools. Please tell me where to look.

Crestwood.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all realize that not everybody is partnered and making a lot of money for years before they have kids, right? It's not like everyone or even most people can buy a small condo in their 20s. Most absolutely cannot get into a starter home which means they cannot use the money they make off that to jump into a more expensive home when kids come.

You have to change your criteria.

Yep. I bought my "starter house" for $175K when I was single and earned $45K, interest rate was 6.375%. I had one bathroom and no parking. It was not in Bethesda or Chevy Chase or Potomac or anywhere trendy. It needed a lot of sweat equity.