Anonymous wrote:We are currently selling a TH in Loudoun (10 mins from Reston) we bought in 2007 for $450k. Lived there til we bought a SFH nearby in 2013. Decided to rent it out since we couldn’t break even then. It’s now worth $700k but that still isn’t a great return. $250k gain over 15 years, from which we have to pay realtors, closing costs, and cap gains tax because it was a rental and not a primary. The TH neighbor a few doors down bought in 2016 for the same $450k and sold this year for the same $700k. Now THEY got a good return!
Anonymous wrote:Bought a 1br condo in 2005
Saw the market dip, bought a 4 br house and rented out the condo waiting for prices to go up to sell it
In 2012 saw the market go down and bought a new construction and rented out the 4 br house waiting for prices to go up to sell
2016 sold the 4br house for basically break even, sold the condo for 25% less than we paid.
I check the condo building and prices are still lat, the 4br house has appreciated about 20%
These are homes in Tysons inside the beltway with good schools
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:That’s so surprising to me. We bought a row house in DC for 420k in late 2006. We have done some work on it—probably 150k in upgrades—and it’s worth 900 to one million now. Of course, we haven’t actually tried to sell it! I thought most of the DC area was similar.
When you look at the price rise from 420 to 900, there are two primary drivers — the broader market and DC gentrification. In this case DC gentrification did the heavy lifting and this example doesn’t really reflect the broader market.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The folks we know who bought at the height of the market in 2006 and ended up having to sell were genx (mostly younger ones).
Lots of millennials in their early 20s got approved for stated income loans
Anonymous wrote:The folks we know who bought at the height of the market in 2006 and ended up having to sell were genx (mostly younger ones).
Anonymous wrote:That’s so surprising to me. We bought a row house in DC for 420k in late 2006. We have done some work on it—probably 150k in upgrades—and it’s worth 900 to one million now. Of course, we haven’t actually tried to sell it! I thought most of the DC area was similar.
Anonymous wrote:We weren't in the DC area, but bought in the Denver 'burbs in 2006. Definitely near the top of a very hot local market. It was our first house, we were in our late 20s and we paid $290K. Within a year, IIRC, and definitely by 2008, we were underwater.
Since we'd bought something we could conservatively afford on one salary, with a conventional mortgage (not an ARM) and knew we would be in the house long-term, about the only practical impact was that we appealed our next tax valuation to be more in line with the actual market prices. During the recovery, we refinanced when conditions were favorable and the house only became more affordable over time. We bought as DINKs, stayed there 11 years, had two kids and as our kids were hitting the ages when we really wanted more space, we sold in 2017 for about $450K and moved to the DC area (NoVa). Zillow tells me that similar houses in our old neighborhood are selling for like $625K now.
We are in our mid-40s now.