Owning a home isn't all that. I fantasize about downsizing to a condo.

Why do you feel entitled to some property ladder to a 1.8 m house in Arlington? Because that’s what this comes off as.

I’m from Silicon Valley, my family’s still there. We didn’t stay because we can’t afford the brand new SFH I want in Palo Alto or Mountain View. 99 percent of people can’t. But poor me, where’s my property ladder?

Why do condos depreciate so much in DC area? Is it a regional thing, is it a quest for new build condos, is it overbuilding?

My old state they hold up in value really well. I think it is NIMBY so very very hard to build so new construction is rare. Also they tax new construction heavy. So older ones much more in demand. My old town has not build a condo complex since 2003. None are in works. So old condos are not competing new ones and less supply

It seems to screw new condo buyers here

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about this one? It's pretty much the same price as condos and a 10-minute walk to Ballston metro:
https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/835-N-Buchanan-St-22203/home/11246781

This is OP. I can’t afford this house. I am just priced out. I would be very open to moving, but but it gets harder and harder to move after you have kids in school and of my friends and their friends and my support network are here.

Zillow says that on a $150k income with $140k down payment you can easily afford this. How much equity in your condo, where is your money going?

I mean neither could we so we moved out of the DMV and are about to close on a lovely 3/2 house with a pool that only costs 300k!

OP, you seem like you are doing well and should focus on that. You make a good living and own your home. Owning a house isn’t everything! If you buy a house, you’ll have to worry about landscaping and more physical maintenance of the property. Do you need to move? There’s nothing at all wrong with growing up in a condo, if that’s what you are worried about.

You can afford something in PG but that’s like a curse word here. If you don’t want to be too far from Arlington look at Ft Washington.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Fort-Washington/8602-Dover-St-20744/home/10799486?utm_source=ios_share&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy_link&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

Anonymous wrote:Lol giiiirl I make 350K and can't afford a home in Arlington. I also don't want to be house poor.

Yes you can, you just don’t want to live in what you can afford.

I am priced out of a SFH in Aspen, Colorado. Should I come on here and start a thread about it? We’ve given you suggestions and you keep saying why none of them work. What are you asking us to do? Start a go fund me for you?

Anonymous wrote:You need to be not single.

This

Anonymous wrote:What about this one? It's pretty much the same price as condos and a 10-minute walk to Ballston metro:
https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/835-N-Buchanan-St-22203/home/11246781

This is OP. I can’t afford this house. I am just priced out. I would be very open to moving, but but it gets harder and harder to move after you have kids in school and of my friends and their friends and my support network are here.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-21/l-a-home-sales-soar-as-california-s-housing-market-defies-covid?srnd=premium

California is ten times harder

I think that financially it sounds like you’re probably doing fine. Home ownership is only one of many ways to build wealth (and sometimes when you take into consideration maintenance and repairs it’s not a good investment at all). But yeah if you really want to buy you have to move.

Cry me a river, OP. Neither could we so we moved to a more affordable area (state actually). The area is outrageously expensive but nobody owes us anything.

How many kids do you have? Why do you need a house?