Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We kept renting and socking away money. It will either be a down payment on a place someday or somewhere else, or it will boost our retirement savings. In the meantime, we live in an area with a school that works for our kids and an easy commute. I'm willing to compromise, but only so much.

Part of the reason people settle is because the rentals are usually woefully outdated, poorly maintained and still very expensive. If you have been able to find a rental that you like more than what's for sale, with an affordable price, then hold on tight.

Yup. Around here it's extremely unlikely that the rent on a place is going to be a lot less than the mortgage would be for the same situation. So why not actually benefit from the remarkable appreciation homes around here typically enjoy while living in a shit shack, if you're going to be living in one either way?

Not PP but we pay $2500 per month for a 1350 square foot apartment with two bedrooms, two baths, and a den (with a window and closet and door, so could be a third bedroom, but we mainly use it as a guestroom / den), zoned for Murch/Deal/Wilson. These places exist, they just aren't the fancy new buildings is the hot neighborhoods. We're holding on tight like PP.

https://www.apartments.com/washington-dc/2-bedrooms-2-bathrooms-under-2500/?bb=_n1si6gp1H0xxsvhC

There's exactly one listing under $2500 west of the park, and it's 750 SF. Not sure how they get 2BR and 2BA in that!

Maybe you've been there a long time or it's a total dump but that's not at all typical.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We kept renting and socking away money. It will either be a down payment on a place someday or somewhere else, or it will boost our retirement savings. In the meantime, we live in an area with a school that works for our kids and an easy commute. I'm willing to compromise, but only so much.

Part of the reason people settle is because the rentals are usually woefully outdated, poorly maintained and still very expensive. If you have been able to find a rental that you like more than what's for sale, with an affordable price, then hold on tight.

Yup. Around here it's extremely unlikely that the rent on a place is going to be a lot less than the mortgage would be for the same situation. So why not actually benefit from the remarkable appreciation homes around here typically enjoy while living in a shit shack, if you're going to be living in one either way?

Not PP but we pay $2500 per month for a 1350 square foot apartment with two bedrooms, two baths, and a den (with a window and closet and door, so could be a third bedroom, but we mainly use it as a guestroom / den), zoned for Murch/Deal/Wilson. These places exist, they just aren't the fancy new buildings is the hot neighborhoods. We're holding on tight like PP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We kept renting and socking away money. It will either be a down payment on a place someday or somewhere else, or it will boost our retirement savings. In the meantime, we live in an area with a school that works for our kids and an easy commute. I'm willing to compromise, but only so much.

Part of the reason people settle is because the rentals are usually woefully outdated, poorly maintained and still very expensive. If you have been able to find a rental that you like more than what's for sale, with an affordable price, then hold on tight.

Yup. Around here it's extremely unlikely that the rent on a place is going to be a lot less than the mortgage would be for the same situation. So why not actually benefit from the remarkable appreciation homes around here typically enjoy while living in a shit shack, if you're going to be living in one either way?

Anonymous wrote:We kept renting and socking away money. It will either be a down payment on a place someday or somewhere else, or it will boost our retirement savings. In the meantime, we live in an area with a school that works for our kids and an easy commute. I'm willing to compromise, but only so much.

Part of the reason people settle is because the rentals are usually woefully outdated, poorly maintained and still very expensive. If you have been able to find a rental that you like more than what's for sale, with an affordable price, then hold on tight.

We compromised. Bought a decent sized townhouse that has everything new and updated in a great school district, but a little bit further away, and without a backyard (though we do have a balcony).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you do? Do you just settle at his point? Home prices aren’t going to get cheaper anytime soon.

I just sold in DC b/c my charter school did not have a path to high school and I cannot take the stress of playing the DC lottery again when the kids are approaching a critical school age. Moving into a 2-bedroom and hoping something hits the market in winter where there is less competition. I wanted to move to in or around Vienna but all I see is junk in my price range $850,000-$950,000. I'm seriously considering moving to an area where the schools are not ranked as high and hope for the best. That or leave this crappy expensive area altogether.

It is expensive around here, but if you can't find something that you can live with for $950K then your standards are ridiculously high. The vast majority of non-new-build 3-4 BR houses in NoVa are well within that price range.

That budget in DC a modest Wilson feeder neighborhood like AU Park or Chevy Chase could get you a 2 or 3 bedroom that probably needs some work. But the competition for those houses is fierce.

Chevy Chase is among the most expensive neighborhoods in the entire metro area. He said he was looking in Vienna. If you can't find something decent for 950K in Vienna then you're doing it wrong.

What about this? https://www.redfin.com/VA/Vienna/1718-Asoleado-Ln-22182/home/9363491

Again, I think OP's standards might include things that aren't reasonable at this price point. Like, are you looking for a 4BR, 3500 SF house on a flat lot with a big yard and a new renovation that's under 10 minutes walk to the metro? Yeah, that might be over a million. But if you can be a little smaller, a little farther away from metro, less than perfect lot, no problem. It's not "junk" if it's simply not actually the unicorn house everyone dreams of.

We kept renting and socking away money. It will either be a down payment on a place someday or somewhere else, or it will boost our retirement savings. In the meantime, we live in an area with a school that works for our kids and an easy commute. I'm willing to compromise, but only so much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you do? Do you just settle at his point? Home prices aren’t going to get cheaper anytime soon.

I just sold in DC b/c my charter school did not have a path to high school and I cannot take the stress of playing the DC lottery again when the kids are approaching a critical school age. Moving into a 2-bedroom and hoping something hits the market in winter where there is less competition. I wanted to move to in or around Vienna but all I see is junk in my price range $850,000-$950,000. I'm seriously considering moving to an area where the schools are not ranked as high and hope for the best. That or leave this crappy expensive area altogether.

It is expensive around here, but if you can't find something that you can live with for $950K then your standards are ridiculously high. The vast majority of non-new-build 3-4 BR houses in NoVa are well within that price range.

That budget in DC a modest Wilson feeder neighborhood like AU Park or Chevy Chase could get you a 2 or 3 bedroom that probably needs some work. But the competition for those houses is fierce.

We bought something we knew we could slowly renovate and turn into what we wanted.

We did most of the work (structural issues and an addition) the first year then did some big cosmetic projects slowly over the years (like kitchen and bath).

Now we actually get letters every year from people begging us to sell our house to them!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you do? Do you just settle at his point? Home prices aren’t going to get cheaper anytime soon.

I just sold in DC b/c my charter school did not have a path to high school and I cannot take the stress of playing the DC lottery again when the kids are approaching a critical school age. Moving into a 2-bedroom and hoping something hits the market in winter where there is less competition. I wanted to move to in or around Vienna but all I see is junk in my price range $850,000-$950,000. I'm seriously considering moving to an area where the schools are not ranked as high and hope for the best. That or leave this crappy expensive area altogether.

It is expensive around here, but if you can't find something that you can live with for $950K then your standards are ridiculously high. The vast majority of non-new-build 3-4 BR houses in NoVa are well within that price range.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re renting and waiting for a market crash. And if that doesn’t happen before a job opportunity in a cheaper city, we’ll move. We’re too old and we work too hard to play this real estate game where we have to live in -and pay interest on - an expensive shitbox.

You're going to end up moving. Better find a city you can live with. I hear Dallas and Charlotte are nice. Maybe Syracuse?

Chicago is dirt cheap compared to DC. Nothing wrong with Charlotte. DC is a great city but it’s not the end all be all of cities.

There are also 600 homicides a year and it continues to be one of the most corrupt and badly run cities in America. And real estate is a huge gamble there. At least in this area, you get decent appreciation on your shitbox. https://www.zillow.com/chicago-il/home-values/

I would live in Chicago only if you really love it, because it's got all the problems we have in DC and then some.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you do? Do you just settle at his point? Home prices aren’t going to get cheaper anytime soon.

I just sold in DC b/c my charter school did not have a path to high school and I cannot take the stress of playing the DC lottery again when the kids are approaching a critical school age. Moving into a 2-bedroom and hoping something hits the market in winter where there is less competition. I wanted to move to in or around Vienna but all I see is junk in my price range $850,000-$950,000. I'm seriously considering moving to an area where the schools are not ranked as high and hope for the best. That or leave this crappy expensive area altogether.

Wow, prices in Virginia must be going nuts. I knew it was cheaper in Maryland but that kind of budget will easily get you a good school here. Can you link an example of a house that's in your price range in Vienna with a good school that's a crapbox? I'm really curious now.

We adjusted our expectations. Ended up with a smallish house that could use updating, but on the day-to-day it works really well for us. Love the schools and neighborhood, very walkable, and commute is ok. Staring down five years of day care (some of those with two in daycare) we realized we could buy something that wasn't perfectly updated or we could continue to shift rentals every year or two. Once we moved in it didn't feel like a big compromise at all, and we are very happy we did it. Maybe we'll look at moving at the ten year mark if we decide it doesn't work anymore but I'm glad we bought when we did even if it wasn't the house we thought we wanted when we started looking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re renting and waiting for a market crash. And if that doesn’t happen before a job opportunity in a cheaper city, we’ll move. We’re too old and we work too hard to play this real estate game where we have to live in -and pay interest on - an expensive shitbox.

My sentiments exactly. You just made me feel better.

When the market crashed last time, there were people convinced that it wasn't done falling. Even after the rebound, some people were waiting "for the other shoe to drop". In the case of the market today, a recession may lower home prices but you won't see 2009/2010 pricing again. Remember, that recession was caused by a collapse in the housing market. The next recession will likely be caused by something else and because of that, any drop in home prices won't be the sort you saw last time.

Anonymous wrote:What did you do? Do you just settle at his point? Home prices aren’t going to get cheaper anytime soon.

I just sold in DC b/c my charter school did not have a path to high school and I cannot take the stress of playing the DC lottery again when the kids are approaching a critical school age. Moving into a 2-bedroom and hoping something hits the market in winter where there is less competition. I wanted to move to in or around Vienna but all I see is junk in my price range $850,000-$950,000. I'm seriously considering moving to an area where the schools are not ranked as high and hope for the best. That or leave this crappy expensive area altogether.