Looking to buy.....need suggestions (Woodbridge, Herndon: best neighborhood, short sales, real estate market) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

bds120 · 03-19-2009, 09:42 AM

I am working in Herndon. I will be a first time home buyer and I am trying to find a good place to stay. I like Herndon but would stay in Fairfax. Does anyone have any suggestions. I am basically looking for a nice place with a garage. I prefer a SFH. And would be looking for a foreclosed or something of the sort. Looking to stay around 190k through 250k.

novahousehunter · 03-19-2009, 11:52 AM

That's a tight budget for Fairfax. Under 250 is mostly older 1-2 br condos, with the occasional 1940s-50s fixer-upper rancher thrown in.

You might find garage THs or single family homes in Herndon or Sterling (search either of those on this forum for discussions of which neighborhoods to seek/avoid). I have friends in the Hunters Creek neighborhood of Herndon which seems pretty nice and has a couple SFHs in that price range right now.

typical guy · 03-19-2009, 12:15 PM

You're going to have to look in Prince William County for that price range. I'm buying there myself. Expect to look at a lot of houses. We looked at 25 or 30 houses. Keep in mind also that the pictures often times look good on the outside but the house is trashed or has tons of toxic black mold growing in the basement. The only way to tell what the house is like is to go inside of it with your real estate agent. You're going to see a lot of houses that are in terrible condition then you'll see other houses that are in decent shape that cost the same. I don't think that the people listing homes look at the house's they're competing against. They see the current market prices and assume it's equal while in fact you can get a significantly nicer house that LOOKS THE SAME on the outside (but inside is trashed) for the same price.

With foreclosures, most of the nice looking foreclosures that remain on the market a long time have a lot of problems with them and you won't want to buy them (this is why they're on the market for hundreds of days). The small houses that are foreclosures (split foyers and such) you can probably negotiate down the price if they've been on the market long enough. When looking, you're going to see a ton of short sales. You can make an offer on these but I wouldn't recommend wasting your time. I made an offer on one and was rejected without explanation after waiting a week. I was lucky it was only a week, normally banks take a month or longer to reply.

If you see a "good foreclosure" on the market, expect to pay close to or above asking. I've been out-bid on houses. I'm not going into a bidding war on a foreclosure. Keep in mind that 200-250k is the price range most people can finance with a single income. Because of this, people are coming out of the woodwork looking to buy in PWC. If you look in PWC at the 300-400k price range, you won't have as much competition but at the range you are interested in - lets just say, make your offer fast if you like the place.

Another option is townhouses. In PWC you can get some cheap townhouses. I didn't look at any because I'd rather have a SFH but since everyone is swarming around the low prices houses in the county, the townhouse market is in shambles. I've seen them from 75-125k and definately at 150k. I'd say that if you really want a SFH for 200-250k, look in PWC and expect to look through dozens of homes before finding one that is in good shape, in your price range, and doesn't have an offer on it.

AmandaVA · 03-19-2009, 02:25 PM

I'm not sure how much you're going to find around Fairfax in that price range (for a SFH, that is). We just bought a SFH in Woodbridge for $155k, and I work in Herndon as well. A SFH with a decent-sized yard was a must, so we had to venture out into PW County. Fairfax County was a no-go.

Would PW County be too far for you?

Forgot to add, the above poster is right when it comes to acting fast on a house you want. We looked at so many houses that were in horrible shape, then were outbid on around 4-5 houses. Every house we put a contract on had multiple offers. It was awful!

spidercharm · 03-19-2009, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bds120

I am working in Herndon. I will be a first time home buyer and I am trying to find a good place to stay. I like Herndon but would stay in Fairfax. Does anyone have any suggestions. I am basically looking for a nice place with a garage. I prefer a SFH. And would be looking for a foreclosed or something of the sort. Looking to stay around 190k through 250k.

If you can wait for a year or two, you can probably get SFH in Fairfax County at that price. It won't be brand new, but you will be able to afford a decent SFH in Fairfax once things return to normal.

DC Real estate market is a bubble in itself. Renting is dirt cheap here in FX relatively. I am renting a 2 br, 2 bath in one of the best neighborhood in Fairfax- great school district - I can walk to metro - and only have to pay 1400 a month (BTW that includes property taxes, maintenance, zero commitment - don't forget that when you think about rent vs. buy). Unless you are really desperate, you wouldn't want to rush into buying a depreciating asset.

Again, everyone is in a different situation. But, that's just my honest opinion. Take it for what that's worth!! Good luck!!

typical guy · 03-19-2009, 03:12 PM

I'm not sure if you realize this but 1400 a month is not really what most people would call "affordable". It's affordable in the DC metro area but it's hardly "affordable" for people in most parts of the country.

spidercharm · 03-19-2009, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by typical guy

I'm not sure if you realize this but 1400 a month is not really what most people would call "affordable". It's affordable in the DC metro area but it's hardly "affordable" for people in most parts of the country.

That's true, it's not cheap. But, "relative" to mortgage+property tax+insurance in FX county, you can't beat it!!!

typical guy · 03-19-2009, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spidercharm

That's true, it's not cheap. But, "relative" to mortgage+property tax+insurance in FX county, you can't beat it!!!

That's true but in PWC you can get a smaller house on a decent amount of land and pay the same or maybe one to two hundred more. You would be paying equity in and have more than 200 bucks in deductions from your mortgage interest.

novahousehunter · 03-19-2009, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spidercharm

That's true, it's not cheap. But, "relative" to mortgage+property tax+insurance in FX county, you can't beat it!!!

It's actually just about the same as a mortgage/taxes/ins for a house in the OP's price range.

So it just depends on if he believes that a year of renting will give him more than 17K more purchasing power (nobody knows this for sure, but if you say it will, then you should wait/rent, if you think not, you should buy now).

spidercharm · 03-19-2009, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by novahousehunter

It's actually just about the same as a mortgage/taxes/ins for a house in the OP's price range.

So it just depends on if he believes that a year of renting will give him more than 17K more purchasing power (nobody knows this for sure, but if you say it will, then you should wait/rent, if you think not, you should buy now).

It's unlikely you can find something livable in that price range in FX.