Depressing (rentals, condos, house)

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by 5stones

don't discount TH's. ALOT have have quite nice yards and will have pools and playgounds too. our SFH had a smaller yard than alot of the TH we looked at.

I too agree that your 30k debt on 120k should be easily paid off. BUT you have to stick with a very tight budget. If you have big carpayments maybe reconsider and sell for older smaller cars.

as other have said...homeownership esp in this market doesn't always pay off for the tax break. esp if the market is declining and you are LOSING equity instead of building equity.

But cutting down on the commute miles would be a better option than moving out for the bigger newer house. Gas prices will hit 4 bucks a gallon and driving from Herdon to DC isn't getting any better.

SO really if you are really interested in homeownership...start with a good realator, and look for end unit TH with yards. maybe in the falls church area (metro!!) you have ALL the time in the world in a slow market to really look at the properties and find one that needs a little TLC, but has waht you need.

Also remember when figuring your finances...your monthy payment will not be just your loan. yOu have taxes, insurance, and propbably PMI insurance, trash, sewar, all utilites etc... and maintence costs.

Good luck.

I totally agree. We found a nice TH with a much larger backyard than you would expect. And, it has a nice privacy fence. The area has more privacy than some SFHs.

[ersatz]

Bigbluelandrover

I totally agree with you! If someone is rushing you into a decision, it is usually a bad decision. Rent first and look around and do your homework. Pay attention and crunch the numbers and decide what is best for your situation based on the math and personal priorities.

[steven r.]

Kill the debt, your credit score will increase, and you should get better rates for homes.

[marie5v]

Originally Posted by twinmma

oh, also want to say I understand the daycare thing. I have to be a stay at home mom b/c we can NOT afford to put the kids in daycare...$30K plus a year for two the same age!!!

Same here - I really don't make enough to pay for daycare. I work part time and can barely afford one day a week of a babysitter. We are just hanging on waiting for school-age, assuming then I will be free to work more and make significantly more money.

I don't understand the OP's depression - sounds like she's done great with the debt and I seriously applaud you guys for living within your means while paying it. I'm pretty sure that income should be enough to buy something, but in this area you really can't do 300K anywhere any city. As we always say here, compromise is the key - you can certainly find a very lovely townhome a bit west in the suburbs, or a slightly older townhome in the closer in suburbs like Burke or Fairfax or Springfield for example.

Try to look on the bright side - you could be doing a lot worse. We have your income and a lot of debt along with a big mortgage, and I think we should have been more frugal about our home buying and maybe gone west a bit. Either that or just kept renting in the city.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by steven r.

Kill the debt, your credit score will increase, and you should get better rates for homes.

They may have already considering this post is over 4 years old.

[snowdenscold]

Originally Posted by ariadel

There seem to be over a dozen SFHs for sale in Reston/Herndon for under 300k as we speak!

I've seen 4br Townhouses with 2-4 baths sell in Herndon for 165-190 over and over in the past four months. I think you could get an impressive square footage end unit townhouse with a finished basement if you have a 300k budget.

[Redacted (and I know the post is almost 5 years old)... though I think there's some funny historical listings and numbers going on w/ MLS as I browse that don't match ICare and/or they were just foreclosures]

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

They may have already considering this post is over 4 years old.

Who digs these things up? If something comes up when you're doing a search, please look at the dates before offering advice/responses

[Dazed&Confused]

I guess I may not have the most popular opinion, but I plan to rent for life. I thought owning a home was the be all-end all, but I spent far too many sleepless nights, as a homeowner, stressed out when the HVAC system went, the roof had to be replaced, and the slab under our house cracked and I didn't have thousands of dollars at my fingertips. The best thing I ever did was get out from under the stress of it all. I like be able to pick up the phone and call the landlord if the AC goes out, the fridge is on the fritz, the basement has water in it, a tree falls in a storm! Never again for me! As a matter of fact, I may look for an apartment once the current lease is over on this SFH we rent. The easier, the better.

[Lemming95]

The date-2008- is kind of funny in a train wreck kind of way. Everyone encouraging her to go for it-buy a house. ...and then 6 months later the whole house of cards fell, prices imploded, keys were thrown into bank mailboxes.
Guess hindsight is clearer then future predictions. Although I grant you prices have recovered. Maybe not to the crazy peak, but a decent return over time.

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by Lemming95

The date-2008- is kind of funny in a train wreck kind of way. Everyone encouraging her to go for it-buy a house. ...and then 6 months later the whole house of cards fell, prices imploded, keys were thrown into bank mailboxes.
Guess hindsight is clearer then future predictions. Although I grant you prices have recovered. Maybe not to the crazy peak, but a decent return over time.

The RE house of cards had already started to fall IIRC. The inevitable collapse of major financial firms happened a few months later.

Eventually jobs will spread out westward (to Loudoun and maybe Frederick MD), then eastward (to Prince George's) ... the only other choice is everyone living in 800 square foot condos or commuting 2 hours.