How can singles afford houses in NOVA?!?! (Arlington, Alexandria: rental, mortgage)

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by SmerkyGrl

Surprising? Well you're nicer than me. I find it annoying.

Me too.

[terrence81]

Figured I"d chime in. Yes I must admit the whining is getting annoying. It's expensive to live here based on supply and demand. There's nothing that one can do about the prices here; it is what it is.

As far as wanting to buy before 30. Well it's possible but very hard to do this in Arlington. Arlington is a very wealthy area so there are plenty of people with the means to buy the $500K house if you are not one of those people then you have to look at where you can buy a house, simple as that.

I've only met two people in their twenties who are in a position to buy and they weren't looking for places in Arlington. They were looking in Woodbridge and Springfield but last I heard they were still having trouble, due to well not being able to match more impressive offers. The only person I've met ANYWHERE not just here, that bought a house before 30 by themselves was a single gal who lucked out with a foreclosure in an area not unlike places like Woodbridge, Dale City, Largo or Bowie, ie not the cool most desirable areas but still nice with relatively low crime.

Personally, I'm looking for a new place myself, somewhere closer to work in Arlington. I"m having a hard time because the quality of housing in my price range doesn't match what I'm used to in the suburbs. Where's the ample parking? Where's the wall to wall carpeting? Where are the nice granite kitchen counters? Where's the free pool membership? Where's the closet space? Then I realized that I have to make sacrifices to live in Arlington and have that short commute. Dammit I'm going to miss my closet space. The same goes for homeownership.

Honestly, as someone who has gone from middle class to unbelievably poor to middle class again, I appreciate just having a roof over my head. Owning a house with a yard is not your God given right. You have to work at it, save, and sacrifice. Part of that sacrifice may be to look elsewhere for employment and a home; the DC area is not for everyone.

[Claire2900]

ScranBarre, I think you mentioned working for DCAA. You are WAY underpaid for someone in this area with audit, accounting degree, CPA, etc. Grant Thornton and a few other accounting firms would pay someone w/ audit experience at least twice what you are making.

[powersnax]

Great news, I found a one bedroom shack built in the 1930's... for 245k! Gotta love NOVA!


2143 NELSON St ARLINGTON, VA 22204
Price: $245,000
Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Lot Size: 5,000 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached
Style: Other
Stories: 2
Year Built: 1931
Community: NAUCK GREEN VALLEY
County: Arlington
MLS#: AR7191952
Source: MRIS
Status: Active
On Redfin: 2 days
Land to build on in a great location. Build your dream house here. Existing residence is a tear down. Value is in the land. Sale is for a land lot of 2 parcels totaling 5000 square feet. Close to Shirlington shops and restaurants.

[Tone509]

Well... a positive spin on that would be that it's a good opportunity for a DIY-type person.

Originally Posted by powersnax

Great news, I found a one bedroom shack built in the 1930's... for 245k! Gotta love NOVA!


2143 NELSON St ARLINGTON, VA 22204
Price: $245,000
Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Lot Size: 5,000 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached
Style: Other
Stories: 2
Year Built: 1931
Community: NAUCK GREEN VALLEY
County: Arlington
MLS#: AR7191952
Source: MRIS
Status: Active
On Redfin: 2 days
Land to build on in a great location. Build your dream house here. Existing residence is a tear down. Value is in the land. Sale is for a land lot of 2 parcels totaling 5000 square feet. Close to Shirlington shops and restaurants.

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by powersnax

Great news, I found a one bedroom shack built in the 1930's... for 245k! Gotta love NOVA!


2143 NELSON St ARLINGTON, VA 22204
Price: $245,000
Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Lot Size: 5,000 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached
Style: Other
Stories: 2
Year Built: 1931
Community: NAUCK GREEN VALLEY
County: Arlington
MLS#: AR7191952
Source: MRIS
Status: Active
On Redfin: 2 days
Land to build on in a great location. Build your dream house here. Existing residence is a tear down. Value is in the land. Sale is for a land lot of 2 parcels totaling 5000 square feet. Close to Shirlington shops and restaurants.

That price is much over the assessed land value, too.

But go up in price, and a block away, and there's AR7186986. A 4BR, 3 bath townhouse in Arlington, built in 1988, $325,000.

Or a 2BR small brick detached house at Washington and Columbia Pike, $324,000. A bike ride away from the Pentagon and Pentagon City Mall. Opportunity's knocking!

[athousandlogins]

I brought this thread back up because I saw an article in The Post today that reminded me of it. Well, it's actually a blog post presented as an article, but God knows these are tough times for newspapers.

Anyway, the thrust of the article is that there isn't enough housing for moderate-income families within reasonable commuting distance. Big freaking surprise, right? But relevant to this thread, it also says:

The report says we have a balance or an oversupply of for-sale homes for singles in this income range in downtown Washington, Bethesda, Tysons Corner and Alexandria.

The income range she is referring to is $43,140 to $71,900.

Of course, these homes she is talking about are condos, not detached SFHs with yards. But still. The housing is out there for singles, and it's apparently a buyer's market at that level. With the $8000 tax credit being extended (something I personally disagree with very much, but it's out there), there's no reason a single person with a healthy paycheck can't buy *something* in NoVA. If this is a good idea, if this is what someone wants out of life, that's all dependent on individual circumstances. But the housing for singles is definitely out there.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by athousandlogins

I brought this thread back up because I saw an article in The Post today that reminded me of it. Well, it's actually a blog post presented as an article, but God knows these are tough times for newspapers.

Anyway, the thrust of the article is that there isn't enough housing for moderate-income families within reasonable commuting distance. Big freaking surprise, right? But relevant to this thread, it also says:

The report says we have a balance or an oversupply of for-sale homes for singles in this income range in downtown Washington, Bethesda, Tysons Corner and Alexandria.

The income range she is referring to is $43,140 to $71,900.

Of course, these homes she is talking about are condos, not detached SFHs with yards. But still. The housing is out there for singles, and it's apparently a buyer's market at that level. With the $8000 tax credit being extended (something I personally disagree with very much, but it's out there), there's no reason a single person with a healthy paycheck can't buy *something* in NoVA. If this is a good idea, if this is what someone wants out of life, that's all dependent on individual circumstances. But the housing for singles is definitely out there.

Every single I know in that income range has a very large amount of student loans, both public, which can be negotiated to a certain extent, and private loans, which have large monthly payments which increase exponentially every year. Many of those people must get out from under those crushing Private Student Loan payments before they can begin to assess a dive into real estate (so say age 30-33 approx.)

The only singles I know who own homes, SFH, live in smaller metros where a house is 200K, thus their 55K a year salary goes much farther. My pure guess is a 200K condo here in NoVA is not in a desirable (near Metro stop/close to quaint shopping, etc..) area.

If all you want is a house, live somewhere like KCMO. But you will not have other amenities. Its all give and take.

[athousandlogins]

Originally Posted by leighland

Every single I know in that income range has a very large amount of student loans, both public, which can be negotiated to a certain extent, and private loans, which have large monthly payments which increase exponentially every year. Many of those people must get out from under those crushing Private Student Loan payments before they can begin to assess a dive into real estate (so say age 30-33 approx.)

The only singles I know who own homes, SFH, live in smaller metros where a house is 200K, thus their 55K a year salary goes much farther. My pure guess is a 200K condo here in NoVA is not in a desirable (near Metro stop/close to quaint shopping, etc..) area.

If all you want is a house, live somewhere like KCMO. But you will not have other amenities. Its all give and take.

Yes, singles around here would have to wait a few years after graduation to buy. No doubt. Get established, pay down student loans, whatever. But the options are still out there, once they pass that hurdle.

Like this. Walking distance to Rosslyn Metro, under 200K. Or this. I'm not saying these are perfect properties, or ideal in any way - they'd have to settle for one bedroom, and you're not going to find a reasonably-priced anything plum in the middle of Clarendon - but there are possibilities, even near Metro, that single-earners can afford. If they're willing to make the compromises on space. I haven't looked, but I'd bet there are some good ones around Shirlington, too...better prices around there because there's no Metro station, but plenty of bus access and near a cute shopping area.

Though I definitely agree that if homeownership is your A#1 goal, you're best off in smaller metro area where your money goes a LOT further. I wouldn't want to be a single shopping for property in the D.C. area - I just don't like the implication that it's an entirely hopeless situation, either.

I guess I don't have a lot of patience with the, "what about singles??" lament. At least a studio or 1 bed condo is an option for singles, even if it isn't the person's dream home.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by leighland

If all you want is a house, live somewhere like KCMO. But you will not have other amenities. Its all give and take.

Agreed. This is why I've begun to investigate Pittsburgh instead of further burdening the forum with my "why can't middle-class singles afford decent housing here?" threads. As I said for me personally the benefits to NoVA (proximity to DC, diversity, ummm....cul-de-sacs and big-box stores?) don't justify the fact that I'll never have my dream life here when I could take a small pay cut and see a huge increase in quality-of-life by moving to a place like Pittsburgh, with nearly all of the benefits DC has at a fraction of the price and congestion. People forget that $70,000 in DC isn't necessarily "better" than $40,000 in Pittsburgh if that $70,000 salary gets you a lousy studio or 1-BR condo in a far-flung part of DC/NoVA while a $40,000 salary gets you your very own fixer-upper historic rowhome in the heart of an up-and-coming Pittsburgh neighborhood like the Mexican War Streets in a neighborhood that feels rooted instead of transitional, or, in my case, "cartoonish."