Would like to buy a house in NoVa but don't know if we'll be able to find what we're looking for (Arlington: real estate, apartments) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

handy man88 · 09-02-2008, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doglover29

My hubby and I have lived in DC for two years and love it here. We have always rented, and are now ready to be first-time homebuyers. We've been looking at houses in NoVa for about a month now and haven't seen anything we like in a price range we're comfortable with (less than $600K). We're only interested in single family houses. We're strongly considering leaving DC for a city with lower cost of living (i.e. Indianapolis) so that we can get our dream house. The houses we've been seeing here don't really have anything we're looking for.

We're mostly seeing 70's style split levels with carports instead of garages or 20's-50's Colonials that are fixer-uppers. We are looking for a nice neighborhood with a decent-sized yard, metro access unimportant, and we prefer a house built in 1980 or later or an older one that is completely updated.

We've been looking in McLean, Vienna, North Arlington, South Arlington, and Dunn Loring/Tysons. We need something that's no more than a 30 minute commute from downtown DC.

We like McLean the best and love the neighborhoods we've seen there--nice sized yards, mature trees, etc.

I understand that when you live in an expensive city you have to downgrade your expectations for a house, but buying a crapshack for $700 really bothers us. How have others come to terms with these outrageous prices for houses that are small, ugly, and in need of major updating? Is it possible to find a "dream home" for less than $600K in NoVa, within a 30 minute commute from downtown DC? It depresses us to think about spending that much, which is why we're seriously considering leaving DC and moving to the midwest, but my hubby loves his job here and we love the DC area in general.

Any specific neighborhoods/houses anyone knows of that fit our criteria? We've been going to lots of showings and open houses but haven't seen anything we like.

We plan on staying in this house for a long time, so we want a really great house.

We don't have kids yet so school districts aren't super important.

I think you should consider south Vienna (south of Maple) or West Falls Church. Both are reasonable areas, close to metro, and have good schools. West Falls Church is probably the best with regard to proximity to DC and public transportation (2 metro stops and good bus routes).

Don't be naive in thinking/saying that school districts aren't "super important." Once it comes time to sell, if you're looking to move up, your home won't move as fast if the schools are bad/mediocre.

Yankeesfan · 09-03-2008, 10:20 AM

I'm not trying to be rude here, just helpful. Is it really necessary to put your "dream" house so high on the priority scale that all else comes to revolve around it? You have plenty of time in life to work toward getting the house you have in mind. Since it's just the two of you, why not consider a new, large townhouse with upgrades? Or be willing to increase your commuting time somewhat? (Although not by a whole lot, you don't want your life to then revolve around an unpleasant commute.) We have our dream house now but the first house we bought was a small two-bedroom townhouse.

doglover29 · 09-03-2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

I'm not trying to be rude here, just helpful. Is it really necessary to put your "dream" house so high on the priority scale that all else comes to revolve around it? You have plenty of time in life to work toward getting the house you have in mind. Since it's just the two of you, why not consider a new, large townhouse with upgrades? Or be willing to increase your commuting time somewhat? (Although not by a whole lot, you don't want your life to then revolve around an unpleasant commute.) We have our dream house now but the first house we bought was a small two-bedroom townhouse.

This is a great question and one we have been pondering in great depth.
Well I guess because we're looking at this house as our permanent house. Packing up and moving is hard, and we don't particularly enjoy that, as I have lived in 5 different states in the last 9 years. I guess we don't really like the idea of the starter home, because most of these starter homes are not worth the high price tag here in DC that you have to pay for them. Paying $700 K for an old, small, outdated house without a garage seems nuts to me, even if it is a starter home. It would be one thing if your starter home was in the $200-$300 K range, but totally another thing when you're paying $700 K for a house that is not only nothing special but is totally outdated.

It seems like most people don't really care about what their home looks like or feels like to them. I don't want to buy one of these 70's split levels with a carport that needs lots of updating because I want to live in a nice house. That is more important to me than the city I live in, because I think you spend most of your time in your home. So because in DC it seems like you can't have both: a nice home in a close-in suburb and the benefits of living in a huge city like DC, I'll take the nice home in the less exciting city.

Also, my hubby works 70 hours a week and doesn't want a lengthy and frustrating long commute in DC traffic. I guess we're starting to wonder why anyone would decide to live here in DC if they have to settle for a less-than-ideal house that they don't enjoy coming home to every day, just to remain in DC. There are many other options that are almost as good, in my opinion, such as Philly, that provide almost everything DC has to offer but with a more reasonable real estate market.

aliciamonahan · 09-03-2008, 01:17 PM

You may need to look in areas a bit farther south to get more for your money. Supply and Demand has caused home prices in the Metro DC area to skyrocket. Fortunately prices have declined and seem to be steadying out. How soon are you trying to move? There are a lot of foreclosures and short sales up in that area, but you may be looking at 2-3 months before you can move into the home, unless the bank is on the ball. Have you worked with a Realtor yet? If you've only been looking at open houses, online and magazines you're not seeing everything that is available, so you may be missing out on a lot of properties. I am a Realtor that works in the northern Virginia area. I would love to help you find what you're looking for, before you make a drastic move across the country!

doglover29 · 09-03-2008, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aliciamonahan

You may need to look in areas a bit farther south to get more for your money. Supply and Demand has caused home prices in the Metro DC area to skyrocket. Fortunately prices have declined and seem to be steadying out. How soon are you trying to move? There are a lot of foreclosures and short sales up in that area, but you may be looking at 2-3 months before you can move into the home, unless the bank is on the ball. Have you worked with a Realtor yet? If you've only been looking at open houses, online and magazines you're not seeing everything that is available, so you may be missing out on a lot of properties. I am a Realtor that works in the northern Virginia area. I would love to help you find what you're looking for, before you make a drastic move across the country!

We're open to moving at any time, since we're renters, and just need to give 30 days' notice. We haven't really worked with a realtor yet, though we've interviewed a few and found them to be incredibly pushy. They all want us to sign contracts with them immediately, which we are not going to do. We search the MLS data base a few times a week and contact the listing agents to see places we like, we also get emails with properties from realtors.

We're not sure whether or not we want to work with a buyer's agent--so far, we've been put off by all the realtors we've interviewed. One realtor we interviewed and saw a few houses with told us that his average buyers only see 5 houses before they buy. I thought that was amusing, as we will probably want to see at least 30 before we buy. Also, we're up-front with the realtors we've interviewed and told them there's no guarantee we're going to buy anything in the area--as we are on the verge of forgetting about DC entirely and looking in Philly and the midwest.

Novamom06 · 09-03-2008, 02:22 PM

check out loudoun.....you'll love it here, and I have always found it to be well worth the commute.

Novamom06 · 09-03-2008, 02:23 PM

Forgot to mention...the way to make it work is flex hours. Most employers offer them these days, and if your husbands employer is in that camp great, if not, try to negotiate it, especially telework days. Most of the progressive employers are now focused on results and less on when/where you are working....

lindy112 · 09-03-2008, 02:32 PM

We just bought a house in Springfield in June of this year. We had a great realtor - not pushy at all, didn't make us sign a contract and didn't complain one time while we looked at 26 houses in 3 days (no joke!). Let me know if you want her name.

claremarie · 09-03-2008, 02:38 PM

I guess we don't really like the idea of the starter home, because most of these starter homes are not worth the high price tag here in DC that you have to pay for them.

A house is "worth" whatever price a buyer is willing to pay for it. To you, viewing homes through a midwestern price lens, $700K is a ridiculous price for a 1970s-era home without a garage; to someone coming from, say, San Francisco or New York City, it's a steal. But if you absolutely need the updated 4 BR 2.5 BA house with a 2-car garage on a nice-sized lot, with a 30 minute commute, for under $700K, you're not going to find it in McLean. You might be much happier in Indiana.

NOVAmtneer82 · 09-03-2008, 09:33 PM

I really don't know what to tell you. A 1970s era starter home in McLean or Arlington is going to cost you $700K, there just really isn't any way around that. You aren't in Indiana or Philly, you are in the DC area, and prices here happen to be among the highest in the country.

It seems that you are excluding one of the main types of properties people initially buy in this area....a townhouse. Is there a particular reason that with no kids you aren't even considering this option? Or a condo? Your price range more than allows you to afford both in the communities you desire. If this is a starter home as you say, why not just buy a TH, and then move on up several years down the road.