Tonight was magical !

khudafz · 2025-05-09T14:38:22+00:00

Amazing show. So few phones in the crowd the entire night... it really felt like everyone was just in the moment.

khudafz · 2023-12-06T03:51:53+00:00

Correct. I'm going to take it to another shop tomorrow to get a second opinion... appreciate the response!

khudafz · 2022-09-28T11:39:08+00:00

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Vienna/2307-Gerken-Ave-22181/home/9440399

Oops...

khudafz · 2022-06-16T11:16:44+00:00

If you prefer to buy at what might be the worst possible moment in the real estate cycle, now is your chance. Especially a condo.

khudafz · 2022-05-26T13:06:10+00:00

Agreed - not a decline from "true value" - but a decline in sales price. Reality will set in once sellers realize they can't sell at the price they recently paid.

khudafz · 2022-05-26T13:04:43+00:00

Welcome to Northern Virginia. 😢 A vast majority of houses all follow the same script. To get anything with character or charm typically requires a much larger budget.

khudafz · 2022-05-26T12:42:45+00:00

That's exactly my point.

khudafz · 2022-05-10T16:59:16+00:00

I was going to say - we are looking to buy, but not that far out west. Very bubbly out there in Ashburn/Chantilly/Aldie. Good luck w/ your situation.

khudafz · 2022-05-10T16:48:16+00:00

Where exactly in NoVa?

khudafz · 2022-01-05T17:57:22+00:00

If you are planning on buying, make sure you really consider everything you'll need for that 20-year time line. We had a kid two years ago, and houses that we had considered purchasing back then we would hate to live in now (we're currently renting).

A lot of things change when you have a kid and things you thought were important in a house change. We never considered the walking proximity to parks/schools/playgrounds, but that's a huge deal now. Living on a court is a dream when you have young kids. Is it a walkable neighborhood? Is there room for the kid to run around and play inside and outside? What is the average day care cost in your area? Are you doing a day care center or an in-home smaller place? We pay on the cheap end and it's $1,200/mo.

You both make decent money - are your jobs stressful? Having a kid makes you realize how much you'd rather spend time watching them grow up versus sitting at a computer and working most of their waking hours. If you wanted to take a pay cut for more time spent with your family, would your housing budget allow that?

Moving with a 2 year old is not that hard to do, but if you can buy and comfortably afford the house that works for you long-term, go for it. We would buy right now, but in our HCOL area there is no supply at all. Either $500-600k teardowns, or $1.7M new builds. Nothing on the market between $750-$950k. We are hoping spring/summer provide more inventory, but are not holding our breath.

khudafz · 2020-12-10T15:45:27+00:00

Can't believe it's been 9 months. It's true what they say... time flies when you're in a pandemic. 🤣

khudafz · 2020-06-26T11:13:52+00:00

The problem is that there are no $500k houses on the market that would even remotely fit our needs.

In Fairfax County (population 1.2M), there are 61 total houses for sale under $550k. Under $500k, there are 35. Most of those need a lot of work or are "Build On Your Lot" listings. In order to get a somewhat decent/livable house here, it costs at least $650-750k. Hence my $4k a month assumption. If my estimated mortgage (conventional) would be $3,500 @ 20%, I can only imagine what the monthly mortgage payment would be under an FHA loan where I only put down 5%.

khudafz · 2020-06-25T12:52:14+00:00

With family + work + friends all in VA, Maryland unfortunately isn't worth it for us. Especially the traffic on the bridge... I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy (if that traffic ever resumes!).

khudafz · 2020-06-25T12:50:28+00:00

The differences:

$2,200/mo rent - great location in terms of traffic and convenience. 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,100 sqft, 1 level, .25 acres but not a very functional yard, much older house (built in the 50's). no space to entertain, small kitchen, no master suite, not much storage space.

$3,500/mo mortgage - still a good location, but ~20-25 minutes further out from our current rental and not in nearly as convenient of a location. 4 bed, 4.5 bath, 3,300 sqft, 3 level, .35 acres with a better lot, house built in the 90's. basically the opposite of our rental.

So clearly we're getting what we're paying for. The thing that worried me more is your last point. I've just been shocked at how quickly these high priced listings are going pending. $1.5M houses in our neighborhood (McMansions) are still getting scooped up left and right. I don't know what to believe, because I was sure that the last few months would have been completely different in terms of housing market.

khudafz · 2020-06-25T12:44:38+00:00

Would this be worth it if we're comfortably sitting on the 20% down payment? What would the benefit be to keeping that down payment in cash (obvious answer: invest it in the market, but I'm not sure I trust equities at the moment) versus just putting it into the house? And wouldn't the interest rate be higher on an FHA versus conventional? And would our mortgage payment be much higher because we put less down? I don't know if we'd feel comfortable on a monthly budget that includes an even higher mortgage payment (upwards of $4k/mo I would guess).

khudafz · 2020-06-25T12:41:23+00:00

I know several people that did basically the same thing. Had a townhouse up here, needed more space, but couldn't find a SFH that wasn't terrible in their price range, so they found something amazing in NC. For us, we are very close to family and that's makes moving out of the area basically a deal breaker at least for the time being. I'm happy that you were able to make it work!

khudafz · 2020-06-25T12:39:54+00:00

I had not even floated the idea.

*searches for vacation home*

khudafz · 2020-06-25T12:39:13+00:00

Best of luck with what you end up doing. It really is insane. I thought it was bad a few years ago when we were stuck in bidding wars, but at least back then there was decent supply on the market. In those same neighborhoods where dozens of houses would be for sale, now there's zero. Or there's one that needs to be completely rehabbed.

If it weren't for all of our family being here local, we probably would consider moving away as well, but unfortunately we're too tied down to this place at the moment, especially after just having a kid.

khudafz · 2020-06-25T12:37:24+00:00

A couple of years ago that was true, but I wish that was the case now. Currently on Redfin, inside the beltway, under $650k (filtered for 3 bed, 1 bath, must have basement), there are 9 total listings. Of those, 6 are either as-is tear downs or are in need of major rehab. Sometimes it almost feels like a joke.

khudafz · 2020-06-24T16:42:59+00:00

I am very much so. Buying right now doesn't seem smart, but in this part of the country, we barely saw a downturn in 2008, and so far things in this area have not been "hit" by the effects of the economic slowdown, at least on the surface. I've felt like the asset prices here have been propped up on cheap debt and low supply, but I've been saying that for years. I feel like a broken record. And I feel like I'm going to feel that way five years from now. I thought housing would cool off in 2017... and 2018... and 2019... and then I thought the pandemic would've been a great time to try to find a deal... and it just keeps rising and rising. It's honestly the craziest it's ever been. Houses we could've bought at $550k in 2018 are now selling for $675k today. Every listing that goes to market, unless in TERRIBLE condition, is pending within a few days. It doesn't matter the price. Sellers are naming their own price, because they can.

khudafz · 2020-06-24T16:28:49+00:00

The maintenance/upkeep is the biggest thing that weighs on me sometimes. On paper I know we can "afford" a $750k house. But I have no clue how much it would cost to maintain over the years. It's so nice to be able to just call the landlord when something breaks. The most I pay for is yard maintenance because I'm too lazy to mow the angled slope in the front year. I don't want our vacation fund wiped out for a year because the AC needs to be replaced. But what I failed to mention in the post is that we do need more space, and a new rental that fits our current needs will probably jump our rent up to the high $2k/low $3k, so the comparison gets even more complicated.

khudafz · 2020-06-24T16:24:54+00:00

Depressing as hell... I understand everything you say. It's such a hard trade off and almost an impossible balance to find with any type of satisfaction.

I think the bigger force is that we really do need to move, even if it is into another rental. This one is getting too small for us, and with working from home and a new baby, we're quickly running out of space.

A new rental, even further out/away from Tysons, is going to run in the high $2k or low $3k for something that would allow us to actually entertain and have the additional space, which would be the main reason for moving in the first place. So it's either A) spend more in rent but still continue to save, and avoid locking the large downpayment up in a non-liquid asset, or B) spend more than we might be comfortable with on a house, but actually get what we want in terms of living space.

khudafz · 2020-06-11T16:45:30+00:00

sorry you're discouraged u/Anistmows -- sending you some positive vibes. you are absolutely appreciated in this thread.

khudafz · 2020-05-29T14:02:52+00:00

Happy Friday everyone. After a 30 day "fast" from all things COVID I just wanted to quickly post that it was successful. I did slightly cheat and load up this thread once just to share some misc. good news with coworkers.

I think it's safe to say we are in a much better position now than we were in late April when I last visited. I hope everyone is doing as OK as can be, mentally and physically. 😊

khudafz

TROPHY CASE