All Forum Posts by: Chelsea Jean-Mary

I recently submitted an offer on a lovely 3/3 condo a little bit outside of DC. The place is in my price range. However, I had the home inspection last week and we found a number of issues. A few of them being that the furnace would need to be replaced and there was mold in the furnace and exterior utility closet.

The listing agent informed my realtor that the seller will lower the price of the property in order for the deal to close. I'll have a little bit of cash saved up after the down payment but didn't necessarily want to drain it on fixes for the home to be move-in ready. I plan to get quotes to see how much this will cost. I've done facility maintenance work in the past for my first job and believe I'd be able to manage contractors but this wasn't a desired choice. I'm not sure if there are things I should consider if I decide to move forward with the purchase and getting this work fixed myself by hiring. My real question is: when does it make sense to walk away?

(I'm a first-time homeowner by the way.)

I see. My sister works as a travel nurse. I'll get some info from her to see what the demand is for TN's in the DC area and how generous they're being with her per diem. I know California is popular destination for travel nurses. 

Exactly. There is a clear reason why they're selling. And it's definitely a sign of trouble to come! That's so unfortunate because it's a lovely property and appeared to be well-maintained.

I ran into an interesting issue today. A property has been on the market ~70 days. It looks great. The location is near a food/shopping center and the schools in the area or the best. I went and toured and couldn't see what the issue was. My real estate agent got back to me to let me know that over 15% of the homeowners are behind on paying their condo fees which changes the lending requirements. I believe it requires a higher down payment and no FHA or VA loans are accepted. Just conventional. I imagine this would be a nightmare situation for the seller as it eliminates many potential buyers.

Curious to know if anyone else encountered this or if there's a way around it.

There is a house sent to me by my realtor that I am interested in MD but it's listed as Coming Soon. What exactly is it? How can I ensure that I can: 1) get an offer placed on this house? and 2) have my offer be accepted?

I didn't have any questions but did want to share some resources that is helping me find a place in the DMV area, particularly MD. I am looking to get into house hacking and purchase my first property within the next month. Finding an affordable (sub-$300k) property in an area with little crime and decent schools is like finding a needle in a haystack! lol. The tools that are helping me narrow my search are:

-city-data.com

-areavibes.com

-rentometer.com

-Biggerpockets' rental property calculator

I'm limited to PG county with my price point if I want to stay close to DC. Given my criteria, it appears thus far that Upper Marlboro is my best bet. I wasn't entirely expecting this but I am new to the area. I still need to look and see how easy it will be to rent in this area. I know I could get a rehab to get something at a low cost but I'm not looking to since it's my first property but maybe for my 2nd one.

Feel free to share any resources you're using/have used.

I was looking to house hack a townhouse or single-family home with 2+ beds. Eventually, I would move out into a 2nd property but that's more long-term. I'll run the numbers to see what makes sense.  

 Thanks I hadn't considered college Park. It looks like PG county would be it if I wanted to stay near the DC metro area. 

Hello,

I'm new to the DC MD VA area and am looking to buy this year. I have $17k saved and have a tech sales job with $95k salary (80% base salary = $76k, 20%+ = bonuses and commission). I'm learning from forums like these to keep my housing costs less than 1/3 of my salary. Is it possible to buy something decent in this area for less than $300k? Feel free to share your experiences.

Okay, thank you.