All Forum Posts by: Ika Sargeant

@Hansel Akers and @Dave Foster and @Alex Olson; Thank you for that feedback. Dave you are right about this conundrum. I am still itching about catching this seller's market. Its truly hard to believe. Sellers are getting greedier by the hour and I want to jump in the fray. 

@Hansel Akers its hard to cash flow in our market. I am interested in doing the 1031 exchange but fearful meeting the deadlines. How did you find the timing? Might be easy going into a market with more inventory.

@Syed Shah every situation when you make an offer is different and so is every seller. You have to be able to determine what the home is worth and make the terms you think would best represent your offer. It does not hurt to ask the seller what is important to them. Yes this market is merciless for buyers. 

Would love to be part of the meet up group.

@Kristin Caras Make sure to look into the HOA rules for that community and the county too. I know many people are doing it in spite of the rules. Better know before hand than find out after you bought the home

@Gilda VanderHeyden that is the burning question. I think @Adrienne Green makes a good point. Demand is still very strong. Lots of people who were locked out of the real estate market because of poor credit and other issues are back trying to get a home become the rates are so low. As for appreciation, that is a big IF??? The question to ask is, if the prices continue to go up, do buyer have the buying power. This is a question for economist to see if the rising home prices are been matched by rising income. 

@Benyam Ephrem Herndon is a great area with a strong rental market. Better yet, you will have the silver line metro that is already running from that area but will be opening more stations. Having said that the challenge will be a finding a single home at that price. There are however lot of areas that places that you could find a single home. 

@Christopher Smith the area is a beautiful country side. I do not have the size of the property nor the condition of the property you are looking at but I will say you do not see too many single homes that go over 3K/month in that area. I would estimate a 3000sqft home might go for $2600-3000/month. You will get people who work in Ashburn area or Reston or Tyson area. The commute is not as bad as going into DC. These areas have been seen a lot of growth and especially Loudoun county. We are expecting the metro to come to Ashburn sometime this year. This would be helpful for someone working in DC. On the Maryland side, there is a commuter train(Marc trains) that run from an area called Point of rocks to Bethesda and DC. 

@James G. My advice is that your basement should be a walkout/up ideally. Check the rules with the HOAs. And a lot of people overlook this. If you are installing a kitchen, look into the code for the area where your property is. In terms of price, it really depends on the area you wish to target. If you can afford a single home, you might have a little bit of control in terms of parking, privacy than if you were going with a townhome. You already know its hard to find a single home under 400K. No right answer really.

@Jade 

@Jade Jamison our area is seeing quite a price increase in homes. You are right that looking for one at that price range is a huge challenge. You should consider both single homes and town homes. Not sure if your point was about the condo fees. Yes if you are interested in condos you must pay attention to the fees and the possibility of increasing fees. No one can tell you what rules of HOA will be. You have to read the rules of each HOA when you purchase. So you know the restriction or what they allow. As you know 200K for a single home is practically impossible around here. I would suggest looking at townhouses/singles other people will hold their noses at. If you are starting out I suggest homes that need update or repairs but not massive overhaul unless you are experienced with that kind of work. You may also have to look further out.