All Forum Posts by: Karelyn Cruz

Thank you @Teresa F. and @Russell Brazil for your helpful feedback. 

Russell- do you recommend paying for an inspector before putting an offer (and take the risk)? Also, would you say that would also applies to MD? Thanks! 

Any recommendations on what would make an offer more attractive in this competitive DC market? 

For example, I just "lost" a house because I used a credit union and a closing of 30 days (the winning offer used 3 weeks). Is using a credit union such a big deal? I know they can be slower but they offered me a much better deal than the other banks. Should I use a local bank instead (even when the rate is higher)? 

Any other "tricks" or suggestions that I can use on my offer? My realtor mentioned that some people hire an inspector before putting an offer so they can waive the inspection. We are first time home buyers and we will be living in the house so I dont think we want to waive the inspection and/or the appraisal. We also did escalation to a certain ceiling on our offers.

Anyhow, I'll be interested to hear any other ideas or suggestions to make an offer more competitive in the DC area.

Thanks! 

@Alejandro Calixto- We are still looking. We are looking for our first home (not investment property) but the market in DC is kind of rough right now. A lot of competition and not much inventory. We are keeping our options open. Thanks for following up! :) 

In addition to Zillow Market Overview analysis tool, is there another free website that analyze potential growth rate of houses by neighborhoods? I'm looking for tools that analyze trends and provide projections at the neighborhood level. Thanks!

Thank you all for your advice/suggestions. At the end we decided not to buy in that area. Thanks! 

Thank you @M Marie M. for your feedback! I was just very surprised on how low the prices were compared to nearby DC. But you are right that I am looking at areas that are appreciating so that area might not be a good fit. I'm still learning of the different neighborhoods in the DC area. :)  Thanks!

@Patrick Hermans- I saw a couple of townhouses for less than $200K (3-4bd). Based on the price history seems like they actually lost value. Any insights? I don't want to buy in an area where the houses are not appreciating in value. Thanks! 

Noticed some really affordable houses in that area which makes me wonder if there's something wrong. It is close to metro and DC. Why so cheap?  Anything wrong with that area? 

Thank you all for your feedback and recommendations on both different areas. We are currently actively looking into both CG and Hyattsville areas. Let's see where we end up. One big challenge is the high taxes in MD. We will have to lower our price point if we want to buy a house there. Alternatively, the challenge in DC is that most houses in our price point are small and need a lot of work. Not easy for first-time home buyers right now... We are running some numbers to see what makes sense financially. 

Thanks again for all your help! 

Hi! Anyone knows where I can find information on how much are the property taxes for a second home in PR?  This would be in addition to the CRIM, correct? I am living in DC but thinking of buying a home for mom in PR (we are from there). I'm looking into buying something in Caguas, San Juan, Cabo Rojo or Isabela. Thanks!