Buying a House

H

HerrGruyere

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Pistol Pete
Hey PoA,

I don't start off-topic threads (or any threads for that matter) often, but I figure this is a good, outside source with a wealth of experience on this subject.

The lady and I are looking to buy a house. Well, she is, and I'm just kind of tagging along. I would like a house soon, though. Our goal is to likely purchase within two years. I just took a new position with the government, and she and I work in the same department, so we'll likely be facing furloughs. However, afterward, and within two years, I should be back on my feet.

The thing is, we live in the D.C. area. For those of you not familiar with the area, real estate is too expensive. Way too expensive. I'm originally from Raleigh where real estate is actually reasonable. Buying a house up here in this area seems out of reach and very intimidating.

She already went ahead and talked to a real estate agent who informed us that with our salaries (as of right now, GS-7 and GS-12 and she's the 12) we would be approved for $450,000. Holy crap that is more money than I've ever seen. Frankly, it's more than I want to take on.

The thing is, houses around here (we're looking in Loudon County) are around $350K. At least, the one's she's picking out. I haven't started looking because I'm scared and unsure about buying a house that costs that much.

Our issue is how people manage to buy these things on our salaries. We don't have nearly enough coin to even come close to a reasonable down payment, which I'm guessing is like 12-15%. We found this so-called "low income" and first time buyers programs that help people like us get a house by wrapping up closing costs and down payments into the price or covering them somehow. The thing is, at our salaries, we are just below if not surpassing the income cap. As time goes on, we will be above the income cap. With the price of rent, though, it's hard to save money to come up with the down payment.

How did people get houses around this area? Does anyone know of any programs? We are 26 and 27 years old, so I guess this is a good time to buy a house.
 
My buddy got a house in Upper Marlboro, MD a few years ago for under $250,000. I think he was only a 9 or 11 when he got it. Don't limit yourself to having a specific house with all the "must haves". I'm not sure if he went through the VA if that is an option.
 
1) Do a lot of research, especially personal financial planning. Before you buy.
2) You're right for being concerned about risks & downside.
3) If you buy a used house, anticipate there will be extra costs incurred. The so-called "home warranty" products should be thought of as "service contracts" (NOT warrantys) and many of them are ripoffs. It's one thing if the seller throws it in, it's another if you have to pay.
4) The real estate agent will always push you to buy the max house you can qualify for, even if it's above your comfort zone: trust your gut and learn to say "that's too expensive".
5) They're harder to find these days, but sometimes you can find a sweet deal where the seller will take back the mortgage or will do a lease-with-option to buy. Or make some other concession.
6) Look at your total cost base, not just the payments. What's your cost to commute? How long to commute? What's your quality of life going to be? If you're living in Loudon and commuting to DC proper, you might be better off with something in closer, even if it's older or smaller. In the "drive 'till you qualify" days, some folks bought houses in Winchester & commuted to DC. That's nuts. There's a cost to the commute, whether it be bus, car, toll road, etc. Gotta build that in.
7) Single family properties tend to hold value better than townhouses or condos. Older single-family neighborhoods tend to not have HOA fees. FInd out about the neighbors. And schools - a one-block difference can make a $50,000 difference in housing cost if that one-block puts you in a much better school district.
8) You're smart to look at a $350K house when you could qualify for $450K, BUT you also want to know about the comps & how houses have appreciated in that area over the years. Taxes will be another factor. Insurance, likewise. Total cost of ownership....
9) One of the tax reform proposals would eliminate the mortgage interest deduction. That will have greater effect in the early years of your mortgage than later. Another reason to limit the amount you spend.
10) Interest rates will likely go up. Is that qualification based on today's rates? An adjustable rate mortgage, or fixed (if you get an adjustable and rates go up, you may save money later if you do a fixed today).
11) How long will you be in the house?

Good financial planning is important. Remember that your agent gets paid based on commission - the more expensive house he/she sells, the more he/she makes. Check and see if there are any good, independent classes in buying a first house, and make liberal use of online resources.
 
Of all my friends who live in DC both those who work for the government and a few who don't, exactly zero own, everyone rents. Even those who can afford to buy. You've found why. Closest owner I know of is in the Shenandoah Valley, or up in West Virginia a ways.

The only reason my wife and I own now is that the rental market here is skewed due to a small town with a large university population, and because of low interest rates. It made sense for us to tie up cash in a down payment. This resulted in a mortgage/tax/insurance payment that is 1/2 to 2/3 what a similar house would rent for here. And oh yeah since we were relocated (PCS) the government ate some of our up-front purchase costs too.

Reevaluate whether owning is really necessary.

As to how people make a "standard" 20% down payment these days? Many of us spend inheritance or life insurance proceeds this way. I agree these days it's hard to save that much early in your career/life. Some people sell a car or get a gift or no interest loan from parents (and then lie about the source to the bank not that I am at all recommending that) for ten or five percent down on a special homebuyer's program.
 
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I may be atypical, but I have spent some time living and working in the DC orbit, working for a branch of the gov't.

I think I'm semi-abnormal in that my wife and I (37, 39) just bought our first house last year. We were prepared to buy in 2005, but basically spent the last 7 years sitting out the housing bubble. Nonetheless, I consider what we bought to be equivalent of a 'move-up' house -- even with a family of 4 we have 1 more bedroom than we 'need' for now. We are now about 1 hour commuting time outside Manhattan, though neither of us currently works there (I commuted to Manhattan for about 5 years). I made the decision to buy a house in part because I did not like the quality of rental stock at equivalent prices. To get the quality of house; neighborhood; schools, etc., I was better off buying for the long term (~10 year horizon).

I lived (renting) in Columbia, MD from '99-'01. Wife worked for NG @ BWI at the time; I worked in Crystal City, VA on the GS for a branch of the DoC. We briefly looked at buying in suburban MD c. 2000, before moving back to the NYC metro area (we are both originally from different suburbs, and still have family in the area) for school and work after. I seem to remember being sticker shocked even then at $180-200k townhouses adjacent to the Camden line tracks.

This man's opinion? Simply put, the DC housing market is more resilient (shallower post-bubble dip, faster rebound) because the government sector (including gov't employees, contractors, NGOs, etc.) is growing faster than the overall economy, and that growth is centered on DC. You may be concerned about furloughs, etc., but I assure you the average private sector employee or business owner is at least as equally worried about their income security.

Risk profile? You may be susceptible to a significant decrease in government-based employee head count. Without venturing into "Spin Zone" territory, I don't consider that a great risk. Your project or department may get defunded or 'reorganized', but most good people tend to land on their feet with another gig. Many of my former colleagues in a technically oriented position were ex-NAVSEA people (I had been private sector before that). One of the things many of them appreciated in the new position was that is was more stable; but like I said, the lesson I took from their experience was that people managed to hustle a bit and land on their feet within the gov't.

Another thing you might want to consider: buying a house put an abrupt end to my flying. My disposable income that was available for the $100 hamburger flight became otherwise spoken for. Sorry, but I'm just letting you know how it is for me. I don't see it changing soon, either. Having made the decision to buy a house, I don't think its rational to defer maintenance and upgrades and the resulting effect it will have on the value of the asset, to deploy that money for flying.

The key thing, I think, is to have a long time horizon (7-10 years min), not to overbuy (PITI <= 30% of your gross pay -- will your spouse continue to work if there are additions to the family?), not to rush into any one deal -- supply of good quality resale houses is probably tight, and bidding wars are only good for the seller. If someone else overbids you for a house, all they "won" is the right to overpay. Don't rely on the advice of people who are completely unaccountable to you for it (read Freakonomics, or at least the chapter about the motivations of Realtors - esp so-called "buyer's agents") -- or me for that matter ;-). Remember you are the most important person at the the closing table, and don't go through unless you are completely satisfied.
 
My totally useless advice:

Move somewhere else.

Where I am, I could buy my house on an acre, another house on an acre, 3 brand new COVs/SUVs, two Comanches, and still not pay what you are paying for that house.

Oh, yeah, and no SRFA to deal with.
 
The realestate agent works on comission. The more you spend, the more they make.

"Cute" or "Has real potential" are code words you wife uses for an endless project.
 
they manage it by spending the rest of their lives enslaved to the bank.
 
DJTorrente said:
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Another thing you might want to consider: buying a house put an abrupt end to my flying. My disposable income that was available for the $100 hamburger flight became otherwise spoken for. Sorry, but I'm just letting you know how it is for me. I don't see it changing soon, either. Having made the decision to buy a house, I don't think its rational to defer maintenance and upgrades and the resulting effect it will have on the value of the asset, to deploy that money for flying.

The key thing, I think, is to have a long time horizon (7-10 years min), not to overbuy (PITI <= 30% of your gross pay -- will your spouse continue to work if there are additions to the family?), not to rush into any one deal -- supply of good quality resale houses is probably tight, and bidding wars are only good for the seller. If someone else overbids you for a house, all they "won" is the right to overpay. Don't rely on the advice of people who are completely unaccountable to you for it (read Freakonomics, or at least the chapter about the motivations of Realtors - esp so-called "buyer's agents") -- or me for that matter ;-). Remember you are the most important person at the the closing table, and don't go through unless you are completely satisfied.
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Again we are in a small town so my results aren't exactly typical but I held my payment/taxes/interest to 12% of my monthly gross, and I wasn't willing to go much higher. After all my wife isn't working for now because of the kids and I also have a plane habit to support!!!
 
Maybe this is a mistake, but;

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...285,-77.219467,38.754619,-78.20137_rect/9_zm/

I bought my first house as 26YO for $84k in 1985. It's now worth about $440k, and I still own it, but don't live in it. Do NOT expect to see that kind of appreciation anymore.

Without going political, I strongly, and forcefully state that the expansion of govt cannot and will not continue at it's current rate for more than about another 5-7 years. There just isn't enough money. A lot of GS-7-12s are the ones going to be leaving. The upper eschelons and the lower scabs will mostly stay, but I'm betting that the middle levels of every dept of the entire govt is in for a serious retrenching within the decade. This is the kind of thing you need to plan for if you invest in a house with a 30 year mortgage. What other business/industry can or will support the housing needs in the area? AFAIK, there is nothing around there, only the fed, and it's day will be waning.

Bill covered the financial and logistic stuff quite well. If you can afford $450, look in the $250k range, unless you need the accouterments of a $350k house. It's easier to sell/rent a lower priced house and move up than to sell a higher priced house and move down.
 
Thanks for the advice so far, everyone!

Commuting will only be an issue once a week. By the time we would go through with buying a house, I would be working from home all but one day of the week. So, I don't mind commuting that one day.

Although I'd love to move back to Raleigh where all my friends and family are so we could score a nice house for $150, I want to stay up here with my government job that I worked pretty hard to finally land. I don't have a ton of experience or a really specialized degree (which is both advantageous and disadvantageous), so I wouldn't be able to find much work down there. The lady could find some, though, since she has a degree in elementary education.

We'd like to stay in VA because they have lower taxes and aren't enormous pains in the butt like MD, but if we have to move to MD for a better house deal, I suppose I could live with it. I just moved out of Montgomery County and down to Fairfax so I could get out of the exceptionally high taxes in MD.

She claims she wants the house because she wants to get her big girl life started by having kids and being married and owning a house. However, I really think she is losing sight of the bigger picture here, e.g. debt. Renting is throwing your money away, and I'd love to have a lawn for my dog to run about, but I'm not going to finance some ridiculous house for a million years to do this.

There has to be another way, and I just have to do some more research.

Honestly, with my current income and current house prices, I just don't feel comfortable buying for at least another two years.
 
This whole thread should be re-titled "how I made a bad mistake". I don't know if it's a cultural thing with Americans or what, but I've always felt strange about the concept of willingly enslaving my family to overreached housing options. Be careful, you're asking housing advice to a demographic (40+ white males) for whom housing was viewed exclusively as an " up up and up!" investement scheme. Even after the collapse, said demographic continues to believe home ownership and overextension (defined as spending more than 40% of your net income in housing costs and maintenance) is an appropriate life choice and a socially accepted and expected way of consuming your net income to the exclusion of other artifacts of life. Housing-derived insolvency is dismissed a lot by people, to their own peril.

Combined GS-7 and GS-12 money and you're actually entertaining a 350K house? That's a a bad idea. I wouldn't go above 230K if I were in your situation. If that doesn't get you a shoebox in DC then I guess owning is not for you in that area.

If you have kids, rent in the school district of choice.

As to the poster who said house buying put an end to flying. I guess that's what we call choices. It may have put an end to your flying, but it doesn't have to be that way by default. I live in cheap housing and drive beater cars so that I can fly an old airplane, have savings and not sweat the 29th of the month when the bills come due. The kids will be educated to good enough standards. Don't believe the NAR commercials hype: No McMansion, nor home ownership in general, is required for your kids to make good grades. It may be required for your entitled wife not to leave you, but that's yet again another matter of personal choice in life (marry carefully).

In your situation I would NOT venture into home loanership at this time. Good luck to you as you tackle that question. Hope you don't get punked into financial insolvency because of a combative spouse.
 
No need to be sorry for giving what you deem scary advice. I want and need to hear it all so I can make an even more educated decision.

I would be perfectly happy going with a $250K house. She and I don't have kids. We have a dog, a cat, and a bird (I don't like the bird). She works from home and I will soon, too. So we need just an extra room for that. I'm happy with the two bedroom apartment we have now because I love having my man room. I would also like a garage or shed.

By the time we are ready to buy, I'd be a GS-9 and likely moving into a GS-11. Progression is apparently easy in this position (she knows because she's now my coworker).

I'm really trying to do as much research as I can now. I like to start early and have all my ducks in a row.
 
Plan as if one income will go away. It happens, and it makes no sense to plan future finances as if it won't.
 
If only working away from home one day a week, why not move way out? Suck up the 3 hour commute for that single day and save some money?
 
Actually, at least one poster warned that RE isn't going to go up and up. He(I) also linked houses that start at 250k asking and might be had for $230k, or thereabouts.

Like this:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/208-Orchard-Cir-Hamilton-VA-20158/12419928_zpid/

Dog run, greenbelt, no HOA, cul-de-sac, 3BR for kiddies, looks pretty safe, pine ceiling. Too much owner junk inside, but hey - that all goes. Only thing missing is a garage, I think they converted it. Ask $250k, offer 210, settle on 230. Happy wife, happy life.
 
We aren't looking in D.C. proper by any means. We're talking about Sterling and further west. Even Lovettsville popped up. The only problem with living so far out is that it's fa, heh. Many of our friends still live close to the city, and I don't think many of them will come all the way out. But ya never know. I just worry I would never see them but once every six months, which is just part of getting old, I guess.

Not a bad property - that's ideal. I wouldn't mind adding a carport. I'm fairly handy. I just want a covered area to put my car so I can work on it when I need to.
 
So if you're commuting only one day a week, as Ed suggested, why not look further out (Loudoun is "far out" in my book, but I might well do a longer commute if I were doing it only one day a week).

There are folks that commute in from as far as Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry area - MARC runs trains out to Brunswick - for one day a week, that's a very viable option. So upper Loudoun County and the area near Harper's Ferry over to Charlestown might not be too bad.

Personally, I avoid Maryland due to the taxes (I lived up in Gaithersburg a number of years ago) and the overbearing "nanny-state", especially in Montgomery County. PG county is the laggard in terms of housing values, and both Potomac and Hyde airfields are within reach.

For a one-day-a-week commute, I might also look down toward Fredericksburg and take the train. Housing is much more reasonable down that way, though I'd not want to make the commute by car on I95. No sir, not me. Nice area down that way. It's also a few miles closer to Raleigh.
 
Sounds like you are young and starting a family. Here are the three most important factors for the decision of where to buy a home:

#1 Quality of the school system
#2 Quality of the school system
#3 Quality of the school system

Everything else will fall into place.

We moved to DC to take advantage of a job opportunity that opened up for my wife. We ended up settling in western Charles county in maryland. Pretty much everyone around us either works in DC or for one of the Navy or 'agency' installations around us (1/2 of my neighbors are named 'John' and 'work as a contractor for the GSA' ;) ). From where we are, the commute into DC during regular times is a bit of a bear, but so is the commute from anywhere affordable in Loudoun county. You mentioned that you telecommute a lot, if you have the option to show up at 10 the days that you have to be in the office, it is a non-issue. What I like about the area is that it is far less developed and congested than NoVa. This of course has the downside that it offers less choice when it comes to activities and educational opportunities for the kids. I would like to be on the VA side of the river for a number of reasons, I just can't bring myself to paying the real estate prices it would take to do so. If 350k is your budget, you can get a castle out here or in PG. For 250k you can still get a nice home.

Couple of other things to look for:
- gotta have some republicans. Without some balance, local politicos go completely beserk.
- buy the average house for the neighborhood, not the 'dream home' among modest homes or a falling down shack among McMansions.
- do you want to fly or lay tile ? Unless you enjoy renovation work, dont buy a fixer-upper. They are priced that way for a reason, if you have to contract the work at retail prices, you are going to take a bath.
- under-buy. If you have 2 bedrooms and 1200sqft now and it works for you, dont buy 3500sqft and 4 bedrooms just because you can get a mortgage for it. This is how the goverment builds real-estate and see where that has gotten us.
 
HerrGruyere said:
We aren't looking in D.C. proper by any means. We're talking about Sterling and further west. Even Lovettsville popped up. The only problem with living so far out is that it's fa, heh. Many of our friends still live close to the city, and I don't think many of them will come all the way out. But ya never know. I just worry I would never see them but once every six months, which is just part of getting old, I guess.

Not a bad property - that's ideal. I wouldn't mind adding a carport. I'm fairly handy. I just want a covered area to put my car so I can work on it when I need to.
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That's going to happen anyway.
 
HerrGruyere said:
We aren't looking in D.C. proper by any means. We're talking about Sterling and further west. Even Lovettsville popped up. The only problem with living so far out is that it's fa, heh. Many of our friends still live close to the city, and I don't think many of them will come all the way out. But ya never know. I just worry I would never see them but once every six months, which is just part of getting old, I guess.

Not a bad property - that's ideal. I wouldn't mind adding a carport. I'm fairly handy. I just want a covered area to put my car so I can work on it when I need to.
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Invite 'em out for the weekend. Go visit some of the wineries (if you like that), or see some of the other stuff out that way. It's an hour to 90 minutes into DC from the areas you mentioned - that's do-able (when I was in my 20's I used to commute every day that long.... mostly by train, sometimes by car).

Being that far out will give you better options for committing acts of aviation, too.
 
I bought in DC 2 almost 3 years ago with my wife. We are both military and luckily used our VA loan and even a townhome costs us a little over 450k. I work in DC and she is at Fort Belvoir, so we didn't want to put up with the I-95 commute, etc around here. Luckily, the DC market has held it's fair share. During my spare time here, I got my DC real estate license, to support my flying habit. :D It's been a little tough doing the military and real estate part time, but it keeps me in the 'know' for the market around here. The commute may stink, but the farther out you can go, the more house for the buck you will find! :yes:
 
HerrGruyere said:
Renting is throwing your money away, and I'd love to have a lawn for my dog to run about, but I'm not going to finance some ridiculous house for a million years to do this.
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Hmmm. let's play devil's advocate here.

Renting isn't throwing money away, you are trading money for one of life's basic necessities and leaving many of the typical homeowner headaches (changes in market value, repairs, cyclic maintenance, insurance) to someone else who can better afford to deal with them because they have likely scaled their risk and logistics to multiple properties.

Paying a mortage, on the other hand, might be throwing your money away. Assuming a situation where you have a relatively high percentage of the purchase price financed...not only are you paying mostly interest with an astoundlingly low impact on your equity for the first few years, but the opportunity of diversifying the investment of the money you put down on your house is lost. Instead you have invested that money in a single somewhat-volatile vehicle which in theory is paying off at the corresponding mortgage interest rate but only if the amount can be realized (captured again) when you sell the house and we know that is an unknown. You pay many fees and commissions to boot. Yes, there are tax deductions, but the 1040 standard deduction is relatively high even when married filing jointly, so you are really only saving money on whatever taxes you would have paid on the income offset by the small amount of mortage interest and property taxes deducted beyond the standard deduction amount, which for someone in your income bracket will be pocket change.

Forget the externally-induced, highly-packaged, nearly-propagandistic dream. Base your decision on the figures. Like I mentioned in my earlier post some of the considerations for me are very different thus making owning the better deal - few fees and no realtor commission, high rents in my area, fortunate through no effort of my own to have the money available to put more than the usual $ down thus reducing the amount of interest I have to pay, low rates.

Or I could be completely full of it. You decide. I'm on my third house and I've also rented many, many times. I tend to lust for ownership when renting and I pine for the simplicity of renting while I own ;)
 
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Again, some good points are being made in this thread. Many thanks!

I do like the idea of living out in the country. I think I'm just a bit immature yet. This is our first year living together, so I'm still getting used to the prospect of a house and marriage and everything. Yes, I know that's a shocker we aren't married yet. I'd like to get married before we buy this stupid house, anyway. See what I mean by starting early?

I don't think I could move back to MD because the gun laws stink. Everything stinks in Maryland. Even getting my car registered there was a pain. I don't like anything about that state except NattyBoh and Old Bay.

And holy crap aw hell naw will I ever try to commute on I-95 Northbound in the morning from somewhere like Fredericksburg. Ya gotta be kidding me. It's a parking lot. A geriatric could go faster on foot. I would definitely be hitching that train.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Or I could be completely full of it. You decide. I'm on my third house and I've also rented many, many times. I tend to lust for ownership when renting and I pine for the simplicity of renting while I own ;)
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The grass is always greener, eh?
 
What's the dealeo on the "Leesburg maneuvering area"? It's inside the SFRA. I'm guessing that it's gonna be a one-call does it all from outside to the Leesburg airport like; "Cessna 12345, cleared into the SFRA from xxx,xxxx direct to Leesburg, remain within the maneuvering area for landing." Or some such?
 
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I'm partial to the Shepherdstown / Charles Town WV area myself :D

Oh, and don't forget PMI $ requirements and the somewhat-new risk-based fees on Freddy/Fannie loans. Sigh.
 
HerrGruyere said:
Hey PoA,

I don't start off-topic threads (or any threads for that matter) often, but I figure this is a good, outside source with a wealth of experience on this subject.

The lady and I are looking to buy a house. Well, she is, and I'm just kind of tagging along. I would like a house soon, though. Our goal is to likely purchase within two years. I just took a new position with the government, and she and I work in the same department, so we'll likely be facing furloughs. However, afterward, and within two years, I should be back on my feet.

The thing is, we live in the D.C. area. For those of you not familiar with the area, real estate is too expensive. Way too expensive. I'm originally from Raleigh where real estate is actually reasonable. Buying a house up here in this area seems out of reach and very intimidating.

She already went ahead and talked to a real estate agent who informed us that with our salaries (as of right now, GS-7 and GS-12 and she's the 12) we would be approved for $450,000. Holy crap that is more money than I've ever seen. Frankly, it's more than I want to take on.

The thing is, houses around here (we're looking in Loudon County) are around $350K. At least, the one's she's picking out. I haven't started looking because I'm scared and unsure about buying a house that costs that much.

Our issue is how people manage to buy these things on our salaries. We don't have nearly enough coin to even come close to a reasonable down payment, which I'm guessing is like 12-15%. We found this so-called "low income" and first time buyers programs that help people like us get a house by wrapping up closing costs and down payments into the price or covering them somehow. The thing is, at our salaries, we are just below if not surpassing the income cap. As time goes on, we will be above the income cap. With the price of rent, though, it's hard to save money to come up with the down payment.

How did people get houses around this area? Does anyone know of any programs? We are 26 and 27 years old, so I guess this is a good time to buy a house.
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I live in Fairfax county. When we bought our first house in 2001 I was working as a contractor making just over $100K per year. We got approved and bought a single-family home for $270K. We were fortunate that we didn't have much other debt.

It IS possible, and at least in this area real estate actually is a pretty good investment, even in the worst of the economy our house was always worth more than we paid for it.

So, it's absolutely normal to be nervous the first time. But it's a normal rite of passage.

PS, since you're more or less a neighbor, feel free to PM me.
 
docmirror said:
What's the dealeo on the "Leesburg maneuvering area"? It's inside the SFRA. I'm guessing that it's gonna be a one-call does it all from outside to the Leesburg airport like; "Cessna 12345, cleared into the SFRA from xxx,xxxx direct to Leesburg, remain within the maneuvering area for landing." Or some such?
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The dealeo is that you take the SFRA course on faasafety.gov (that's required), and then it's easy-peasy.
 
Commuting once a week?
Buy in CHO or ROA and buy a nice IFR bird with the difference.
I flew to work for a while, no better way to start the day!
 
wsuffa said:
Invite 'em out for the weekend.
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I agree with this, though it seems to go conta the advice to buy a 2-br. I bought an extra bedroom, and enjoy having friends about 1.5 hrs. away come and spend the night. Pay your money take your choice.

Speaking of which, I was once as anti-ownership as hindhsight2020 seems to be. It led me to sit out the bubble from 2005-2012, which probably served me well. Keep in mind that about 60% of Americans are homeowners. Homeownership (, Inc.) is really "Too Big to Fail". The government simply will not let the single-family market tank. The Fed is printing $85B a month, funneling it into mortgage financing buying GSEs paper. I expect inflation to do much of the heavy lifting on housing prices in the 2-7 year range. I won't delude myself that I'm getting ahead of the curve, but I'd have felt pretty foolish sitting on the sideline in cash while it happened. My tax-adjusted borrowing costs is probably about 0% in inflation-adjusted dollars, so given the move in housing prices off their 2006 highs, I couldn't justify not liking the house I rented any longer.

As for choosing between owning and flying -- I did that already, thanks. I wouldn't buy a plane and let is sit or deteriorate so I could spend maintenance dollars elsewhere. I think letting a house deteriorate to spend the maintenance money on flying is equally foolish. I believe I will be flying again. You do what's right for you.
 
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TMetzinger said:
The dealeo is that you take the SFRA course on faasafety.gov (that's required), and then it's easy-peasy.
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Gosh, what an unhelpful answer. Why not just say 'I don't know.' :rockon:
 
docmirror said:
Gosh, what an unhelpful answer. Why not just say 'I don't know.' :rockon:
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Because I DO know, but if I tell you the answer, I'll be doing the work the FAA already did in preparing the course... AND you'll STILL need to take the course if you're going to fly in the airspace - it's a legal requirement if you fly VFR within 100 NM of DC anyway.

Take the course and get ALL the answers, not just the JYO-specific ones.
 
you are going about it backwards. Houses are everywhere, hangar space isn't. Find available hangar space first. Then make that the center of your geographical house hunting area.
 
TMetzinger said:
Because I DO know, but if I tell you the answer, I'll be doing the work the FAA already did in preparing the course.
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Yeah, we wouldn't want that now. Can't have anyone on this board helping someone else with a pretty simple question now can we?:no:

Oh wait, I just looked at what thread this was in. What a shame....
 
alaskaflyer said:
As of 2012 some risk-based fees are assessed to every conventional loan sold to Franny/Freddie regardless of credit core and LTVR. "Delivery fee." :mad2:
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Luckily for me, I will have no more loans. On the last loan I had, I had it in writing they wouldn't sell it to anyone else. Things can be arranged.
 
HerrGruyere said:
I do like the idea of living out in the country. I think I'm just a bit immature yet. This is our first year living together, so I'm still getting used to the prospect of a house and marriage and everything. Yes, I know that's a shocker we aren't married yet. I'd like to get married before we buy this stupid house, anyway. See what I mean by starting early?
And that right there is a reason to be cautious. Spend this time to save up & do it when the time is right.
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And holy crap aw hell naw will I ever try to commute on I-95 Northbound in the morning from somewhere like Fredericksburg. Ya gotta be kidding me. It's a parking lot. A geriatric could go faster on foot. I would definitely be hitching that train.
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When I was in the process of moving back to DC, I did the Woodbridge to Tysons/DC run several times. I would not ever want to do it every day, but it was OK occasionally. But the train is better. A lot better. And on the Fredericksburg line you have the choice to take Amtrak if for some reason VRE has an issue. Or take a bus. Or join the slug line.

TMetzinger said:
PS, since you're more or less a neighbor, feel free to PM me.
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Likewise. I'm also in Fairfax.
 
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