When Enuf Isn’t Enuf

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This headline in today’s Washington Post certainly grabbed me – "Too Poor for Hot Housing Market, Too Affluent for Buyer Assistance." About hard-working people in the Washington, DC, area who earn decent wages but still cannot afford buy a home.

I will confess to being pretty free market when it comes to housing. I remember in the 70′s when the District got its first rent control laws, which as a tenant I thought were a great idea. The old Valley Vista, where I had an unbelievable apartment for about $150 a month, went condo, as did much of the city’s affordable rental housing. While there are a few examples of programs that helped middle-income buyers purchase homes in areas that needed a lot of renovation and redevelopment, they were unwieldy, and many buyers turned down offers using the special financing (they usually required the seller to spend thousands of dollars in repairs, even it the price of the house reflected years of deferred maintenance).

Many of my clients have fit the profile of Gwendolyn Halford, the librarian who earns $60,000 a year. Five years ago, finding exactly what she is describing, a 2-bedroom condo or townhouse with secure parking and washer/dryer, was a piece of cake — even if one assumes that she earned a lot less money then. Even today, I am finding places in some great "champagne taste, beer budget" areas in Silver Spring, Hyatsville and Gaithersburg. I did a quick MLS search and it popped out two full pages of possibilities.

The secret to buying a house or apartment in this type of market is to work with a buyer broker you trust, and one who will work her butt off even if you aren’t spending a million dollars. Then take his or her advice. If Gwendolyn had done that five years ago, she’d be living in something worth twice as she paid for it. But it isn’t too late for her. She might not end up exactly where she thought she would, and it might be something she hadn’t even considered. But she’ll be in something she owns and loves, and she will have a foot on the first rung of the equity building ladder, even if it doesn’t build up as quickly in a post "bubble", oops, I mean "basketball" market.

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