Anybody in Richmond?

[Beej]

My wife is graduating from med school in a month, and we found out a month ago that she'll be doing her residency at VCU - which we're both stoked about - it was actually our first choice. It worked out for us, but if anybody wants to talk about how absurd the match process is, I'm your grey-haired guy.

We'll also be buying our first home - god dammit/willing - and have been up that way looking at places since then. We started out wanting space and a little privacy, then briefly got excited about the Fan, West End, Bellevue, and Carillon. Unfortunately, we've basically exhausted all of the available properties in our price range still and haven't found what we're looking for. I'm sure the garage requirement doesn't help.

The more we look and think about it, we want a house that works and as much as we want to be north of the river, the south presents more options. There just isn't much of an inventory, and we've seen pretty much all of it. Our radius and budget are both going up a bit, and we're looking at what we need to compromise on.

Anybody else in the area? I think I saw Justin is. Any sage advice?

Also, Richmond deserves some shit for the road conditions. It's nice to have an excuse for a comfy second car, but...just awful. But I am psyched about the better autox venues - haven't been to RIR but VMP is pretty dope.

[JustinG]

I can get you in touch with the realtor we used. He is a JMU grad...nice guy. Not sure where you have been looking exactly but there are houses near me I think. I'm in the tuckahoe area, Gaskins/Gayton area. Look off Pemberton rd or in glen allen off of Staples Mill rd. Look in the southside off 288 near robious rd, Shea and Jess just bought a house in that area.

The great thing about Richmond is your practically 15-20min from everywhere. West end is 15-20 from downtown/fan area and southside/chesterfield. My only complaint is the job markey isn't as forgiving as it is in NOVA.

[Nis01]

I'm another Richmonder that grewup on southside. My wife and I moved over to the west end where we lived for a little over a year following graduate school and return to Virginia. I have watched the Richmond market extensively for the past 2 years and we are recent homeowners on the southside after much deliberation. You are exactly right in saying the marker is limited right now. Inventory is LOW for both home ownership and rentals, but it is growing steadily over the past several months with the turn of the market. If you have any specific questions about areas in the southside or west end I'll be happy to do my best to offer some advice. Its a great town and VCU/MCV is excellent and well renowned for healthcare education. Good luck with your choices.

[HAULN-SS]

Just as a side data point someone I know has been looking there and having to make offers 5-10k over asking in their price range

[Beej]

Thanks guys!

Location wise, basically any place that is a decent neighborhood and <15 min commute from MCV qualifies. Garage (ideally attached), 2000+ (ideally 2400+) sq ft, decent kitchen (at least size, we can renovate), some semblance of a yard, decent flow. Schools would be nice for resale, but aren't a huge priority as our situation changes a bit when she's done with residency. We're okay with some projects for the right price, but would prefer those that are aesthetic. We put in one offer for an overpriced property in Oxford, but that didn't work out. As much as we like the "stuff to do" north of the river and as "old Richmond charming" as the properties are are, they don't seem to work as well for daily living as we want. No bathroom on the main floor? Get out of here.

Glad to know we're not alone in the "low inventory" observation. We've had a number of places disappear a day or two after going on the market and before we had a chance to see them. Might end up couch surfing in the area soon so that we can jump on the right property quickly and have the privilege of paying asking price or more.

We are super excited about the area. I've never spent a TON of time there, but as we've been driving around and are able to connect the dots and form my internal map, it seems like a really accessible city - traffic looks better than even Norfolk and obviously loads better than DC. The "15-20 min from everywhere" seems right.

We like our realtor for now, but we'll let you know when we start getting desperate!

If you've been watching the market for 2 years and just bought southside, I may want to pick your brain sometime soon, Shea. 8)

[JustinG]

My guest room is open if you guys ever need a place to crash in your search. There are some nice townhouses in the area that you can rent for pretty decent prices if you get in a pinch, Shea prob knows more about the rental places as well.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Just as a side data point someone I know has been looking there and having to make offers 5-10k over asking in their price range

For being such a terrible economy and sequestration, that is still a wtf? Houses in my nieghborhood are selling like hotcakes.There was an open house a week ago for a house on the market for 3 days with (in my mind) a ridiculous asking price. They had 3 offers that day OVER their asking price. I guess people arent as worried as the media would say!

[JustinG]

Here ya go.....

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13274-Kellington-Ln-Richmond-VA-23238/79127079_zpid/">http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13274 ... 7079_zpid/</a><!-- m -->

Then you, Ben Wallace, and Justin Verlander can all chill together.

Probably a bargain compared to NOVA prices.

[Jake]

Just as a side data point someone I know has been looking there and having to make offers 5-10k over asking in their price range

For being such a terrible economy and sequestration, that is still a wtf? Houses in my nieghborhood are selling like hotcakes.There was an open house a week ago for a house on the market for 3 days with (in my mind) a ridiculous asking price. They had 3 offers that day OVER their asking price. I guess people arent as worried as the media would say!

My dad just sold a house in Sterling and the final offer came in at $15k OVER asking price.

Market's doing just fine right meow.

[Kaan]

Here ya go.....

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13274-Kellington-Ln-Richmond-VA-23238/79127079_zpid/">http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13274 ... 7079_zpid/</a><!-- m -->

Then you, Ben Wallace, and Justin Verlander can all chill together.

Probably a bargain compared to NOVA prices.

thats about NOVA prices for that type of property (and size of the lot)... i took out our price requirement a lot and looked around. we got a hell of a deal my commute saved me over a million dollars.

that being said... i'm happy we got our house under asking price lol

[HAULN-SS]

Market in the DC area always does well when the government is spending like mad. Lots of fresh cash in the local economy especially

[Kaan]

government isnt spending like mad... the beltway is prepping for the DOD/DHS/Fed budget cuts.

[HAULN-SS]

lol..a side thread for sure, but they aren't budget cuts, they are budget increase cuts. Don't let their baseline accounting fool you. I'm 100% sure government spending is the only reason the D.C. area didn't see a housing crash the way the likes of other major metro areas did in the last several years.

[G.Irish]

I think the reason prices are soaring again the DC Metro is because mortgage rates are still in the basement and the economic news has been improving for some time now. The sequester has resulted in cuts from projects in some places but not enough to destroy the market in this area.

lol..a side thread for sure, but they aren't budget cuts, they are budget increase cuts. Don't let their baseline accounting fool you. I'm 100% sure government spending is the only reason the D.C. area didn't see a housing crash the way the likes of other major metro areas did in the last several years.

That goes without saying. When the economy contracted government contracting wasn't affected at all so the DC Metro economy didn't get affected nearly as much. There was still a big wave of foreclosures and short sales but nothing like the rest of the country saw.

[Beej]

Well, we're under contract on a place south of the river.

Anybody know of a competent home inspector? I promise to only hold you partially responsible for anything they miss. :-P

[JustinG]

Well, we're under contract on a place south of the river.

Anybody know of a competent home inspector? I promise to only hold you partially responsible for anything they miss. :-P

Congrats....

Where exactly?

We just used the one the realtor always used, I would guess he was trust worthy. No major repairs needed in the 5 years we have been here. I can touchbase and figure out who or what company it was if you'd like.

[Beej]

Thanks! It's in the Oxford area.

Nah, only pass it along if you liked the guy a lot and if the information is handy. I have no idea if there's any merit to the idea, but we're just looking for a third party, instead of anyone who might have a relationship with the realtor and incentive to push the sale along.

[.RJ]

Just as a side data point someone I know has been looking there and having to make offers 5-10k over asking in their price range

For being such a terrible economy and sequestration, that is still a wtf? Houses in my nieghborhood are selling like hotcakes.There was an open house a week ago for a house on the market for 3 days with (in my mind) a ridiculous asking price. They had 3 offers that day OVER their asking price. I guess people arent as worried as the media would say!

My dad just sold a house in Sterling and the final offer came in at $15k OVER asking price.

Market's doing just fine right meow.

And from what I'm hearing, buyers are paying closing costs.... wasnt the case when I bought. Glad I got in when I did.

I hope this insanity continues, along with a boost in values from the metro opening this year, so I can sell in 2 years and fill my bathtub with gold coins.

[JustinG]

Thanks! It's in the Oxford area.

Nice, some friends of ours live off Forest Hill, its a nice area over there. Your only about 10min from me. Lemme know if you need anything once you guys get closer to closing.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I hope this insanity continues, along with a boost in values from the metro opening this year, so I can sell in 2 years and fill my bathtub with gold coins.

I am really interested to see how this will drive up values. Short-term I think we are going to get a lot more traffic since Metro will be ending at Wiehle for at least a year till they build out to Dulles. Going to get realllly interesting if values go back up to 03/04 prices, if they look like they will, it may mean some major renovations are going to be much easier to increase my cost basis to avoid capital gains.