Project Townhouse: 1st Time Buyers

[JPolen01]

Got the windows tinted on the Accord. I really don't anticipate doing anything else major to this car. I will probably order some matte black vinyl and blackout the chrome trim once we get warmer weather. I might also order some red vinyl overlays for the clear part of the tail lights.

35% Llumar ceramic tint.

[JPolen01]

Going on a little over 5 years here. It's been a great house - lots of wonderful memories. Coming home to this house after getting married, brining home our first child.

Time has come to move on. We are under contract on a new house about 12 minutes from this one. With the baby we are running out of space and now that he is crawling the split foyer is a pain and our newest neighbors next door are loud AF. We've been itching to get some land and wanted to make a move before we decide to have another kid.


We will do pretty well on this house. Bought for $299k and should sell between $350-360k. We have a lot of equity in the house which we can roll into the down payment on the new house and have some leftover for updates too the new house.

If anyone knows someone looking for a fairly updated townhouse 15 minutes south of Baltimore, 45 minutes north of DC and 15 minutes to BWI send em my way.

Who knows about lawn tractors/zero turns? New house is on a little more than a half acre so first up will be an Amish built shed and a mower.

[Apoc]

How much did you end up spending on upgrades?

[JPolen01]

I did a really shit job tracking it. Did all the work myself so no real labor costs. A couple thousand on wood flooring in the main level and tile in 2 bathrooms. Maybe a $1500 refinishing a shower, tub, and sink and installing a custom shower door.

The basement cost around $3k in material.

Oh yeah and $800 to replace there basement carpet when my wife knocked the washer drain line out of the drain pipe and flooded there basement. Good times.

Probably around $6k when I factor in the recessed lights in the kitchen and basement. We will make it all back so worthy upgrades.

According to the lender spreadsheet we will net $60-70k after the transaction. That does not include the costs of these projects obviously.

[Senor_Taylor]

I wasn't aware houses under a half mill existed anywhere around here.

[JPolen01]

Some townhouses here are under $500k. But they are older, smaller, and are in neighborhoods that offer no amenities.

Single families are another story. We wanted to stay under $500k, get a decent yard, and stay in Howard County. The inventory right now is so low people are paying way over asking for houses that need major renovation work.

We looked for about 3 months and found one that checked nearly every box for us and it was $485k. Completely renovated, but no air conditioning. Told the seller to install it in our offer, he declined. Our counter offer asked for money back at closing and he agreed. Whatever he just didn't want to do anymore work.

[Apoc]

I wasn't aware houses under a half mill existed anywhere around here.

Not sure I consider 15 min from Baltimore around around there.

I'm guessing you're way better off for the seller not putting in some BS system with a botched install.

Edit: This is our first house out in Leesburg. Guessing that was a joke?

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Leesburg/871-V...e/12010505

[Sijray21]

I wasn't aware houses under a half mill existed anywhere around here.

Not sure I consider 15 min from Baltimore around around there.

that's exactly what i was thinking

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Told the seller to install it in our offer, he declined. Our counter offer asked for money back at closing and he agreed. Whatever he just didn't want to do anymore work.

that's much better, IMO. you can choose how/what you're putting in instead of someone just looking to not get sued in the future and trying to save as much money as possible. better for you.

[Senor_Taylor]

I guess I've never paid much attention to the area North and DC and south of Baltimore. It goes by quick enough on the way there with no traffic. Just assumed the areas blended together.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Sijray21]

there are plenty of townhomes in Reston (casually looking) that are under $500k, but all of them have no-garage with relatively restrictive parking situations. The wife and I have been contemplating a slight down-size move, which would net us a slightly smaller mortgage, slightly better schools, closer to friends, and slightly closer to her work. The big difference would be the parking/garage situation if we go tit-for-tat on the house value buy/sell situation. The only thing that makes us hesitate is just the sheer act of moving (logistics, dealing with selling the house, etc.).

Townhomes with a garage in the same area are typically above $600k, but i'm only familiar with the local market. Columbia/Baltimore area is foreign to me as well as anything in Maryland, really. I've never looked or considered that area based on our situation.

[.RJ]

Jayray come live next to us the water's nice

[JPolen01]

I got the quote for the AC install that the selling agent had done and checked it against a few other companies. Trane unit with 10 year parts warranty and 2 year labor warranty. It's a rancher style home so they will drop it in the attic and drop ducts from there. Not ducts into the basement because why bother.

Going to use a company my parents have used in the past. I'm 100% okay arranging it myself like you guys said.

[Sijray21]

Jayray come live next to us the water's nice

i saw that one on your street, actually. tempting. we may look more seriously, but we'll start paying more attention to the market there this spring/summer.

[HAULN-SS]

I just put a new furnace at my house. I had a ~4 year old trane oil burner. I got a quote from a trane dealer authorized company to swap it out with their equivalent propane unit. They quoted 20k for the unit and the minor amount of install work it would take.

Found another shop that sells carrier stuff. Got the equivalent carrier unit, installed, and gas lines run (more work than the other guys) for half the cost. Might be worth it to shop around. My research told me carrier and trane we roughly equivalent in terms of quality.

[Apoc]

Come on ride that trane... just ride it.

We're still on oil heat. I've decided that's not an undertaking I'm interested in, as this is only a 2 bed / 1.5 bath.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Some townhouses here are under $500k. But they are older, smaller, and are in neighborhoods that offer no amenities.

Single families are another story. We wanted to stay under $500k, get a decent yard, and stay in Howard County. The inventory right now is so low people are paying way over asking for houses that need major renovation work.

We looked for about 3 months and found one that checked nearly every box for us and it was $485k. Completely renovated, but no air conditioning. Told the seller to install it in our offer, he declined. Our counter offer asked for money back at closing and he agreed. Whatever he just didn't want to do anymore work.

Congratulations!  And good job on having equity able to roll over.  Sometimes that money spent renovating can dig a little into ultimate profit; but it will probably help sell your house quickly.  We spent about $70k into our Reston house renovating it; but it was listed Friday Morning and had a contract in hand that afternoon waiving all but the financing contingency and full asking.  No house in our neighborhood has still yet exceeded what we sold ours for two years ago.

[ScottyB]

congrats Polen. sounds like you guys really made out on the house and i hope the new one's a real good fit.

i would avoid zero turns for a 1/2 acre unless you really need to slice and dice around complex landscaping. they're more expensive, complex (hydraulic lines), harder to master and you can't do nearly the miscellaneous yard work with them that you can with a traditional front engine'd mower in terms of pulling a yard trailer or soil aerator, attaching a snowblower, etc. the upside is that zero turns can be quite fast....but on a 1/2 acre you shouldn't be on any mower more than 20 minutes anyway.

buy from a powersports/tractor store. the big box hardware mowers are disposable garbage, as you probably know. something like the Deere that Thayer has would be perfect, that's the lowest trim small yard tractor they sell with a proper locking diff and good HD construction for doing actual work aside from cutting grass.