Doing My Part
This is really a personal post, but it has some connection to national events. In short — I bought a condo. I’d been keeping my eye on the local housing market for a while, anticipating that prices would come down, and in September at a time between the Fannie/Freddie bailout and the seizing up of the credit markets, I signed a deal on a one bedroom place in a new development called the “City Vista” located amidst a swathe of parking lots and brand new buildings on space that used to be parking lots that the lords of economic development are calling the Mount Vernon Triangle. The neighborhood already features a supermarket, a hardware store, a gym, a coffee shop, a liquor store, and a neighborhood blog so really what more do you need? I closed the deal yesterday, and it’s now mine, though I won’t be fully moved-in for about a week.
Consider it part of my effort to help the market “find bottom” though of course potentially the whole thing will collapse and I’ll look like an idiot a year from now.
64 Responses to “Doing My Part”
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October 11th, 2008 at 11:14 am
nice post!
http://culturedecoded.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/barack-obama-and-the-party-that-cant-lose/
October 11th, 2008 at 11:19 am
So, this means you are now part of the K Street gang? Blogger to K street. That is a new and innovative revolving door. Congratulations and happy moving day. But won’t you miss the lack of privacy?
October 11th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I’m a grad student, and I bought a small condo in 2003. I don’t make a ton of money and it was a big deal. The week after we closed, the cover story on the Economist announced the impending pop of the global housing bubble. That was an exciting feeling.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Good luck with that!
I hope that property ownership won’t suddenly make you a stalwart defender of the home mortgage tax deduction.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Congratulations!
Generally, I think that purchasing a home is a good thing to do as long as you are prepared to live in it for 5-10 years. This looks like a great place for you!
David
October 11th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Congratulations, Matt.
But what are Capps and Ackerman going to do without you?
October 11th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Screw flag pins.
You, sir, are a true patriot!
October 11th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Congrats!
October 11th, 2008 at 11:44 am
ooh, how exciting. they’re building a busboys and poets there too!
October 11th, 2008 at 11:46 am
But how walkable/bikeable is the neighborhood? Is a car next?
October 11th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Look what was there before City Vista.
Shonda.
And if you had a car and were escaping to the terminally unhip NoVa suburbs, watch out for the photo enforcement speed trap in the Third St Tunnel right next to your new digs.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
What’s this, I thought that Mr. Yglesias was the guy trumpeting the advantages of renting. Just like John McCain, a flip flopper.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Congrats! Welcome to the Ownership Society! Heh….
October 11th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Good luck Matt! My fiancee and I decided to wait a year, out here in the Bay Area. We had threaded the needle on financing as well, but the prices hadn’t yet gotten to our price point. Those prices are coming, though.
If you are going to stay in a place for five, six or seven years, any drop between now and a year from now will probably wash out.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Way to catch that falling knife.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Wow, you’re really a grown-up. I guess the downside is that if you own and live in a one-bedroom condo, you won’t get any more of those New York Times style articles about the young, hip bloggers of DC all drinking and blogging together from their communal pads.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Nice move. Don’t buy a house for one year, though. Never buy a house you’re not prepared to live in for at least 5 years. If the market goes nuts like it did in 1998-04 and you can sell in a year and make big money, great, but it’s never something you should count on.
If we’re not at the bottom now — and we might not be, I have no idea — we’re at least close enough that if you buy now you should come out comfortably ahead after 5 years. Can’t say the same for a lot of people who bought 5 years ago.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Oh, and congratulations. This is one of the good things about adulthood. No one over the age of about 25 should have to have roommates. I was sick of them by the time I was 22.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Completely OT except for a certain someone’s homonym habit:
Alan Furst’s review of John Le Carre’s new novel references Le Carre’s earlier novel Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy”. Twice. Spellcheckers. Mmmmmm.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/books/review/Furst-t.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=review
My favorite of Le Carre’s books, btw, is the very early A Small Town in Germany. The politics and the paranoia are entirely from another era so that it’s almost like reading John Buchan’s Greenmantle, but it’s got a better sense of place than the other Le Carre books I’ve read.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Now Matt Y can grow hot peppers year round.
(It wasn’t the first thought we had Linus.)
What about a plywood sign saying “mATt y’S hOUse” on the door?
(That probably wouldn’t be allowed Linus.)
Where’s Raphael in all this?
(He’s busy Linus. He has work to do.)
He’s writing a play entitled Bob Urich to star Spence for Hire in his off Broadway debut.
(I don’t think so Linus.)
Oh.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Seems to me that the most desirable feature of the neighborhood is that you can crawl home from the games.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Well done! I bought a condo a few months ago, and you make me feel better.
Can we ask, does this housing move mark some other change in Matt’s life which should also be announced and congratulated?
October 11th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
The W school of patriotism (shopping for your country) gets another recruit.
(Well done!)
October 11th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
So, you’re the guy atrios was referring to when he asked who would want to live in this tower surrounded by a giant parking lot. It all makes sense now.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Wither the flophouse?
October 11th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Given the rabid nature of the right wing at the moment, do you really think advertising your home address is a great idea?
October 11th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Very nice, Matt, congrats. I also bought a townhouse in Montgomery County and closed just before everything froze up. Got a great deal on it, feel like I did my part to help the local economy, and made a great investment. I held out while everyone else was buying into the housing bubble here. Good luck with your new investment.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Catching the bottom isn’t the most important thing. When national prices have fallen 30% from the peak we may be near the bottom but an overshoot to the downside is likely. Being that it’s in DC where there is never a recession I suspect it’s about the safest place in the world to buy.
Being that it’s a condo there are special concerns. If MY’s price was way down from what others paid then it’s possible that there might be some people there in trouble. Not likely because of the DC location, but possible. In distressed areas many condo associations are in trouble as owners fall behind on their association payments of if they are foreclosed there are no payments coming in at all.
Remember a home is not an investment, it’s a place to live. To the extent that home prices rise faster than the CPI is the extent to which we are on the road to ruin again. That should take at least two generations however.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I dunno how the market is in DC, but in L.A. I would not buy until sometime next year, especially condos. Several condos going up have had asking prices that are still way high, haven’t been able to sell, and then have had the units go on the auction block, where they’ve sold at about half of what they were asking for. Prices have been dropping for a while now, but I think they’ll keep dropping for a while… which is what they should do, because there’s still a disconnect between median income and the median price of a home. We are still coming down from the bubble.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Congrats. That’s an exciting feeling. Still waiting to make my first purchase but now with two incomes in the household, it’s a foreseeable possibility. Also, leaving NYC helped.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Congrats! Just keep making your mortgage payments and you’ll be doing your part to help the economy.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
FYI, when a neighbor comes around and suggests that you should run for the condo board, the correct answer is “I’m sorry but I already have a job.”
October 11th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
What rapier (28) said. As long as you’re not feeling house-poor every time you pay the mortgage, it’s all good. Damn, I’m realizing that my wife and I bought our first condo at your age.
I’ll opt to disagree with MattF (32). I was motivated to gather a few voting proxies and join when the HOA newsletter included an item reminding us to keep our cats on leashes when outdoors.
That moment of pique paid off in spades a year latter, when the ‘94 Northridge earthquake hit. My place was shaken, not stirred, but I had the power and first hand information to know it would be put back together.
At the very least, you’ll be on hand to biotch slap the idiot who wants to a) raid the maintenance fund, or b) raise the dues 150% to gold plate the maintenance fund.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Congrats. I imagine the neighborhood has changed a lot since I used to park my car there more than a decade ago when I was going to law school… at least I hope so, for your sake.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
“Mt. Vernon Triangle” my eye…that there’s Swampdoodle (or maybe West Swampdoodle) you’re moving to. Best neighborhood name in the District.
October 11th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Are we all invited to your housewarming party?
October 11th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
MattY’s growing up, and away. No more dreams of Portland. No more Peter Pan clubhouse.
Toyland, toyland
little girl and boy land
when you dwell within it
you are ever happy there!
Childhood toyland
mystical merry toyland
once you pass it’s borders
you can never return again!
October 11th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I don’t know. Looks like J Street runs right through it.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Looking at the web, looks like units are going for about $350K. Although this seems like a decent enough deal, hopefully, you were able to buy for at least 20-30K less.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Bottom, shmottom. The key thing is, are you paying less money (when you account for building equity and tax savings) that when you were renting? Is so, you will be fine.
October 11th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
It’d be impertinent to ask what you paid, right?
October 11th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
When MattY buys, that means only one thing: SELL! SELL! SELL!
October 11th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Congrats! Hope the little village works out for ya’ll.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Well! Look who just scurried out of the woodwork and left a housewarming present.
October 12th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Congratulations! If you want the full condo experience, make sure you run for a seat on your Board. It’s a lot of work, but you will meet people in the building much faster.
Also, having you on their will keep one of your crazy neighbors from getting a seat…and keeping the crazy people off the Board is important.
October 12th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Foolish minds think alike. I just closed on a house in Berkeley, CA on Friday as well. Not a fun time to have to keep questioning your decision.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Matt: “I’ll look like an idiot a year from now.”
Should I say it, folks? Should I? You know what I’m talking about.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Congratulations on your new condo purchase. Did your deal include access to the basement and a limited or unlimited supply of Cheetos?
Keep up the great blogging. Enjoy following you here on the prairie.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Congratulations. I have made changes in my own life but no property purchases.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Welcome to the neighborhood, Matt. I work down the street and enjoy the supermarket thoroughly. Also, the CVS on Mass is excellent. Congratulations!
December 13th, 2008 at 7:14 am
David Booth became a fan-favorite in Florida last season, and he’s doing his best to keep it that way. Florida celebrates 49-10 win against rival Georgia 11.02.08 Crabtree, Tech upset No. 1 Texas with second left 11.02.08 Knapp: Otto
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