I become a homeowner today for the first time in my life!

Here's what it was like buying a home in D.C. (during a pandemic).

If you're thinking about buying because you heard interest rates are low, welcome to the club! You and everyone else.

It's a strong sellers market right now.

Homes that would have gone for at-listing last year are selling for over listing the majority of the time.

We got in a bidding war with one home in Park View that ended up way above listing. Thankfully we walked away. I start hyperventilating thinking about the price.

"Aren't interest rates really low?"

Yes, yes they are. And I was surprised when our lender told us what they could offer...we even negotiated down after that. If you're not picky and have a flexible time frame, now is a great time to buy IMO.

You can still tour homes and masks were always required. I recommend private tours with your realtor and not attending "open houses." Make sure to bring hand sanitizer because you'll want to touch everything.

These's were our non-negotiables:

1. Entire house, not condo
2. Some character, not entirely new
3. Bathtub
4. Lots of natural light
5. Outdoor space
7. Yellow/blue metro proximity

Nice to haves:
1. Private parking
2. Hardwood floors
3. Window in bathroom
4. Storage space

We got a lot of these items, including a cute 1920s rowhouse in Trinidad with hardwood floors, a bathroom w/ tub and window, private parking, natural light, large crawl space for storage, back patio area, and tiny front yard.

Only thing missing? Proximity to metro station.

Could that have been a mistake? Maybe, but it seemed less important with WFH. When I have to go back into the office, I'll figure that out. Thankfully, both of us enjoy riding our bikes. #bikedc

My recs?

1. Find a realtor that listens. This home would have never been on our radar (our agent flagged it for us because of the additional crawl space storage and we put in an offer before it came to market)
2. Don't be in a hurry
3. Get multiple interest rate quotes

4. Buy well below your max budget
5. Asks lots of questions so you understand everything
6. Seek advice from other people who have gone through the process
7. Research, research, research

Also qualifying for the reduced recordation tax rate for first-time homebuyers can save you a good chunk of change at closing.

I didn't think we'd qualify, but we did! https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/publication/reduced-recordation-tax-rate-first-time-homebuyers

Some great ideas for learning about your new neighborhood:

Watch recent ANC meetings. We've learned SO much from watching these about resources and community priorities. This was really important to us.
r/washingtondc subrebbit, but take comments with grain of salt

Something really fun to do is get an account on the DC Deeds website to see old documents related to your house.

During the lull between our offer and closing, we uncorked a bottle of wine and spent a night looking at docs from the 1920s! https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/service/recorder-deeds-document-images

Obviously I'm not an expert, but hope this thread was helpful for other potential home-buyers.

Happy to answer any questions. Feel free to add your own suggestions if you've recently bought a home!