First Time Home Buyer in DC

[Sima Meh]

I am a first time home buyer and interested in a SFH. I have a budget of $500-575K. I have a kid who goes to school in NE (Brookland).

1. Looking at the rising housing and mortgage prices, do you think this is the right time for me to buy or should I wait for sometime?

2. Which areas would you suggest for me in NE and SE which are within my budget, considered decent to live in as a single parent and not too far from my kid's school? Some of the areas I have shortlisted in NE are Manor Park, Michigan Park and Riggs Park. Please feel free to add locations in NE and SE DC.

[Russell Brazil]

@Sima Meh welcome to BP.

The areas you mentioned right off the bat are the ones I was likely going to suggest, particuarly Riggs Park. Michigan Park and Manor Park might be above the range you are looking at. Riggs Park has had steady appreciation for over a decade now and should continue into the next decade. Nice solid neighborhood, post World War 2 construction there means less problems than you might get further west in say Petworth with the older housing stock there.