Headlines: First residential project at The Wharf to deliver 2017; how much cash do you need to buy, anyway?
Here’s a look at what’s happening in real estate in and around the District of Columbia.
How much cash do you need to buy a house?
Closing costs typically range from 2 to 5 percent of the purchase price. Included in the sum are title insurance, loan-processing costs, taxes, and various other fees. -Urban Turf
Waterfront’s Wharf project opens residential building in 2017
The building will scale 12 stories with 112 units ranging from studios to one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units. Amenities will include an infinity pool on the roof and private elevators. -Curbed DC
Former H Street Salvation Army to become 27 condos
In lieu of parking, New Legacy Partners will give all condo buyers for the first five years a free Capital Bikeshare and Zipcar membership, and provide free bike helmets to the initial purchasers of each unit. -Elevation DC
Senators would extend tax breaks for people who renegotiate mortgages
About 7 million homeowners continue to be stuck in the tar pit of serious negative equity, with mortgage debt at least 25 percent higher than the value of their property, according to the research firm RealtyTrac. -Washington Post
Millions of ‘underwater’ homeowners are trapped
Some 5.4 million homes, or 10.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were still in a negative equity position, or “underwater,” in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to CoreLogic, as their owners owe more on the mortgage than the home is currently worth. –CNBC
Washington homebuyers choose large down payments
Arlington County makes the list of five highest average down payments among homebuyers in what real estate firm RealtyTrac defines as “millennial magnet markets.” -Washington Business Journal