She Took Her $300,000 Budget to the Washington, D.C., Area. Could She Afford Something in the City?

Gianna Licari has an epic Barbie collection and loves everything pink, but she’s tough when it comes to getting what she wants. The 23-year-old Chicago native graduated a year early from the University of California, Los Angeles, then set her sights on moving to the nation’s capital.

“My dad was a D.E.A. agent back in the 1980s, and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps working in government,” Ms. Licari said.

At first, she worked remotely from her parents’ Chicago home to save money. “I couldn’t kick down doors,” she said, “but my first job was in the F.D.A.’s Office of Ethics and Integrity.”

In July 2023, she was excited to move east for a new job with the government, even though she didn’t know anyone in the Washington, D.C., area. Her first priority: figuring out how she could buy a place rather than overpay for a local rental. She set her budget at $300,000, but was primarily focused on keeping monthly payments under $2,500.

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“Inventory for anything in that price range was really low in the fall of 2023, and it’s still low,” said Chris Kuchnicki, an agent with the Keri Shull Team at eXp Realty in Arlington, Va. “Anything you can find usually sells fast.”

Since Ms. Licari doesn’t own a car, transportation options and walkability were important. She looked for listings within a 10-minute walk of Metro stations throughout the region.

“To find something I could afford, I looked farther and farther away from the city in Maryland and Virginia,” she said. “I didn’t love the idea of an hourlong commute, but I also was determined to buy rather than waste money on rent.”

She planned to use her savings and her salary to finance a purchase, and didn’t want to ask her parents for help with the down payment.

“Gianna seemed like a prime candidate for first-time home buyer assistance programs, so I had her send her paperwork to a lender qualified with those programs,” Mr. Kuchnicki said. “A lot of people aren’t aware that they can qualify for home buyer assistance. The income limits are higher than they realize.”

In the end, the search came down to three condos.

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