Why do people on dcum hate on new builds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New builds are more typically found in the exurbs and suburban areas with a lot of ugly old teardowns, not desirable close-in neighborhoods. Many people would rather live close in, in an older home, due to reasons of commute, and housing prices reflect that.

Lol no they don't.want to live in an old beat up shack thats worth maybe 150k anywhere else. They do it solely for location. Period.

Stop trying to justify your shitty decision on others.

You seem furious that people have different preferences than you.

Far flung commutes are strongly correlated with premature deaths. We bought an older house in NW DC because we didn't want to spend our life in a car. It will literally kill you quicker. And yes, it's much smaller that our in-laws' house in the further reaches of Bethesda. But we are also a lot less stressed than they are, as they rush to do drop-offs/pick-up and fight the traffic. An accident on the road or a flat tire completely derails their week; I've seen it happen.

Further, all of us are dealing with house maintenance issues, whether its a circa 1920s DC rowhouse or circa 1960s Bethesda rambler. It's the nature of housing in this region.

The only nice new builds in this region are architect designed homes built with high-end materials and specialized labor. That's not the McCraftsmen you're seeing sprout up in Bethesda and Arlington. We have friends who own a few of these McCraftsman new builds and they are literally just giant homes. Some already have issues with mold, water damage, and soil shifting. It's a mixed bag when you buy a spec house.

Whether you spend your life in the car or not is a function of distance between your residence and work, not any particular location where you live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New builds are more typically found in the exurbs and suburban areas with a lot of ugly old teardowns, not desirable close-in neighborhoods. Many people would rather live close in, in an older home, due to reasons of commute, and housing prices reflect that.

Lol no they don't.want to live in an old beat up shack thats worth maybe 150k anywhere else. They do it solely for location. Period.

Stop trying to justify your shitty decision on others.

You seem furious that people have different preferences than you.

Far flung commutes are strongly correlated with premature deaths. We bought an older house in NW DC because we didn't want to spend our life in a car. It will literally kill you quicker. And yes, it's much smaller that our in-laws' house in the further reaches of Bethesda. But we are also a lot less stressed than they are, as they rush to do drop-offs/pick-up and fight the traffic. An accident on the road or a flat tire completely derails their week; I've seen it happen.

Further, all of us are dealing with house maintenance issues, whether its a circa 1920s DC rowhouse or circa 1960s Bethesda rambler. It's the nature of housing in this region.

The only nice new builds in this region are architect designed homes built with high-end materials and specialized labor. That's not the McCraftsmen you're seeing sprout up in Bethesda and Arlington. We have friends who own a few of these McCraftsman new builds and they are literally just giant homes. Some already have issues with mold, water damage, and soil shifting. It's a mixed bag when you buy a spec house.

Whether you spend your life in the car or not is a function of distance between your residence and work, not any particular location where you live.

Urban areas are major employment centers, compared to the exurbs. Urban areas or close-in suburbs are typically older, so fewer "new builds."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with many PPs about new home hate, but most of these homes are cookie cutter, mass production products. That is the reason We built a 10ksqft custom on a large close in lot. We used first rate materials and skilled labor. Cost was significantly more than a production (or spec) home of similar size If you have the budget, patience, and time a custom built today is in a different league than older homes AND new production homes.

I hope you built a safe room to hide in when the revolution comes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New builds are more typically found in the exurbs and suburban areas with a lot of ugly old teardowns, not desirable close-in neighborhoods. Many people would rather live close in, in an older home, due to reasons of commute, and housing prices reflect that.

Lol no they don't.want to live in an old beat up shack thats worth maybe 150k anywhere else. They do it solely for location. Period.

Stop trying to justify your shitty decision on others.

You seem furious that people have different preferences than you.

Far flung commutes are strongly correlated with premature deaths. We bought an older house in NW DC because we didn't want to spend our life in a car. It will literally kill you quicker. And yes, it's much smaller that our in-laws' house in the further reaches of Bethesda. But we are also a lot less stressed than they are, as they rush to do drop-offs/pick-up and fight the traffic. An accident on the road or a flat tire completely derails their week; I've seen it happen.

Further, all of us are dealing with house maintenance issues, whether its a circa 1920s DC rowhouse or circa 1960s Bethesda rambler. It's the nature of housing in this region.

The only nice new builds in this region are architect designed homes built with high-end materials and specialized labor. That's not the McCraftsmen you're seeing sprout up in Bethesda and Arlington. We have friends who own a few of these McCraftsman new builds and they are literally just giant homes. Some already have issues with mold, water damage, and soil shifting. It's a mixed bag when you buy a spec house.

+1 My 1920s home cost 800K less than my neighbor's new build, and my neighbor had to pay mortgage carrying costs for a year during construction. And they had a major roof issue. With the money I saved, I'm not house poor, and we've never had a roof issue.

As with anything new there may be issues. Once the kinks are worked out the house will continue to be better than 1920 shit shack

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New builds are more typically found in the exurbs and suburban areas with a lot of ugly old teardowns, not desirable close-in neighborhoods. Many people would rather live close in, in an older home, due to reasons of commute, and housing prices reflect that.

Lol no they don't.want to live in an old beat up shack thats worth maybe 150k anywhere else. They do it solely for location. Period.

Stop trying to justify your shitty decision on others.

You seem furious that people have different preferences than you.

Far flung commutes are strongly correlated with premature deaths. We bought an older house in NW DC because we didn't want to spend our life in a car. It will literally kill you quicker. And yes, it's much smaller that our in-laws' house in the further reaches of Bethesda. But we are also a lot less stressed than they are, as they rush to do drop-offs/pick-up and fight the traffic. An accident on the road or a flat tire completely derails their week; I've seen it happen.

Further, all of us are dealing with house maintenance issues, whether its a circa 1920s DC rowhouse or circa 1960s Bethesda rambler. It's the nature of housing in this region.

The only nice new builds in this region are architect designed homes built with high-end materials and specialized labor. That's not the McCraftsmen you're seeing sprout up in Bethesda and Arlington. We have friends who own a few of these McCraftsman new builds and they are literally just giant homes. Some already have issues with mold, water damage, and soil shifting. It's a mixed bag when you buy a spec house.

+1 My 1920s home cost 800K less than my neighbor's new build, and my neighbor had to pay mortgage carrying costs for a year during construction. And they had a major roof issue. With the money I saved, I'm not house poor, and we've never had a roof issue.

As with anything new there may be issues. Once the kinks are worked out the house will continue to be better than 1920 shit shack

True. But 800K better? You don't want to be overimproved for the neighborhood and today's McCraftsman new build will be how we view spilt-levels now, in 10 years when tastes change.

[Anonymous]

And not everyone works in DC. Unlike NYC where nearly all highly paid jobs are in Manhattan and barely anything in Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn or Long Island there are plenty of highly paid jobs between Rockville and Northern VA so living in downtown DC is a worse commute for many people. And they they have to pay for schools and maybe higher taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And not everyone works in DC. Unlike NYC where nearly all highly paid jobs are in Manhattan and barely anything in Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn or Long Island there are plenty of highly paid jobs between Rockville and Northern VA so living in downtown DC is a worse commute for many people. And they they have to pay for schools and maybe higher taxes.

There are lots of highly paid jobs in New Jersey, Westchester and Stamford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And not everyone works in DC. Unlike NYC where nearly all highly paid jobs are in Manhattan and barely anything in Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn or Long Island there are plenty of highly paid jobs between Rockville and Northern VA so living in downtown DC is a worse commute for many people. And they they have to pay for schools and maybe higher taxes.

I think many people in this forum don't understand this. NOVA and Maryland have become job hubs in their own right these days. Just look at Tysons or Reston.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And not everyone works in DC. Unlike NYC where nearly all highly paid jobs are in Manhattan and barely anything in Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn or Long Island there are plenty of highly paid jobs between Rockville and Northern VA so living in downtown DC is a worse commute for many people. And they they have to pay for schools and maybe higher taxes.

I think many people in this forum don't understand this. NOVA and Maryland have become job hubs in their own right these days. Just look at Tysons or Reston.

Maryland is not a jobs hub in any sense of the word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And not everyone works in DC. Unlike NYC where nearly all highly paid jobs are in Manhattan and barely anything in Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn or Long Island there are plenty of highly paid jobs between Rockville and Northern VA so living in downtown DC is a worse commute for many people. And they they have to pay for schools and maybe higher taxes.

I think many people in this forum don't understand this. NOVA and Maryland have become job hubs in their own right these days. Just look at Tysons or Reston.

Maryland is not a jobs hub in any sense of the word.

But there are jobs. I make a Manhattan salary in Bethesda. No way in NYC could you make a Manhattan Salary in Staten Island or Long Island. I have gone to Reston and DC on rare occasion for work and not a huge deal. I have a parking spot right at Bethesda Train station so going to DC is just my 15 minute drive to work and hop on a train. Or hop on at river road and drive over bridge to VA.

Try living in Staten Island and driving into NYC. There is not even a connection, you have to drive to Brooklyn with huge toll and cross back into Manhattan with another toll or take free bridge which is more traffic. Or take bus or train to Ferry, take Ferry to Downtown walk a block to subway, take subway to work then walk to work. People pay a huge price to live in NYC. DC is not an Island. Chevy Chase MD and Chevy Chase DC is an imaginary line.

And VA has no toll to go to DC or MD and the metro. In NYC from Long Island or NJ a huge toll to drive and park or expensive train to take you to a second expensive train.