upside potential in Petworth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Petworth is not a down market! Only someone not in DC or near metro would say that.
We paid $540 three years ago to be three block south of PW metro and recent appraisal is about $750k. Shells needing a full cut around our block are starting in teh 400ks. So this is actually priced right. There is a house at the end of Quebec listed for $899k now (although thats probably too high). Barnard is the best elem school in the neighborhood. If you have kids, there are a TON of gentrifiers with young kids. Its insane. I can think of about 25 moms who were just on maternity leave and we at the same time and we met up. So the schools should be on the upswing.

What about the crime, though? Petworth still seems to have a ton of crime if you look at the crime map. It's one of the worst areas in the city outside of SE.

True. We know three families who have had break ins (one multiple times) in the past few months in Petworth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Petworth is not a down market! Only someone not in DC or near metro would say that.
We paid $540 three years ago to be three block south of PW metro and recent appraisal is about $750k. Shells needing a full cut around our block are starting in teh 400ks. So this is actually priced right. There is a house at the end of Quebec listed for $899k now (although thats probably too high). Barnard is the best elem school in the neighborhood. If you have kids, there are a TON of gentrifiers with young kids. Its insane. I can think of about 25 moms who were just on maternity leave and we at the same time and we met up. So the schools should be on the upswing.

What about the crime, though? Petworth still seems to have a ton of crime if you look at the crime map. It's one of the worst areas in the city outside of SE.

Agree that crime is still a problem. People tend to ignore it when they're talking about how far a neighborhood has come. When I lived in Columbia Heights people would refer to it as already having gentrified (albeit the same people who like to say they went to a vacation spot "before it became touristy") but there was a murder on my front steps (literally) and my back yard (again literally) while I lived there.

The crime will get under control over a long enough period of time, so I don't think that should scare OP off if he or she is planning on holding the property for a long time (and personally feels safe there in the meantime). The reason I don't think this property is a good value is because it sounds like, after work, it will already be priced similarly to a house in a more established neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Petworth is not a down market! Only someone not in DC or near metro would say that.
We paid $540 three years ago to be three block south of PW metro and recent appraisal is about $750k. Shells needing a full cut around our block are starting in teh 400ks. So this is actually priced right. There is a house at the end of Quebec listed for $899k now (although thats probably too high). Barnard is the best elem school in the neighborhood. If you have kids, there are a TON of gentrifiers with young kids. Its insane. I can think of about 25 moms who were just on maternity leave and we at the same time and we met up. So the schools should be on the upswing.

What about the crime, though? Petworth still seems to have a ton of crime if you look at the crime map. It's one of the worst areas in the city outside of SE.

Agree that crime is still a problem. People tend to ignore it when they're talking about how far a neighborhood has come. When I lived in Columbia Heights people would refer to it as already having gentrified (albeit the same people who like to say they went to a vacation spot "before it became touristy") but there was a murder on my front steps (literally) and my back yard (again literally) while I lived there.

The crime will get under control over a long enough period of time, so I don't think that should scare OP off if he or she is planning on holding the property for a long time (and personally feels safe there in the meantime). The reason I don't think this property is a good value is because it sounds like, after work, it will already be priced similarly to a house in a more established neighborhood.

Is the crime coming from neighbors or scumbags using the metro from other parts of DC?

[Anonymous]

I don't know. When I was in CH, the two very high profile shootings happened to involve folks who lived in other areas (One involved some kids from SE who were part of the mayor's intern program; the other was a drive by closer to U Street). But most of the other crime seemed to involve residents of a few of the buildings near my house (both as victims and perps).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Petworth is not a down market! Only someone not in DC or near metro would say that.
We paid $540 three years ago to be three block south of PW metro and recent appraisal is about $750k. Shells needing a full cut around our block are starting in teh 400ks. So this is actually priced right. There is a house at the end of Quebec listed for $899k now (although thats probably too high). Barnard is the best elem school in the neighborhood. If you have kids, there are a TON of gentrifiers with young kids. Its insane. I can think of about 25 moms who were just on maternity leave and we at the same time and we met up. So the schools should be on the upswing.

What about the crime, though? Petworth still seems to have a ton of crime if you look at the crime map. It's one of the worst areas in the city outside of SE.

Agree that crime is still a problem. People tend to ignore it when they're talking about how far a neighborhood has come. When I lived in Columbia Heights people would refer to it as already having gentrified (albeit the same people who like to say they went to a vacation spot "before it became touristy") but there was a murder on my front steps (literally) and my back yard (again literally) while I lived there.

The crime will get under control over a long enough period of time, so I don't think that should scare OP off if he or she is planning on holding the property for a long time (and personally feels safe there in the meantime). The reason I don't think this property is a good value is because it sounds like, after work, it will already be priced similarly to a house in a more established neighborhood.

Is the crime coming from neighbors or scumbags using the metro from other parts of DC?

It's definitely from within the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know. When I was in CH, the two very high profile shootings happened to involve folks who lived in other areas (One involved some kids from SE who were part of the mayor's intern program; the other was a drive by closer to U Street). But most of the other crime seemed to involve residents of a few of the buildings near my house (both as victims and perps).

Is crime about the same between CH and Petworth? It seems like 14th street in CH has a lot of activity (muggings, drug deals etc) but away from those few blocks around the metro it is much quieter and safer (than 14th street and also maybe parts of petworth). has anyone lived in both areas and can you compare (objectively, not boosting your neighborhood)?

[Anonymous]

I lived in both. Owned a condo on fairmont right off 14th. Now live in petworth. I felt like there was way more crime in CH. 14 th is just so much drama. Columbia Vilage public housing on 14th is a major source of violent and property crime. It's just a hot mess every time I get off the metro there. PW has crime but seems much more focused on a few blocks. Almost no public housing other than park Morton and that's half vacated now. It's quieter and a lot more white high SES families with young kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree that crime is still a problem. People tend to ignore it when they're talking about how far a neighborhood has come. When I lived in Columbia Heights people would refer to it as already having gentrified (albeit the same people who like to say they went to a vacation spot "before it became touristy") but there was a murder on my front steps (literally) and my back yard (again literally) while I lived there.

Yikes. Were you able to convince the cops you're not a serial killer?