Dying market in Potomac

[Anonymous]

Potomac has been on the downswing for two decades.

[Anonymous]

I love the second one. I'd move in and have goats. My neighbors would Hate me.

[Anonymous]

I concur with those who say this is a generational shift. My parents dreamed of a house like these. Meanwhile, my wife and I are moving out of the city because we have two young children. We're buying a house that is incredibly walkable to everything in Bethesda. We are buying 5k sq ft, and spending more than the asking price of each of these houses. We want to be walking distance to a nice urban area. 5k square feet is plenty big for our family of 4. When we want to escape from the city, we have a house on a reasonable amount of land approx 2 hours from the city. Potomac has neither the benefit of being in an urban area nor the draw of being in the country. Rather, its benefit seems to be large houses and lots in a distance that is commutable (though painful), at least when commuting was a thing! We just don't want that.

Many people reasonably make different choices than we do. But, among our generation (mid to late 30s), my sense is we are more typical rather than outliers.

[Anonymous]

All those houses are walkable. In particular Gary drive is a five minute walk brand new Potomac Elementary and five minute walk to village. Bank, post office, library, two supermarkets and several restaurants. And river road has a great sidewalk.

The one on Holly Hill is super nice and a cul de sac.

Walkable these house are 100 percent.

[Anonymous]

The vaaaast majority of homes in Potmac and areas like McLean are ugly AF. The were built for boomers with 80s and 90s style who also had too much money with no taste. Nobody wants ugly boomer mcmansions from the 80s and 90s. Numerous article have been written about how hard it is to sell terrible mcmansions built 30-40 years ago. Lots of boomers trying to downsize will be in for a rude awakening. Boomer culture prized excessive conspicuous displays of consumption, after all, that's what the 80s were known for. Younger generations don't want ugly homes that are gigantic monstrosities. Walkability is key. Many younger people will put up with smaller homes for walkable amenities. Plus, the US economy has been rigged against younger generations would couldn't even afford those homes even if they wanted them. They're saddled with huge student loan debt and childcare costs. Millennials have much less wealth now compared to the baby boomers and GenX did when they were the same age as current millennials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All those houses are walkable. In particular Gary drive is a five minute walk brand new Potomac Elementary and five minute walk to village. Bank, post office, library, two supermarkets and several restaurants. And river road has a great sidewalk.

The one on Holly Hill is super nice and a cul de sac.

Walkable these house are 100 percent.

Yay, walkable to some strip malls!........said no one ever.

[Anonymous]

Nobody wants to live that far out

[Anonymous]

All four are very dated and ugly AF.

[Anonymous]

Potomac is a relentless parade of vulgarity and poor taste. You couldn’t pay me rnough to live there.

[Anonymous]

I live a few blocks from there.

I had several family’s move near me in last year from Bethesda/DC. They needed more space as kids older and wanted Churchill. I only moved here in 2018 from “close in” but I had an 18, 16 and 11 year old at time. They are far beyond the stroller and park stage. And my wife is far past hang out with new Moms phase.

I work from home. I actually technically have a 7 bedroom house. Two are basement guest bedrooms. But home office wise is great. I literally had a 1,600 square foot house close in with a one car driveway! Was no longer practical

Also it is not generational it is age. The majority of parents on my block who moved in with kids are in there 50s. Been there don’t that close in. And the hipster parents in there 30s pushing their kid in a stroller come 55 when you have three kids 15-20 and five cars it won’t be fun anymore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Potomac was one of the places to be in this area maybe for my parent's generation. But now, more millenials prefer the urban setting with proximity to metro over the McMansions and the large plot of land.

Yes

[Anonymous]

Your examples are all ugly, so that might explain it.

[Anonymous]

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Rockville/9820-Glenolden-Dr-20854/home/10898444

This one sold instantly at full price right in that area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People with money are getting out of here.

People with money live in Woodland-Normanstone or Kalorama, not Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All those houses are walkable. In particular Gary drive is a five minute walk brand new Potomac Elementary and five minute walk to village. Bank, post office, library, two supermarkets and several restaurants. And river road has a great sidewalk.

The one on Holly Hill is super nice and a cul de sac.

Walkable these house are 100 percent.

What are you smoking. Most of the homes there don't have sidewalks. I live not that far from there, and drive through it to get to a camp my kids were going to over previous summers.