Do we stay in DC or move to Baltimore?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this just came on the market.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/6312-Bellona-Ave-21212/home/9645280

Towson schools but a block from the north Baltimore border. Best of both worlds. Slight fixer upper but cosmetics only likely. Area is called Pinehurst. The Pinehurst / Cedarcroft neighborhoods are lovely and just north of Homeland.

Will probably get multiple offers. But even at 100k+ above asking this is a great buy!

Oof, that’s a nice house that has obviously been loved but would have killed the agent to take some of the (again, clearly loved) pieces out of the staging? Really hard to imagine a young family there or get a sense of the rooms.

Once you get outside of DC and similar markets, staging is less of a thing. I was appalled when we moved to Philly by how little prep anyone did before putting houses on the market, and I think Baltimore is similar. It's just a different sensibility. Nobody expects to make a killing on their house or is thinking about how to max it out.

That isn’t true generally for Baltimore, all of the better known agents stage. This listing is a bit of a dog.

Not true for Philly either.

[Anonymous]

Baltimore has plenty of grayed-out flips with Edison bulbs -- but they're mostly Hampden or downtown. The burbier areas aren't vying quite as hard for the Millenial market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore has plenty of grayed-out flips with Edison bulbs -- but they're mostly Hampden or downtown. The burbier areas aren't vying quite as hard for the Millenial market.

It sounds like you don’t actually live here. All those millennials moving from other cities, Canton, Fed Hill, Harbor East definitely care a lot about how updated a house is, and they are the people who are buying in North Baltimore suburbs. It wasn’t true of the Baltimore market until later than elsewhere but it has been the case for the past 5-7 years. I’ve sold two house in the Towson/Lutherville area in that time period. Unrenovated sells but at a discount unless the location is special.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore has plenty of grayed-out flips with Edison bulbs -- but they're mostly Hampden or downtown. The burbier areas aren't vying quite as hard for the Millenial market.

It sounds like you don’t actually live here. All those millennials moving from other cities, Canton, Fed Hill, Harbor East definitely care a lot about how updated a house is, and they are the people who are buying in North Baltimore suburbs. It wasn’t true of the Baltimore market until later than elsewhere but it has been the case for the past 5-7 years. I’ve sold two house in the Towson/Lutherville area in that time period. Unrenovated sells but at a discount unless the location is special.

Not only do I live here, I just bought a house here. I was looking extensively in Lutherville/Timonium and the vast majority of what I saw was either un-staged/un-renovated or was "staged" in the "LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE" aesthetic rather than the exposed-brick-and-Edison-bulbs aesthetic. *shrug*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore has plenty of grayed-out flips with Edison bulbs -- but they're mostly Hampden or downtown. The burbier areas aren't vying quite as hard for the Millenial market.

It sounds like you don’t actually live here. All those millennials moving from other cities, Canton, Fed Hill, Harbor East definitely care a lot about how updated a house is, and they are the people who are buying in North Baltimore suburbs. It wasn’t true of the Baltimore market until later than elsewhere but it has been the case for the past 5-7 years. I’ve sold two house in the Towson/Lutherville area in that time period. Unrenovated sells but at a discount unless the location is special.

Not only do I live here, I just bought a house here. I was looking extensively in Lutherville/Timonium and the vast majority of what I saw was either un-staged/un-renovated or was "staged" in the "LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE" aesthetic rather than the exposed-brick-and-Edison-bulbs aesthetic. *shrug*

Might depend on the price range, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore has plenty of grayed-out flips with Edison bulbs -- but they're mostly Hampden or downtown. The burbier areas aren't vying quite as hard for the Millenial market.

It sounds like you don’t actually live here. All those millennials moving from other cities, Canton, Fed Hill, Harbor East definitely care a lot about how updated a house is, and they are the people who are buying in North Baltimore suburbs. It wasn’t true of the Baltimore market until later than elsewhere but it has been the case for the past 5-7 years. I’ve sold two house in the Towson/Lutherville area in that time period. Unrenovated sells but at a discount unless the location is special.

Not only do I live here, I just bought a house here. I was looking extensively in Lutherville/Timonium and the vast majority of what I saw was either un-staged/un-renovated or was "staged" in the "LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE" aesthetic rather than the exposed-brick-and-Edison-bulbs aesthetic. *shrug*

Might depend on the price range, I guess.

Maybe? But I just glanced through the most expensive places in 21093 and if you don't count the $1.8m new build, all the next most expensive properties are either somewhat dated or quite dated. I stand by my assessment that it's just not a fashion-forward market. I think that's a good thing. I'd rather not deal with someone's hastily-installed herringbone tile etc. These are families selling, not flippers looking to make a buck on a buyer dazzled by gray paint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore has plenty of grayed-out flips with Edison bulbs -- but they're mostly Hampden or downtown. The burbier areas aren't vying quite as hard for the Millenial market.

It sounds like you don’t actually live here. All those millennials moving from other cities, Canton, Fed Hill, Harbor East definitely care a lot about how updated a house is, and they are the people who are buying in North Baltimore suburbs. It wasn’t true of the Baltimore market until later than elsewhere but it has been the case for the past 5-7 years. I’ve sold two house in the Towson/Lutherville area in that time period. Unrenovated sells but at a discount unless the location is special.

Not only do I live here, I just bought a house here. I was looking extensively in Lutherville/Timonium and the vast majority of what I saw was either un-staged/un-renovated or was "staged" in the "LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE" aesthetic rather than the exposed-brick-and-Edison-bulbs aesthetic. *shrug*

Might depend on the price range, I guess.

Maybe? But I just glanced through the most expensive places in 21093 and if you don't count the $1.8m new build, all the next most expensive properties are either somewhat dated or quite dated. I stand by my assessment that it's just not a fashion-forward market. I think that's a good thing. I'd rather not deal with someone's hastily-installed herringbone tile etc. These are families selling, not flippers looking to make a buck on a buyer dazzled by gray paint.

Anything sitting now has already been passed over. I am not sure what you consider fashion forward, but I can tell you that even Baltimore buyers want kitchens and baths that have been redone within the past 10 years so, certainly in any property over $700,000. I don’t think they care about the wall color or lightbulbs, perhaps that is a dc thing.

[Anonymous]

Thought anyone thinking about Baltimore might find this interesting, average days on market down to 9 days for the city. https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/real-estate/bs-bz-baltimore-housing-market-coronavirus-inventory-20210112-l4nhhalzgbeglazj3gydnylzn4-story.html

[Anonymous]

bumping this thread - did anyone move there in the last 18 mos and how is it going??

[Anonymous]

Stay in DC. You would pay higher county income tax and higher property tax as compared to DC and your house value won't increase as much in the future.

[Anonymous]

Rent in Baltimore, rent out DC condo. See if you'd like to buy in Baltimore while you are renting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stay in DC. You would pay higher county income tax and higher property tax as compared to DC and your house value won't increase as much in the future.

[Anonymous]

What about quality of life? We are ok with higher prop tax. (I have read many strings on Baltimore here and this comes up a lot. I have read the pros and cons of the tax questions. I’m really interested in how the move worked out for people who did it fairly recently. Has anyone done it? Where did you move to, how is it different, are you glad? Do you miss DC? Thanks!!!!

[Anonymous]

We recently moved to Lutherville after living in major cities in the Midwest and on the East and West coast. We looked at homes in Roland Park, Homeland, Ruxton, Stoneleigh, and Mays Chapel with a budget of $1-$1.3M. It was really hard to find a house we loved. There were so many places in Ruxton and Roland Park that had beautifully renovated kitchens and bathrooms (with high-end appliances and fixtures) but the rest of the house would have an awkward layout and the house itself was like 100 years old. It would just require so much work that we ended up in Mays Chapel in a newer home.

The quality of life is really nice because your dollar does go far. We have a huge suburban house but can be downtown and go out to dinner or take the kids to the aquarium in 15-20 minutes. Our neighborhood has tons of kids and plans social events for Halloween, back to school and Christmas.We joined a great pool club this summer with no waitlist. We are doing private for school and the options are endless. We didn't have to spend our max budget to be in a great neighborhood so we have more disposable income for travel and activities.

Things that I miss are cool fun neighborhoods to walk around with cool restaurants and shops, a great food scene, major retailers. Baltimore just feels small. The nice thing is that there's easy access to DC and New York so I can get my fix in other ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP needs to cool it. I'm typing this from my nice Baltimore neighborhood after just having walked the dogs and seeing all my pleasant and happy neighbors. Yes, it's a problematic city, and yes, there are nice parts of the city where many people live well.

No thank you, PP. There are tons of good suburbs that offer this so go to Baltimore. In addition, pay higher property taxes and incomes taxes as well with crime, bad schools and roads. No thank you.

If everything is so good then why Baltimore population is going down with time?