Buying and razing a home in Pimmit Hills

[Anonymous]

Is it worth it? I know Pimmit Hills has a bad rep. How much would you pay for a new home in Pimmit Hills assuming its 2000-3000 sq ft and .25 acres?

[Anonymous]

800k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it? I know Pimmit Hills has a bad rep. How much would you pay for a new home in Pimmit Hills assuming its 2000-3000 sq ft and .25 acres?

With land, teardown and building costs, I would try and keep it under $825K. Pimmit Hills has an improving reputation, but houses above that amount are still the exception.

[Anonymous]

recent sales

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7700-Lunceford-Ln-Falls-Church-VA-22043/51774497_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1823-Olney-Rd-Falls-Church-VA-22043/51753920_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2001-Edgar-Ct-Falls-Church-VA-22043/51774536_zpid/

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PPs.

Anyone have builder recommendations? I liked the first house posted by PP if you know who built it.

[Anonymous]

I think it was a custom build by someone other than the current owner.

When the house last sold, the listing agent was Jaime Magne at Weichert Realty: http://magneandassociates.com/about.php

Maybe if you got in touch with him, he could tell you who built the house originally. Otherwise, you could try and contact the current owner by checking the Fairfax County property records data base.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it? I know Pimmit Hills has a bad rep. How much would you pay for a new home in Pimmit Hills assuming its 2000-3000 sq ft and .25 acres?

Pimmit Hills does not have a bad rep. It is one of the few affordable SFH communities inside the Beltway with good schools in NoVa. It's as safe as any other. It is not uniformly affluent or manicured, nor is construction always in the bestest of taste, but it does not have a bad rep.

I see at least five new construction sites driving to Rt 7 every day. If you are interested in builder names, you can drive around the neighborhood and take note of who's building there now. You should have no shortage of names because of so much infill construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Pimmit Hills does not have a bad rep. It is one of the few affordable SFH communities inside the Beltway with good schools in NoVa. It's as safe as any other. It is not uniformly affluent or manicured, nor is construction always in the bestest of taste, but it does not have a bad rep.

I see at least five new construction sites driving to Rt 7 every day. If you are interested in builder names, you can drive around the neighborhood and take note of who's building there now. You should have no shortage of names because of so much infill construction.

I've read enough comments about Pimmit Hills to think it still has a mixed reputation. Some continue to associate it with greasers and biker gangs from the 60s and 70s, or Ponyboy Curtis for those familiar with teen fiction. The good news is that Pimmit Hills has a good rep among people who live there, and an improving rep among those who know the area.

The quality of the infill is mixed. Some is really nice and, quite honestly, some of the additions and new houses there are WTF ugly.

[Anonymous]

I agree with your comment as to the quality of the infill. Some new houses are very nice; some additions look raggedy. That's true.

But a "bad rep" doesn't have to do with neighborhood aesthetics, does it? Bad neighborhood, in my eyes, is unsafe, inhabited with questionable characters, dirty, bad services and substandard schools. PH has neither of these things. Biker gangs were a factor in the 60s, true - before I was born.

The only significant downside to PH is a lack of uniform visual affluence. Big new houses sit side-by-side with saltbox dwellings and chainlink fences. New or better-looking housing is between 25% to 40% of the area, and new houses are coming up every day as I drive around. Other than that, PH has walkable streets (with sidewalks), two large parks, good schools in walking distance, and soon a new metro in walking distance to some of the 'hood. So I don't think you can call it a "bad" neighborhood in the sense that people associate with bad neighborhoods in DC area. Mixed income, diverse, not always beautiful, yes. Bad - no.

[Anonymous]

PS: You may want to look into stats on how quickly small remodeled homes (1200-1500 sq ft) get sold there. We had to bid on 3 properties before we got lucky with our current house there. It's large but in need of remodeling, which may have explained the lack of bidding wars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your comment as to the quality of the infill. Some new houses are very nice; some additions look raggedy. That's true.

But a "bad rep" doesn't have to do with neighborhood aesthetics, does it? Bad neighborhood, in my eyes, is unsafe, inhabited with questionable characters, dirty, bad services and substandard schools. PH has neither of these things. Biker gangs were a factor in the 60s, true - before I was born.

The only significant downside to PH is a lack of uniform visual affluence. Big new houses sit side-by-side with saltbox dwellings and chainlink fences. New or better-looking housing is between 25% to 40% of the area, and new houses are coming up every day as I drive around. Other than that, PH has walkable streets (with sidewalks), two large parks, good schools in walking distance, and soon a new metro in walking distance to some of the 'hood. So I don't think you can call it a "bad" neighborhood in the sense that people associate with bad neighborhoods in DC area. Mixed income, diverse, not always beautiful, yes. Bad - no.

9:48 here - I agree with 95% of what you posted. I'm just pointing out that an area's reputation includes what people who don't really know much about an area think. If you ask some people (who may not have been in PH for years) what they associate with the neighborhood, you'll get the following: chain-link fences, homes no bigger than 1000 SF, sagging roofs, no basements, toys left in the front yard, and at least four months of Christmas every year. That image takes a while to change, particularly if it still characterizes some properties.

I like PH. It has many of the qualities that people often want and claim they can't find in the region. The schools are very good. And the parents of some of my kids' friends who live in PH are among the nicest people you will ever meet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your comment as to the quality of the infill. Some new houses are very nice; some additions look raggedy. That's true.

But a "bad rep" doesn't have to do with neighborhood aesthetics, does it? Bad neighborhood, in my eyes, is unsafe, inhabited with questionable characters, dirty, bad services and substandard schools. PH has neither of these things. Biker gangs were a factor in the 60s, true - before I was born.

The only significant downside to PH is a lack of uniform visual affluence. Big new houses sit side-by-side with saltbox dwellings and chainlink fences. New or better-looking housing is between 25% to 40% of the area, and new houses are coming up every day as I drive around. Other than that, PH has walkable streets (with sidewalks), two large parks, good schools in walking distance, and soon a new metro in walking distance to some of the 'hood. So I don't think you can call it a "bad" neighborhood in the sense that people associate with bad neighborhoods in DC area. Mixed income, diverse, not always beautiful, yes. Bad - no.

9:48 here - I agree with 95% of what you posted. I'm just pointing out that an area's reputation includes what people who don't really know much about an area think. If you ask some people (who may not have been in PH for years) what they associate with the neighborhood, you'll get the following: chain-link fences, homes no bigger than 1000 SF, sagging roofs, no basements, toys left in the front yard, and at least four months of Christmas every year. That image takes a while to change, particularly if it still characterizes some properties.

I like PH. It has many of the qualities that people often want and claim they can't find in the region. The schools are very good. And the parents of some of my kids' friends who live in PH are among the nicest people you will ever meet.

Oh, the horrors.

[Anonymous]

I suppose you are right, then. It's true that PH has a mixed reputation out in the larger world. The 4 month of Christmas observation is 100% correct. We had one house a few blocks up from our place that I was sure interfered with Dulles air traffic people. Not an inch of space left on the front lawn, two tall towers with rotating dealios, rotating inflatable penguins, lit up like a, well, Christmas tree. I took DH for walks there in the evening and there were always folks walking by taking photos. That's PH character for you Cute, no? Just need to retain your sense of humor about these things.

PH also sports a 6-ft statue of liberty on one of the main streets. Yeee Haaaw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Oh, the horrors.

If you're coming from somewhere where $350K buys a new house in a manicured subdivision, the idea of PH, as perceived by some, may not be particularly appealing.

But read 11:48's post. She shows that PH''s works great for those who value what it has to offer, and don't view it as a negative reflection on themselves, if they happen to have a neighbor or two who has a peeling roof and a healthy appreciation for an inflatable Santa.

[Anonymous]

Here's an example of small remodeled homes in PH.

http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/1803-Pimmit-Dr-22043/home/9396635

Listing price was 450K. We bid with an escalation up to 465K. It got sold for 477K, not to us. We ended up getting a larger, livable but unrenovated home (2200 sq ft, .3 acre lot) for 460K.