How to tell the difference between close-in suburbs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, I’d like in on this. We want everything that OP wants but would also like a close-in commute to capital hill (45 mins or under), would prefer walkable to a metro, would love to be able to walk to some restaurants, but also would like a decent yard. Like a 10,000 sf lot or larger ideally. Our budget is $2m and we need at least 4 bedrooms. Where should we be looking ideally?

PP, we also don’t care about schools, and need to be within 25-30 mins max of American Law School.

Why don’t you care at all about schools if you aren’t yet admitted to a k-12 private?

Has that PP even said they have children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. Thanks for the replies. We do want to be in a good school district but only elementary matters, if that makes sense. Preferably single family home. Budget 1.2Mish. Would be nice to be able to walk to a few things (coffee shop, etc.) but I think more important is proximity to other young families and activities to do with young kids.

A neighbor just posted that she is selling. Check out 4609 Maple Ave, Bethesda MD 20814. It has all that you asked for and under your budget at $1M. It is a beautiful pre-war cottage in a very family friendly neighborhood, walking distance to everything. I just looked online, her listing has not even popped up yet, but you can see the old listing. It really looks gorgeous if you don’t mind living small.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for Del Ray or Beverly Hills in Alexandria. Great place for families with lots to do, very friendly
Locals and nice housing stock. Ignore the hate on here about the Alexandria city schools. Aim for Mt Vernon or Barrett or Maury elementary schools. The middle school and high school are also good if you take an interest in your child’s education and/or your child is motivated to learn. Plenty of kids go to ivies and other excellent colleges. And as Amazon moves here the schools will only get better.

Kensington is also a nice place if you find a block where you don’t get much traffic noise.

[Anonymous]

How did you select those neighborhoods out of curiosity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, I’d like in on this. We want everything that OP wants but would also like a close-in commute to capital hill (45 mins or under), would prefer walkable to a metro, would love to be able to walk to some restaurants, but also would like a decent yard. Like a 10,000 sf lot or larger ideally. Our budget is $2m and we need at least 4 bedrooms. Where should we be looking ideally?

I don’t think N Arlington has 10,000SF lots walkable to metro. Anyone else know?

Yeah not that I know it with a lot that big. unless you don’t mind walking for 20 mins. And It’d be over 2m

There are a handful of 10,000-20,000sf lots in Lyon Park/Ashton Heights that are <1 mile from metro.

Get out of town. Really??? Can you share an example?

I mean none of them are for sale right now...they rarely come up as you might imagine, but click around on Arlington's parcel map and you'll see quite a few

https://gis.arlingtonva.us/Html5Viewer/Index.html?viewer=ACMaps.HTML5#

A few examples:

230 N Highland
304 N Highland
303 N Irving
309 N Irving

There are actually quite a few - they're mostly south of Pershing between 1st Rd and 2nd Rd or backing up the cemetery.

One big lot on Jackson sold and is currently having a moooonster house built on it - pool, pool house, main house, garage with space above it. The story I heard is that the prior owners bought the house for $1.3m in 2019 and a year later the current owners knocked on the door and said "how much would it take for you to sell us this house?" and they said $1.7m and got it. Sold almost one year to the day after they bought it for $400K more. I think the lot on that is 19,XXXsf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, I’d like in on this. We want everything that OP wants but would also like a close-in commute to capital hill (45 mins or under), would prefer walkable to a metro, would love to be able to walk to some restaurants, but also would like a decent yard. Like a 10,000 sf lot or larger ideally. Our budget is $2m and we need at least 4 bedrooms. Where should we be looking ideally?

I don’t think N Arlington has 10,000SF lots walkable to metro. Anyone else know?

Yeah not that I know it with a lot that big. unless you don’t mind walking for 20 mins. And It’d be over 2m

There are a handful of 10,000-20,000sf lots in Lyon Park/Ashton Heights that are <1 mile from metro.

Get out of town. Really??? Can you share an example?

I mean none of them are for sale right now...they rarely come up as you might imagine, but click around on Arlington's parcel map and you'll see quite a few

https://gis.arlingtonva.us/Html5Viewer/Index.html?viewer=ACMaps.HTML5#

A few examples:

230 N Highland
304 N Highland
303 N Irving
309 N Irving

There are actually quite a few - they're mostly south of Pershing between 1st Rd and 2nd Rd or backing up the cemetery.

One big lot on Jackson sold and is currently having a moooonster house built on it - pool, pool house, main house, garage with space above it. The story I heard is that the prior owners bought the house for $1.3m in 2019 and a year later the current owners knocked on the door and said "how much would it take for you to sell us this house?" and they said $1.7m and got it. Sold almost one year to the day after they bought it for $400K more. I think the lot on that is 19,XXXsf.

Wow! Thanks for all this info. I had no clue.

[Anonymous]

So strange for the OP to say that work commutes are not a consideration. OP, if you have not experienced DC traffic and will not be working from home full time, you really need to take the commute into consideration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, I’d like in on this. We want everything that OP wants but would also like a close-in commute to capital hill (45 mins or under), would prefer walkable to a metro, would love to be able to walk to some restaurants, but also would like a decent yard. Like a 10,000 sf lot or larger ideally. Our budget is $2m and we need at least 4 bedrooms. Where should we be looking ideally?

I don’t think N Arlington has 10,000SF lots walkable to metro. Anyone else know?

Yeah not that I know it with a lot that big. unless you don’t mind walking for 20 mins. And It’d be over 2m

There are a handful of 10,000-20,000sf lots in Lyon Park/Ashton Heights that are <1 mile from metro.

Get out of town. Really??? Can you share an example?

I mean none of them are for sale right now...they rarely come up as you might imagine, but click around on Arlington's parcel map and you'll see quite a few

https://gis.arlingtonva.us/Html5Viewer/Index.html?viewer=ACMaps.HTML5#

A few examples:

230 N Highland
304 N Highland
303 N Irving
309 N Irving

There are actually quite a few - they're mostly south of Pershing between 1st Rd and 2nd Rd or backing up the cemetery.

One big lot on Jackson sold and is currently having a moooonster house built on it - pool, pool house, main house, garage with space above it. The story I heard is that the prior owners bought the house for $1.3m in 2019 and a year later the current owners knocked on the door and said "how much would it take for you to sell us this house?" and they said $1.7m and got it. Sold almost one year to the day after they bought it for $400K more. I think the lot on that is 19,XXXsf.

Wow! Thanks for all this info. I had no clue.

You're welcome - it'll be interesting to see what eventually becomes of these ~1/2 acre lots. Of the four examples I listed the most recent non-family transfer was a sale in 1993. Some of the others have been bouncing between family members since the 1950s.

Personally I'm one of those people who appreciates the older homes and N E I G H B O R H O O D C H A R A C T E R but I know these small homes on huge lots won't last forever. My only hope is that they go to someone who keeps the lot together and builds a large, but high quality, home there. Worst case is some developer subdivides the lot and crams three McMansions on there.

[Anonymous]

OP, I would pick a few neighborhoods where price and proximity feel reasonable and then go and walk around in those neighborhoods in the early evening, now that days are long, and see what the vibe is like. Are kids out playing? Families out walking together? Do people say hi? Much of the vibe that makes one neighborhood distinct from another is intangible until you're on the ground, but it can make a huge difference in quality of life.

[Anonymous]

Seattleite here- We moved from Wallingford in 2009 and by pure chance ended up in Del Ray. This by far the closest thing you'll find that will fit. Maybe small pockets of Arlington or Takoma Park. Everything else is pure suburban hell. Don't even consider Mclean, Reston, Falls Church, Silver Spring, Vienna.

Those places are like telling someone to move to North Gate if they were relocating to Seattle.

Ignore the hate on the schools. My daughters are excelling- oldest went to UVA with admissions to W and M, Northwestern and Denison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So strange for the OP to say that work commutes are not a consideration. OP, if you have not experienced DC traffic and will not be working from home full time, you really need to take the commute into consideration.

Such a weird post. A huge number of people work from home these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, I’d like in on this. We want everything that OP wants but would also like a close-in commute to capital hill (45 mins or under), would prefer walkable to a metro, would love to be able to walk to some restaurants, but also would like a decent yard. Like a 10,000 sf lot or larger ideally. Our budget is $2m and we need at least 4 bedrooms. Where should we be looking ideally?

PP, we also don’t care about schools, and need to be within 25-30 mins max of American Law School.

Do you mean AU’s law school? If you can forgo the 10K lot, you should look in AU Park or adjacent neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, I’d like in on this. We want everything that OP wants but would also like a close-in commute to capital hill (45 mins or under), would prefer walkable to a metro, would love to be able to walk to some restaurants, but also would like a decent yard. Like a 10,000 sf lot or larger ideally. Our budget is $2m and we need at least 4 bedrooms. Where should we be looking ideally?

I don’t think N Arlington has 10,000SF lots walkable to metro. Anyone else know?

Yeah not that I know it with a lot that big. unless you don’t mind walking for 20 mins. And It’d be over 2m

There are a handful of 10,000-20,000sf lots in Lyon Park/Ashton Heights that are <1 mile from metro.

Get out of town. Really??? Can you share an example?

I mean none of them are for sale right now...they rarely come up as you might imagine, but click around on Arlington's parcel map and you'll see quite a few

https://gis.arlingtonva.us/Html5Viewer/Index.html?viewer=ACMaps.HTML5#

A few examples:

230 N Highland
304 N Highland
303 N Irving
309 N Irving

There are actually quite a few - they're mostly south of Pershing between 1st Rd and 2nd Rd or backing up the cemetery.

One big lot on Jackson sold and is currently having a moooonster house built on it - pool, pool house, main house, garage with space above it. The story I heard is that the prior owners bought the house for $1.3m in 2019 and a year later the current owners knocked on the door and said "how much would it take for you to sell us this house?" and they said $1.7m and got it. Sold almost one year to the day after they bought it for $400K more. I think the lot on that is 19,XXXsf.

Wow! Thanks for all this info. I had no clue.

I had one in Va Square for about a decade where my ex and I built a house. It was fantastic. Couldn’t afford to live there now, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP, I’d like in on this. We want everything that OP wants but would also like a close-in commute to capital hill (45 mins or under), would prefer walkable to a metro, would love to be able to walk to some restaurants, but also would like a decent yard. Like a 10,000 sf lot or larger ideally. Our budget is $2m and we need at least 4 bedrooms. Where should we be looking ideally?

I think that will be hard in close in MD, tbh. It’s not that your budget is insufficient. It’s that most lots that are walking distance to the close in metro stops are just not 10,000 sq ft yard lots.

[Anonymous]

im from washington state. i live in capitol hill (dc).