Why is Takoma Park so affordable?

[Anonymous]

op here - no I didn't mean 300,000, I meant all the other suburbs are like 300,000 more. We are looking in the 500,000-600,000 range and can't find anything close in except TP (which I am not sure will work for us because of our weird commute). We've even found some decent 460,000 houses in TP that go to Montgomery Blair - which seems good enough - on par with Wilson.

Yes, the houses do tend to be smaller in TP on average, but a small seedy house in CC or north Arlington begins at 600,000.

? Seriously? You can't find a "decent" house in close-in Silver Spring for 500-600K? Define "decent" for us . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This just went on. It might already have contracts; not sure.

http://www.cbmove.com/property/details/990565/MLS-MC8077506/1319-Elson-Place-Takoma-Park-MD-20912.aspx

Can someone explain why this little area east of New Hampshire is in MoCo when all of the other areas on that side of New Hampshire are PG county? So strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This just went on. It might already have contracts; not sure.

http://www.cbmove.com/property/details/990565/MLS-MC8077506/1319-Elson-Place-Takoma-Park-MD-20912.aspx

Can someone explain why this little area east of New Hampshire is in MoCo when all of the other areas on that side of New Hampshire are PG county? So strange.

From what I remember being told, about 15 years ago, the residents got to vote if they wanted to be in PG or Montgomery County. Guess which one they picked??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

op here - no I didn't mean 300,000, I meant all the other suburbs are like 300,000 more. We are looking in the 500,000-600,000 range and can't find anything close in except TP (which I am not sure will work for us because of our weird commute). We've even found some decent 460,000 houses in TP that go to Montgomery Blair - which seems good enough - on par with Wilson.

Yes, the houses do tend to be smaller in TP on average, but a small seedy house in CC or north Arlington begins at 600,000.

? Seriously? You can't find a "decent" house in close-in Silver Spring for 500-600K? Define "decent" for us . . .

There are very nice houses in Silver Spring for that price and close to metro, especially Forest Glen.

[Anonymous]

From what I remember being told, about 15 years ago, the residents got to vote if they wanted to be in PG or Montgomery County. Guess which one they picked??

Takoma Park unification occurred in 1997.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of homes under $600 in even close-in silver spring. For that budget you can get renovated and maybe even expanded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools suck, and look at what surrounds it. TP is as good as it gets for a few miles in any direction (go in any direction, and it's not very nice). Several miles in some directions.

Said someone who has apparently never been there or "miles" close to TP.

Born/raised in TP and later SS. Parents born/raised Adelphi/TP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools suck, and look at what surrounds it. TP is as good as it gets for a few miles in any direction (go in any direction, and it's not very nice). Several miles in some directions.

Said someone who has apparently never been there or "miles" close to TP.

Born/raised in TP and later SS. Parents born/raised Adelphi/TP.

Are you the woman who is always ranting about the renters in SS, and claims that Olney is only 20 minutes from downtown DC?

[Anonymous]

Lots of really nice houses in SS for less than $600K.

I'm not putting my house on the market, but I have a renovated cape cod with a big addition, 5 bed/3 bath, hugh yard, really cute, safe neighborhood, lots of families, and ES is Forest Knolls which is supposed to be very good -- I think my house would appraise at $575K.

I think if you put my house in one of the nice parts of Takoma Park it would be $750K.

I love TKPK but it is definitely a specific taste -- very crunchy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of homes under $600 in even close-in silver spring. For that budget you can get renovated and maybe even expanded.

Op here. silver springs schools looked kinda iffy unelss they are zoned to montgomery blair, so beasically close to tp. I just assumed silver sprinsg was cheap because ofthe schools, but couldn't figure out tp.

[Anonymous]

I live in TP and agree with a lot of what is being said here. We bought a few years ago. Our house is tiny, rooms are small, 1.5 ba, super high property taxes (and we are on a double lot). But it our house is any smaller than what we were looking at in Bethesda/NW DC, for 300K+ more. We could afford to buy the same 'type' of house in Bethesda/NW but went with TP for the community. We live near the co-op, so walking distance to pretty much everything - but also right near Eastern Ave/NH -- can be pretty sketchy.

I think the communities that TP borders keeps prices lower. But houses are moving - over asking price - and a number of new restaurants are coming into the area. I personally think prices are going to go up.

And re: schools - they are good enough for me. I don't know anyone in TP who sends their kids to private. The community is invested in public education, which really appealed to me. I’d rather send my kids to a public school with all their neighbors, than be in a community where everyone who could afford it sent their kids to private.

[Anonymous]

As "outsiders" who recently moved from San Francisco Bay Area to DC, we've also been thinking that TKPK is an amazing treasure - and wondering why everyone isn't flocking there. But the "crunchy" thing definitely appeals to us. The great schools ratings are high (esp. compared to DC schools!). I've been wondering if it's because DC metro area is generally more socially conservative (even if not politically conservative) than SF, so the TKPK vibe and community isn't as popular here as it would be in the SF Bay Area? Just pure speculation on my part ... thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Op here. silver springs schools looked kinda iffy unelss they are zoned to montgomery blair, so beasically close to tp. I just assumed silver sprinsg was cheap because ofthe schools, but couldn't figure out tp.

"Silver Spring schools" is a misnomer. You need to look closely at the address and which schools it feeds into. There is a school finder option on MCPS website. Plug in the address and it tells you what the schools are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As "outsiders" who recently moved from San Francisco Bay Area to DC, we've also been thinking that TKPK is an amazing treasure - and wondering why everyone isn't flocking there. But the "crunchy" thing definitely appeals to us. The great schools ratings are high (esp. compared to DC schools!). I've been wondering if it's because DC metro area is generally more socially conservative (even if not politically conservative) than SF, so the TKPK vibe and community isn't as popular here as it would be in the SF Bay Area? Just pure speculation on my part ... thoughts?

People who move to MoCo for the schools are risk averse and scared that test scores below those in Bethesda/Potomac/other wealthy parts of the county will negatively affect their children. There are a lot of people who love TP and SS though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As "outsiders" who recently moved from San Francisco Bay Area to DC, we've also been thinking that TKPK is an amazing treasure - and wondering why everyone isn't flocking there. But the "crunchy" thing definitely appeals to us. The great schools ratings are high (esp. compared to DC schools!). I've been wondering if it's because DC metro area is generally more socially conservative (even if not politically conservative) than SF, so the TKPK vibe and community isn't as popular here as it would be in the SF Bay Area? Just pure speculation on my part ... thoughts?

I think it's more a combination of location and school quality. If you work downtown and take the red line, the commute is OK, but a driving commute to Bethesda or Virginia is awful from TP. I like the downtown area, but it's small and when you want to go elsewhere there aren't a lot of good routes.