Falconhurst vs Avenel vs Potomac Manors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bradley Farms and Great Falls Estates (Potomac Falls)

Bradley Farms is full of old money mansions:

http://www.thefleishergroup.com/ls/fleisher-sold-property-details.asp?id=53727&agent=0&mlsID=

Ugly!

4 acres with septic and wells? That's old school (pre-1975 or so) Potomac. A dying breed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - you originally asked if there was a demographic trend moving away from Potomac. There has been a significant shift away from Potomac in the past 10 years. Potomac houses are generally priced anywhere from 5%-10% over market, sit for months, and decline in value each year.

Potomac is a great to place to live if you want land, a big house, trees, and good public and private schools. We loved having 2 acres but there are very few people who want 2 acres now or even a big house. The trend is toward walkability, close in urban/suburban areas, and less land. Potomac has a lot of older inventory that was built in the 80s and now needs more intensive updating/upgrading - new HVAC, roof, undetected water intrusion from foundation, pools that need systems replaced. Potomac sellers usually haven't replaced or addressed these issues or factored them into their prices.

On the upside its a buyers market with lots of choices. On the downside, you will be dealing with delusional sellers and listing realtors. I say this as someone who sold a house. I was shocked at how many Potomac realtors wanted to over price our home. Potomac realtors are the worst. Check the comps for the past several years and look at comps for fall/winter vs spring. Some Potomac sellers get lucky with the spring market but there are so many houses on the market many in Potomac are more in line with lower fall comps. Don't be persuaded to pay more for someone else's poor tastes in curtains, updating a bathroom or kitchen appliances. Ask your realtor to pull disclosures before you look at houses. Realtors like to try to get you emotionally hooked before you start looking at the defects in a property.

My advice would be to look at this as buying the home you want not making a business deal but don't over pay. Don't pay more than recent 2017 comps (Potomac declined 6% from 2016-2017) and factor into your five year budget that you house will decline in at least 5% over the next five years.

+1

This sounds like very thoughtful advice and good info. I'm particularly impressed that you mention the costs of owning the 30 or so year old home there. I get the feeling that Potomac is a market that would reward doing some homework.

[Anonymous]

Remember that a lot of these houses are beginning to age as well, and because they are so large the cost to renovate them is huge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - you originally asked if there was a demographic trend moving away from Potomac. There has been a significant shift away from Potomac in the past 10 years. Potomac houses are generally priced anywhere from 5%-10% over market, sit for months, and decline in value each year.

Potomac is a great to place to live if you want land, a big house, trees, and good public and private schools. We loved having 2 acres but there are very few people who want 2 acres now or even a big house. The trend is toward walkability, close in urban/suburban areas, and less land. Potomac has a lot of older inventory that was built in the 80s and now needs more intensive updating/upgrading - new HVAC, roof, undetected water intrusion from foundation, pools that need systems replaced. Potomac sellers usually haven't replaced or addressed these issues or factored them into their prices.

On the upside its a buyers market with lots of choices. On the downside, you will be dealing with delusional sellers and listing realtors. I say this as someone who sold a house. I was shocked at how many Potomac realtors wanted to over price our home. Potomac realtors are the worst. Check the comps for the past several years and look at comps for fall/winter vs spring. Some Potomac sellers get lucky with the spring market but there are so many houses on the market many in Potomac are more in line with lower fall comps. Don't be persuaded to pay more for someone else's poor tastes in curtains, updating a bathroom or kitchen appliances. Ask your realtor to pull disclosures before you look at houses. Realtors like to try to get you emotionally hooked before you start looking at the defects in a property.

My advice would be to look at this as buying the home you want not making a business deal but don't over pay. Don't pay more than recent 2017 comps (Potomac declined 6% from 2016-2017) and factor into your five year budget that you house will decline in at least 5% over the next five years.

Excellent summary and advice. Thanks for posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bradley Farms and Great Falls Estates (Potomac Falls)

Bradley Farms is full of old money mansions:

http://www.thefleishergroup.com/ls/fleisher-sold-property-details.asp?id=53727&agent=0&mlsID=

Ugly!

4 acres with septic and wells? That's old school (pre-1975 or so) Potomac. A dying breed.

I'm glad you brought this up. I've always wondered about this. I noticed a number of homes in Potomac are septic or well water. What additional hassle does this create for the owners, and are there plans for them to be connected to the city water system. Thanks in advance for any insights.

[Anonymous]

Falconcrest is amazing. Iron Gate Road etc amazing. Very close in. I also like Potomac Village between Democracy and River Road section. Houseson Sorrel really nice and HOA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bradley Farms and Great Falls Estates (Potomac Falls)

Bradley Farms is full of old money mansions:

http://www.thefleishergroup.com/ls/fleisher-sold-property-details.asp?id=53727&agent=0&mlsID=

Ugly!

4 acres with septic and wells? That's old school (pre-1975 or so) Potomac. A dying breed.

I'm glad you brought this up. I've always wondered about this. I noticed a number of homes in Potomac are septic or well water. What additional hassle does this create for the owners, and are there plans for them to be connected to the city water system. Thanks in advance for any insights.

To find out whether a property in MoCo can connect to WSSC, go to the map

http://mcgov-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4aa66ff533e948d89493ea3bd1e01c99

search for the address, "Zoom to" in the search result box, and then click on the Layer List symbol at the upper right. Check "Sewer Category" and check and expand "Sewer Categories" below it, or similar for Water. You'll see the list of color-coded sewer or water classifications.

Well and septic can be trouble-free or a nightmare, or anywhere in between. If I was worried about unexpected expenses, then I would be nervous about having either.

[Anonymous]

I'm glad you brought this up. I've always wondered about this. I noticed a number of homes in Potomac are septic or well water. What additional hassle does this create for the owners, and are there plans for them to be connected to the city water system. Thanks in advance for any insights.

We lived with well and septic. Do you have heating oil instead of gas too? There are pros and cons to well and septic. Most of the areas in Potomac are developed enough now to offer the option to hook up to city water, sewer and gas. People usually don't bother to change over the water and septic to city services until one of their systems is on its last legs or fails. Well and septic is much cheaper -the expense is in the installation and replacement.

For septic - its important to watch what you put down the drains. Avoid corrosive chemicals, lots of bleach, and lots of food down the garbage disposal. We're all used to scraping our plates into the trash rather than just showing it down the garbage disposal so its not a big deal. If you do put the wrong stuff down the drain, it can effect your drainage field.

Pros

- cleaner water and no water bill, no guilt for long showers, watering the lawn or adding water to the pool!
- you control the maintenance - we had a friend on city sewer where the sewer line flooded into their basement from blocked drains/pipes beyond their control

Cons

-you need to maintain it and if you don't it can expensive to repair
-if you lose power you'll lose water so make sure you have a generator and the well pump is connected to it
- if you want fluoride in your water, you need to purchase bottle water