Legit, but dumb question about MoCo (property values & housing)

[Anonymous]

What you want then, is a change in zoning code to allow construction of duplexes in more areas. You support Hans Reimer, not Elrich. (Reimer, btw, from public statements is well aware of the budget issues mentioned earlier).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here

My ideal situation would be a cool looking duplex with a nice, shady back yard in Takoma Park or Wheaton or outer Silver Spring. Something that two normal people with normal people jobs and normal people salaries can afford and live normally.
My partner and I don’t need fancy things. We’re work to live people, not live to work people. We’re good employees but not trying to hustle our way into stratospheric incomes. We just want to live life in the place we call home. And we think more people like us should be able to do so.

I admire your ideals but reality is a bit of an ideal killer. You may want a home but townhouse may be your reality. You may not want to hear this and I certainly don't enjoy saying it but one of you should sell out to your ideals and chase more money in your job. Then you will be able to get a home that you want. The problem then is that the person who chased the money will be on a hamster wheel and can't get off. This is the dilemma that many DCUM'ers are in. Sorry to be a debbie downer.

[Anonymous]

OP if you make $140 combined I’m not sure why you can’t find a home in moco now? My spouse and I made $130 when we bought our house 3 years ago. We didn’t have debt and had good credit , no loans but neither of us went to college. We have a small SFH in the east end of the county with a yard in a quiet neighborhood. Elem school is 6/10 and MS and HS are 5/10. We had to do some work in the house but we love it and live where we live.

[Anonymous]

Look in Burtonsville if you are ok with outer edges of Silver Spring. You are not going to find what you want in Takoma Park, that is an unrealistic goal.

[Anonymous]

I think the original question is will housing prices decrease if the county is unfriendly to business?

[Anonymous]

OP, it sounds like you make enough to get what you want in MoCo -- "a cool looking duplex with a nice, shady back yard" just (maybe) not in the particular neighborhoods you prefer. Or maybe "cool looking" means brand-new and totally updated?

[Anonymous]

Op you can find a nice little house in Wheaton for your budget. You won’t be in cool takoma park but will be close ish to a metro either Wheaton or Glenmont

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You are thinking this way because you are not a long time home owner. Once you become one, I guarantee you that you will think differently.

My neighbors are pretty old and very liberal, yet they still care about their home values because they are about to sell soon. They want the neighborhood to be zoned for the "better" neighboring school district (ie, hardly any poor people) so their home values go up.

This will be you in 20 years.

DP. I'm a long-time homeowner. I don't base everything on the possible effect on my property value. I think that MCPS needs to change school boundaries and should not take property values into account. I don't think that Montgomery County should structure its zoning laws to keep poor people out. Because I'm not a self-centered git. I want Montgomery County to be a place where my kids want to, and are able to, live.

Maybe you should retract your guarantee.

Nope... I actually don't want to be rezoned for the "better" school cluster which would drive up home prices here, so I don't base my decisions on just my property value. I like the diversity of the area. But, that doesn't mean I want the area to have stagnant home values or it to go down.

And I'm all for the boundary analysis and relieving over crowded schools, and looking at adjacent clusters when drawing boundaries.

I guarantee you don't want your home value to go down, though, especially as you are ready to sell. Would you sell your home for $100K less so that those less fortunate can afford to live where you do? I don't think so.

I think there's a happy medium somewhere. I'm not so selfish that I want my property value to go sky high so that I can make as much as I can off my house, but I'm also not completely selfless to want my property value to tank so that those lose fortunate can live in this area. But, I do advocate for helping low income families; I give to charities, etc...

For $100,000 less than what?

You seem to be answering the question, "Would you support tanking the local economy so that housing becomes more affordable?"

I'm answering the question, "Would you support adding housing for people with less money in areas where housing is expensive?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What you want then, is a change in zoning code to allow construction of duplexes in more areas. You support Hans Reimer, not Elrich. (Reimer, btw, from public statements is well aware of the budget issues mentioned earlier).

R I E M E R

Riemer is better on housing and transportation than Elrich, but worse on other issues, like water quality protection and protecting the Agricultural Reserve. If he runs against Elrich for county executive in 2022, it will be tough for me, because i don't want to vote for either of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So a lot of the DCUM posters come from a very different SES than me. I'm not married, I don't own a home, I'm not a political centrist, I don't make six figures, and I have a tight budget with only a couple hundred a month put away in savings (and I have to really try) with a boatload of student loan debt.

I lean quite left politically but am also a pragmatist who would vote in my own interests. I almost sat out the last County Executive election because I hated all the candidates. I like Elrich on a lot of things but heard that he was terrible on housing, which is important for me. I've changed my mind though. For a while I bought the argument that more housing supply would lower costs, and people like Elrich are NIMBYs who don't allow more housing to be built since wealthy homeowners are afraid it would lower their property values. Now I am more cynical about housing policy. I don't believe the YIMBY or "filtering" model works either (look up "filtering" and housing if you aren't familiar with the term), while it is true that not building anything at all doesn't help either unless there is county-wide rent control which is not happening, even with Elrich in charge.

I just want to be able to own a home. My partner and I don't want to move into each other's places (our respective places are too small) and if we move in together, we'd like to own. But home prices are astronomical.

Most of y'all on DCUM seem to talk about this from the other side of the white picket fence, so to speak, and would like to keep your property values up. (I see this attitude in your discussions about schools especially, and about the County's alleged downward economic spiral).

If you want to buy an uninhabitable house for $1, move to detroit. You probably won't be making $70,000 per year. Do folks not get this? I did not vote for Elrich, because I think we need to be more business friendly in this county (since we like our social and recreational services), but, it is disingenuous to say you can't get into the property market in MoCo on a $140,000 HHI. Post your desired mortgage payment and housing wants on the real estate board. See where folks lead you. I'm not really trying to beat up on you OP. I can tell your thoughtful and frustrated. This area has always been expensive. I have lived in the close-in DC area for almost 30 years now. I've never been able to afford to live alone. Went from having roommates to getting married. Your feelings of frustration have been felt by many over the years.

My dumb question is this: If Marc Elrich is as bad as you say he is, and is leading the County in a downward economic spiral and kicking out businesses, will home prices go down? Could it benefit someone like me? I like Montgomery County and I'd like to to be my forever home, I don't want to have to go hunt for affordable housing in some far flung place that's far away from my friends and my community and my favorite places. Could Elrich and his policies ultimately make MoCo less elitist and attractive to rich yuppies, and when the Boomers die off, will their homes be affordable for people like us (we make $70K a piece, and I have massive student loan debt). Kind of like how people can buy homes for dirt cheap in Detroit?

By the way - this should speak to you about what our economic system has come to. Young people have to resort to gaming the system and rooting for capitalism to fail in order to have the basic things to live, since middle class jobs no longer pay for middle class lifestyles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op you can find a nice little house in Wheaton for your budget. You won’t be in cool takoma park but will be close ish to a metro either Wheaton or Glenmont

Agree with this. My parents live in a modest house close to glenmont which you could definitely afford on $140K.

$70K is plenty of money for living expenses, so you are either living well or saving a ton/paying a ton on your student loans.

I lived on $40k my first few years in DC and still managed to save a few thousand each year. I lived well-enough, had my own tiny walk-up studio apartment ina great neighborhood, did happy hour drinks once a week, had a car, gym membership, bought one $2 coffee each day, etc. I was paying student loans off on a 10 year plan. I did not go out to eat very often, vacations only to visit family, very thrifty shopping, etc. I do remember feeling like saving up for a down payment was years away, though, so maybe that’s where you are coming from.

[Anonymous]

Housing prices in the HHI neighborhoods of MOCO will remain stable / rising slowly and consistently. There will always need to be a certain enclave where UMC liberal whites can live to send their kids to public schools where there aren’t too many black or brown kids. Because while they’re living in Bethesda or Potomac, they still can’t quite swing the tuition on a private AND save for college. And Larlo isn’t getting an athletic scholarship for golf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here

My ideal situation would be a cool looking duplex with a nice, shady back yard in Takoma Park or Wheaton or outer Silver Spring. Something that two normal people with normal people jobs and normal people salaries can afford and live normally.
My partner and I don’t need fancy things. We’re work to live people, not live to work people. We’re good employees but not trying to hustle our way into stratospheric incomes. We just want to live life in the place we call home. And we think more people like us should be able to do so.

Absent family wealth, getting your first place in DMV has been difficult for at least 30 years. Yes prices dropped lots in 93, and 2009. Still, it's an area of annual growth in number of jobs (well, not MoCo for the last 10 years - but you can live in MoCo and work in DC or VA or PG) so without new housing, the existing housing will be worth more most every year as more potential buyers take the new jobs created in the DMV every year.

[Anonymous]

Dear OP, there are 100,000s of people who would like to Live closer in to the beltway or in the beltway so I don’t see that pressure every alleviating at this point of time and urban/employer/population development. That ship has sailed.

That said, Mont County is not in a healthy position relative to DC, Howard County, Frederick County, Arlington, Fairfax or Loudoun County. So you are unlikely to see appreciation unless you are in the low end of the starter home segment. And even then prices may stagnate or fall.

There are no solid economic drivers left in MoCo, and many options to live in a better managed and budgeted place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What you want then, is a change in zoning code to allow construction of duplexes in more areas. You support Hans Reimer, not Elrich. (Reimer, btw, from public statements is well aware of the budget issues mentioned earlier).

R I E M E R

Riemer is better on housing and transportation than Elrich, but worse on other issues, like water quality protection and protecting the Agricultural Reserve. If he runs against Elrich for county executive in 2022, it will be tough for me, because i don't want to vote for either of them.

That would be an utter nightmare.