$1.2 MILLION in Bowie!? “SOLEIL AT BOWIE”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At 1-1.2 million private school is likely. There are plenty of private school options in the surrounding area.

Location is desirable. It takes me 40 minutes to get to Yards DC on a Sat night (which includes a 10 min delay on our most recent trip), its 30 min to Annapolis, 40 min to Baltimore, 30 min to Old Town Alexandria (love Elizabeths Counter there for vegan donuts). There is a reason Bowie was so popular for commuting family professionals and its have a bit of a resurgence lately.

We selected Bowie because its an equal drive for both of our commutes and now we love living here even though our commutes are max 2 days/week going forward. Those lot sizes are pretty desirable and in AACo Severna Park a very similar community is going for 700+ with a miniscule lot (<6k) whereas a 0.5acre lot is 21k.

Many of the families we know in that area of AA arent sending their kids to public elementary or middle but may consider high school. My spouse has suggested SP and I am not interested. We are a mixed family and the minority pop in SP Elem is <20% with a 17:1 student teacher ratio. Our local is 65% minority and 14:1 ratio. They are both rated 8 in GS.

Severna Park is a very nice area with great schools, but yeah, it’s pricey (about the same as Western Howard County) and there’s very low levels of diversity. The commute to DC is also death.

I don’t know why Bowie is trashed a lot. It’s a beautiful area and schools aren’t rated poorly at all. There’s several non-TAG elementary schools that are an 8/10, 9/10, and 10/10. The middle schools and high schools are rated just fine. If there’s $1M+ homes in Crofton and Odenton, why would $1M+ homes in Bowie surprise people if Bowie is closer to DC?

[Anonymous]

I'm black and a DC native, I'll chime in.

Bowie is very desirable for a lot of well to do blacks. I grew up in Chevy Chase DC, and it didn't bother my mom or I, but my dad felt that our neighborhood, and the surrounding areas were too white. This isn't a racist thing, this is a matter of comfort driven by his life experiences. He was born in the late 40's, and he has memories of getting pulled over and put in jail for being mistaken for a robbery suspect, going to school in Boston and not being able to go to certain neighborhoods because they would beat up blacks, being called a ****** to his face more times than he can count, and white doctors refusing to shake his hand or call him "doctor" when he was a young freshly minted physician. The folks in Chevy chase DC weren't like this when I was growing up, but I just don't think he ever learned to feel comfortable living in a 90%+ white neighborhood. A lot of his friends, other college educated well to do blacks, lived in Bowie at the time and I always stereotyped it as a place for well to do blacks. This was 30+ years ago, but I would believe that the same holds true to this day. Thus, you get a nice pocket of demand there.

In addition to the comfort aspect, when I was growing up there was a solid contingent of black families that didn't want to send their kids to city schools, even Wilson, because they were afraid that some of the less well to do kids would tempt them into gangs etc despite their relative affluence. Bowie served a nice purpose for some of the black folk that thought along these lines as well.

[Anonymous]

OP you’re kinda racist.

[Anonymous]

There are million dollar neighborhoods in Upper Marlboro, so I can definitely see this in Bowie. Also at that level most are sending their kids to private school but Bowie does have decently ranked schools. It's hard to find a new house on an acre of land in this area so I don't think they'll have any issues selling these.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't move there but that's because I think all of those homes will look dated and shabby in just a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Die, modern farmhouse, DIE.

+1

[Anonymous]

I hate these houses. So ugly!

[Anonymous]

Short of pure racism I can't imagine why you're skeptical of those prices.
Large homes on 1 acre lots in a nice suburb near fantastic parks with an easy commute to DC -- pretty easy to see why there would be demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Short of pure racism I can't imagine why you're skeptical of those prices.
Large homes on 1 acre lots in a nice suburb near fantastic parks with an easy commute to DC -- pretty easy to see why there would be demand.

This. No house pleases everyone, but these places have some obvious virtues that are hard to find nearby at this price.

[Anonymous]

The remark that the community will be the same as Olney or Columbia is ignorant of research. Columbia is in one of the states best counties for schools. Olney is equally not comparible. Prince Georges Cty Schools are subpar for the most part particularly at the high school level and retail options are mediocre. Recall when The Boulevard and Bowie Town Center were the great ideas initially and The National Harbor???Taxes keep increasing and as a resident who built new there in 2000 I found it offered very little compared to other affluent communities. The main attraction is large houses. If that is all you desire then it is definitely the place for you. I literally drove elsewhere for fine dining, higher end shopping and most importantly spent a fortune on private school education for my 3 children. I finally bit the bullet and migrated elsewhere. Dont get me wrong there are many beautiful mcmansion subdivisions to choose from but at the Soleil price point there would need to be more in terms of offerings in Bowie or the county to the original posters point.

[Anonymous]

I am not a fan of those particular homes but I am not surprised on the price tag. I like Bowie a lot. This neighborhood is pretty centrally located and there is a MARC station not too far away. One concern I would have is whether or not it is in the City of Bowie or if it will need to rely on the county for services like trash or snow plowing.

Over 7000 sq ft, with a pool and an elevator on an acre lot for $1.3 million...

Ogle and Bowie High are fine (I would send my kids there) but PG county has a huge private school culture so people who can afford these homes would likely go private no matter where they live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not a fan of those particular homes but I am not surprised on the price tag. I like Bowie a lot. This neighborhood is pretty centrally located and there is a MARC station not too far away. One concern I would have is whether or not it is in the City of Bowie or if it will need to rely on the county for services like trash or snow plowing.

Over 7000 sq ft, with a pool and an elevator on an acre lot for $1.3 million...

Ogle and Bowie High are fine (I would send my kids there) but PG county has a huge private school culture so people who can afford these homes would likely go private no matter where they live.

City services are great. We have not had any negative experiences and honestly, some of the most helpful experiences, with City of Bowie services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a fan of those particular homes but I am not surprised on the price tag. I like Bowie a lot. This neighborhood is pretty centrally located and there is a MARC station not too far away. One concern I would have is whether or not it is in the City of Bowie or if it will need to rely on the county for services like trash or snow plowing.

Over 7000 sq ft, with a pool and an elevator on an acre lot for $1.3 million...

Ogle and Bowie High are fine (I would send my kids there) but PG county has a huge private school culture so people who can afford these homes would likely go private no matter where they live.

City services are great. We have not had any negative experiences and honestly, some of the most helpful experiences, with City of Bowie services.

Exactly! I wouldn't want to live there if it isn't the City of Bowie

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Farmhouse style is going to look sooooooooo dated in 10-15 years.

Agree - but then I think most house styles eventually look dated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm black and a DC native, I'll chime in.

Bowie is very desirable for a lot of well to do blacks. I grew up in Chevy Chase DC, and it didn't bother my mom or I, but my dad felt that our neighborhood, and the surrounding areas were too white. This isn't a racist thing, this is a matter of comfort driven by his life experiences. He was born in the late 40's, and he has memories of getting pulled over and put in jail for being mistaken for a robbery suspect, going to school in Boston and not being able to go to certain neighborhoods because they would beat up blacks, being called a ****** to his face more times than he can count, and white doctors refusing to shake his hand or call him "doctor" when he was a young freshly minted physician. The folks in Chevy chase DC weren't like this when I was growing up, but I just don't think he ever learned to feel comfortable living in a 90%+ white neighborhood. A lot of his friends, other college educated well to do blacks, lived in Bowie at the time and I always stereotyped it as a place for well to do blacks. This was 30+ years ago, but I would believe that the same holds true to this day. Thus, you get a nice pocket of demand there.

In addition to the comfort aspect, when I was growing up there was a solid contingent of black families that didn't want to send their kids to city schools, even Wilson, because they were afraid that some of the less well to do kids would tempt them into gangs etc despite their relative affluence. Bowie served a nice purpose for some of the black folk that thought along these lines as well.

I appreciate this insight. I live in Crofton, and I love Bowie. Our church is in Bowie, we love Allen Pond, plenty of convenient shopping in Bowie, and of course it’s easy to hop on 50 and get to DC or Annapolis. It’s one of those things where I wish Bowie and Crofton both had better reputations, but then again it’s fine if people turn up their noses because we don’t want Bowie and Crofton overrun by snobby DCUM types who would ruin it!