AU/Friendship Heights market

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in this neighborhood and think all the prices are insane. My house could apparently sell for $1.5 million, according to a recent appraisal for a refinance, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. Am I just grumpy and out of touch with a rising market? Maybe. But I don't understand why people are spending this much.

It's because there are maybe 5 neighborhoods total in the entire DMV that check the boxes of safe, walkable to daily errands, good transit, convenient to lots of jobs, and decent neighborhood schools. There is a massive demand for places like this, but it's literally illegal to build them, so the few that already exist get bid up to insane heights. In a rational world we would allow real estate development to respond to market signals just like every other industry, but for reasons that escape me we treat this as completely impossible, so here we are.

NIMBYS. The answer is always NIMBYs.

It's not good enough to own their own single family home, these selfish people DEMAND the right to tell everyone in the entire neighborhood what they can or can't do with their own property. They have this absolutely insane belief that "the character of the neighborhood" was included as their property when they bought their house, i.e. the right for everything in a miles wide radius to stay exactly the same as when they bought it forever.

What do you propose? The lots in AU park are already small, so I don’t see how you would cram more density without duplex zoning.

As a resident, I don't see what the problem would be with duplex zoning (or even small, four-unit apartment buildings taking the place of homes).

But there's no opportunity for urban infill. There's already houses in those lots. Are you suggesting you want to give up your house for an apartment building?

I guess I would if the price was right, but no, I'm mostly suggesting my next-door neighbor should be able to if they want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in this neighborhood and think all the prices are insane. My house could apparently sell for $1.5 million, according to a recent appraisal for a refinance, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. Am I just grumpy and out of touch with a rising market? Maybe. But I don't understand why people are spending this much.

It's because there are maybe 5 neighborhoods total in the entire DMV that check the boxes of safe, walkable to daily errands, good transit, convenient to lots of jobs, and decent neighborhood schools. There is a massive demand for places like this, but it's literally illegal to build them, so the few that already exist get bid up to insane heights. In a rational world we would allow real estate development to respond to market signals just like every other industry, but for reasons that escape me we treat this as completely impossible, so here we are.

NIMBYS. The answer is always NIMBYs.

It's not good enough to own their own single family home, these selfish people DEMAND the right to tell everyone in the entire neighborhood what they can or can't do with their own property. They have this absolutely insane belief that "the character of the neighborhood" was included as their property when they bought their house, i.e. the right for everything in a miles wide radius to stay exactly the same as when they bought it forever.

What do you propose? The lots in AU park are already small, so I don’t see how you would cram more density without duplex zoning.

As a resident, I don't see what the problem would be with duplex zoning (or even small, four-unit apartment buildings taking the place of homes).

But there's no opportunity for urban infill. There's already houses in those lots. Are you suggesting you want to give up your house for an apartment building?

I guess I would if the price was right, but no, I'm mostly suggesting my next-door neighbor should be able to if they want to.

An important component of the housing shortfall in DC is the “missing middle”, meaning family sized 3-4 bedroom units. Duplex zoning might be able to accommodate that in certain places maybe even AU park, but if we allow 4 units in residential zones like AU park the risk is that we actually lose family sized units to 1 and 2 bedroom apartments.

[Anonymous]

I live in the neighborhood. There are some houses (though the number is decreasing) of tear downs. I would prefer they get replaced with something like 4 unit apartment buildings, but do not have much hope for that happening as there are so many NIMBYS here. I’ve called in for some ANC meetings, the NIMBYS are insane. Like they complain about GDS traffic even though the location used to be a grocery store. WTF? And they tried to stop The River School moving from MacArthur which is a way worse location for the city and ward 3, but they are classic NIMBY …thankfully their irrational arguments and demands didn’t do them any favors with the BZE which approved it anyways. But who else in their right mind with deep enough pockets would want to deal with these people and try to bring much needed revistalization to the depressing stretch of Wisconsin and wasted space at Superfresh?

[Anonymous]

I live about 1 mile from this house, in Bethesda 20816. I know that block of Fessenden well because our kids used to go to preschool near there.

The house is just a few blocks from the DC-Maryland border.

For $3 million, you could get a house just a few blocks away from this one (or slightly farther), on the Maryland side, and you'd get more house for your money. For example, this house has the same square footage as the Fessenden house, but feels like more of a relaxing retreat than as the lot is 9000 square feet (compared with 6000 square feet for the Fessenden house). It's probably 1 mile away from the Fessenden house.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5952-Searl-Ter_Bethesda_MD_20816_M51789-11656

Plus, in Bethesda/Chevy Chase, you'd have access to neighborhood outdoor pools, which are a fun way to meet neighbors in the summer. DC has a lack of outdoor pools, for some reason.

With so many people working from home, it no longer seems worth paying to be quite that close to the Metro. That's why the price of that Fessenden house surprises me a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in this neighborhood and think all the prices are insane. My house could apparently sell for $1.5 million, according to a recent appraisal for a refinance, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. Am I just grumpy and out of touch with a rising market? Maybe. But I don't understand why people are spending this much.

It's because there are maybe 5 neighborhoods total in the entire DMV that check the boxes of safe, walkable to daily errands, good transit, convenient to lots of jobs, and decent neighborhood schools. There is a massive demand for places like this, but it's literally illegal to build them, so the few that already exist get bid up to insane heights. In a rational world we would allow real estate development to respond to market signals just like every other industry, but for reasons that escape me we treat this as completely impossible, so here we are.

NIMBYS. The answer is always NIMBYs.

It's not good enough to own their own single family home, these selfish people DEMAND the right to tell everyone in the entire neighborhood what they can or can't do with their own property. They have this absolutely insane belief that "the character of the neighborhood" was included as their property when they bought their house, i.e. the right for everything in a miles wide radius to stay exactly the same as when they bought it forever.

What do you propose? The lots in AU park are already small, so I don’t see how you would cram more density without duplex zoning.

Me personally? I'd eliminate residential zoning limits altogether.

What a property owner wants to to with their property is their business and their business alone. Buying a property entitles you to absolutely nothing but what falls into the boundaries of your plat. Obviously there are limits, I'm not advocating allowing people to build factories or nightclubs on their residential property, but whatever housing can safely be built on the limits of your own property should be allowed in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in this neighborhood and think all the prices are insane. My house could apparently sell for $1.5 million, according to a recent appraisal for a refinance, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. Am I just grumpy and out of touch with a rising market? Maybe. But I don't understand why people are spending this much.

It's because there are maybe 5 neighborhoods total in the entire DMV that check the boxes of safe, walkable to daily errands, good transit, convenient to lots of jobs, and decent neighborhood schools. There is a massive demand for places like this, but it's literally illegal to build them, so the few that already exist get bid up to insane heights. In a rational world we would allow real estate development to respond to market signals just like every other industry, but for reasons that escape me we treat this as completely impossible, so here we are.

What are the 5 neighborhoods? I’m curious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in this neighborhood and think all the prices are insane. My house could apparently sell for $1.5 million, according to a recent appraisal for a refinance, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. Am I just grumpy and out of touch with a rising market? Maybe. But I don't understand why people are spending this much.

It's because there are maybe 5 neighborhoods total in the entire DMV that check the boxes of safe, walkable to daily errands, good transit, convenient to lots of jobs, and decent neighborhood schools. There is a massive demand for places like this, but it's literally illegal to build them, so the few that already exist get bid up to insane heights. In a rational world we would allow real estate development to respond to market signals just like every other industry, but for reasons that escape me we treat this as completely impossible, so here we are.

NIMBYS. The answer is always NIMBYs.

It's not good enough to own their own single family home, these selfish people DEMAND the right to tell everyone in the entire neighborhood what they can or can't do with their own property. They have this absolutely insane belief that "the character of the neighborhood" was included as their property when they bought their house, i.e. the right for everything in a miles wide radius to stay exactly the same as when they bought it forever.

What do you propose? The lots in AU park are already small, so I don’t see how you would cram more density without duplex zoning.

Me personally? I'd eliminate residential zoning limits altogether.

What a property owner wants to to with their property is their business and their business alone. Buying a property entitles you to absolutely nothing but what falls into the boundaries of your plat. Obviously there are limits, I'm not advocating allowing people to build factories or nightclubs on their residential property, but whatever housing can safely be built on the limits of your own property should be allowed in my opinion.

Ok. I take it you don't have a background in urban planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in this neighborhood and think all the prices are insane. My house could apparently sell for $1.5 million, according to a recent appraisal for a refinance, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. Am I just grumpy and out of touch with a rising market? Maybe. But I don't understand why people are spending this much.

It's because there are maybe 5 neighborhoods total in the entire DMV that check the boxes of safe, walkable to daily errands, good transit, convenient to lots of jobs, and decent neighborhood schools. There is a massive demand for places like this, but it's literally illegal to build them, so the few that already exist get bid up to insane heights. In a rational world we would allow real estate development to respond to market signals just like every other industry, but for reasons that escape me we treat this as completely impossible, so here we are.

NIMBYS. The answer is always NIMBYs.

It's not good enough to own their own single family home, these selfish people DEMAND the right to tell everyone in the entire neighborhood what they can or can't do with their own property. They have this absolutely insane belief that "the character of the neighborhood" was included as their property when they bought their house, i.e. the right for everything in a miles wide radius to stay exactly the same as when they bought it forever.

What do you propose? The lots in AU park are already small, so I don’t see how you would cram more density without duplex zoning.

Me personally? I'd eliminate residential zoning limits altogether.

What a property owner wants to to with their property is their business and their business alone. Buying a property entitles you to absolutely nothing but what falls into the boundaries of your plat. Obviously there are limits, I'm not advocating allowing people to build factories or nightclubs on their residential property, but whatever housing can safely be built on the limits of your own property should be allowed in my opinion.

Ok. I take it you don't have a background in urban planning.

$10 says you don't either and are just trying to pretend to be an authority in a desperate attempt to legitimize your NIMBYism. Pretty pathetic.

You know who does have a background in urban planning? The urban planners of Minneapolis, who did exactly this and SURPRISE! The sky didn't fall or anything!

https://www.planning.org/blog/9219556/measuring-the-early-impact-of-eliminating-single-family-zoning-on-minneapolis-property-values/#:~:text=The%20Minneapolis%20city%20council%20voted,for%20triplexes%20on%20these%20properties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in this neighborhood and think all the prices are insane. My house could apparently sell for $1.5 million, according to a recent appraisal for a refinance, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. Am I just grumpy and out of touch with a rising market? Maybe. But I don't understand why people are spending this much.

It's because there are maybe 5 neighborhoods total in the entire DMV that check the boxes of safe, walkable to daily errands, good transit, convenient to lots of jobs, and decent neighborhood schools. There is a massive demand for places like this, but it's literally illegal to build them, so the few that already exist get bid up to insane heights. In a rational world we would allow real estate development to respond to market signals just like every other industry, but for reasons that escape me we treat this as completely impossible, so here we are.

Are these the five neighborhoods? What about Spring Valley or Palisades? I guess those aren't as walkable.

AU Park
Chevy Chase
Woodley Park
Cleveland Park
Glover Park

I would put some VA neighborhoods in there too like Clarendon but now a lot of my friends looking to buy in NOVA are looking in md/dc because of Youngkin

Bethesda is nicer than Clarendon.

Hogan is more conservative than Youngkin. Marylanders live (and are lucky to have him).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live about 1 mile from this house, in Bethesda 20816. I know that block of Fessenden well because our kids used to go to preschool near there.

The house is just a few blocks from the DC-Maryland border.

For $3 million, you could get a house just a few blocks away from this one (or slightly farther), on the Maryland side, and you'd get more house for your money. For example, this house has the same square footage as the Fessenden house, but feels like more of a relaxing retreat than as the lot is 9000 square feet (compared with 6000 square feet for the Fessenden house). It's probably 1 mile away from the Fessenden house.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5952-Searl-Ter_Bethesda_MD_20816_M51789-11656

Plus, in Bethesda/Chevy Chase, you'd have access to neighborhood outdoor pools, which are a fun way to meet neighbors in the summer. DC has a lack of outdoor pools, for some reason.

With so many people working from home, it no longer seems worth paying to be quite that close to the Metro. That's why the price of that Fessenden house surprises me a bit.

Different strokes. This pretty house is near absolutely nothing except other houses and nature, and some people like it that way. Others find that kind of quiet, still vibe stultifying.

In DC we have free outdoor pools, not sure why you think we don't? Again, different strokes. You say "hoi polloi," we note that it can take years on a waitlist to "access" your neighborhood pools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in this neighborhood and think all the prices are insane. My house could apparently sell for $1.5 million, according to a recent appraisal for a refinance, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. Am I just grumpy and out of touch with a rising market? Maybe. But I don't understand why people are spending this much.

It's because there are maybe 5 neighborhoods total in the entire DMV that check the boxes of safe, walkable to daily errands, good transit, convenient to lots of jobs, and decent neighborhood schools. There is a massive demand for places like this, but it's literally illegal to build them, so the few that already exist get bid up to insane heights. In a rational world we would allow real estate development to respond to market signals just like every other industry, but for reasons that escape me we treat this as completely impossible, so here we are.

NIMBYS. The answer is always NIMBYs.

It's not good enough to own their own single family home, these selfish people DEMAND the right to tell everyone in the entire neighborhood what they can or can't do with their own property. They have this absolutely insane belief that "the character of the neighborhood" was included as their property when they bought their house, i.e. the right for everything in a miles wide radius to stay exactly the same as when they bought it forever.

What do you propose? The lots in AU park are already small, so I don’t see how you would cram more density without duplex zoning.

Me personally? I'd eliminate residential zoning limits altogether.

What a property owner wants to to with their property is their business and their business alone. Buying a property entitles you to absolutely nothing but what falls into the boundaries of your plat. Obviously there are limits, I'm not advocating allowing people to build factories or nightclubs on their residential property, but whatever housing can safely be built on the limits of your own property should be allowed in my opinion.

Ok. I take it you don't have a background in urban planning.

$10 says you don't either and are just trying to pretend to be an authority in a desperate attempt to legitimize your NIMBYism. Pretty pathetic.

You know who does have a background in urban planning? The urban planners of Minneapolis, who did exactly this and SURPRISE! The sky didn't fall or anything!

https://www.planning.org/blog/9219556/measuring-the-early-impact-of-eliminating-single-family-zoning-on-minneapolis-property-values/#:~:text=The%20Minneapolis%20city%20council%20voted,for%20triplexes%20on%20these%20properties.

Awww. Sorry you can only afford King Farm, PP.

[Anonymous]

Man, I was curious and looked up the address 4316 fessenden st
This was my uncle's home for many years. Poor guy got dementia and he was a hoarder you should have seen what the property looked like before the contractor bought it for around $600k. I had spent a whole summer cleaning it up and during that time I had to deal with dc officials fining me and squatters. My car also was broke into during the day parked on the street. It was so stressful glad it's over had no choice but to sell because of the dc government

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why would they remove photos? they saw the discussion here?

Photos still available here: https://www.longandfoster.com/homes-for-sale/4316-Fessenden-Street-NW-Washington-DC-20016-325859941

Thanks. Perhaps it's a Redfin policy on just the front photo once under contract?

Sold- 3,141,000