Help me Decide Where to buy a House (Montgomery County)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Consider Carderock Springs in Bethesda. It's in the Pyle / Whitman cluster, there's a real community feel to the neighborhood, the elementary school is outstanding (not diverse though, so there's that...), and I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a house in move-in ready condition for $950K. Most houses are midcentury modern, so you'd have to decide if you were okay with that.

I work near this area. It is a great area in terms of location, although not as "urban" as some of the other areas. It borders the Palisades area of NW DC (gorgeous). There's a huge mix of houses there, from very nice to not-so-nice. I think it's fairly expensive. It's not considered that because there are a lot of small houses built originally for military that you can get into for a good price. This is a big downgrade though in size from some of the other areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider Carderock Springs in Bethesda. It's in the Pyle / Whitman cluster, there's a real community feel to the neighborhood, the elementary school is outstanding (not diverse though, so there's that...), and I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a house in move-in ready condition for $950K. Most houses are midcentury modern, so you'd have to decide if you were okay with that.

I work near this area. It is a great area in terms of location, although not as "urban" as some of the other areas. It borders the Palisades area of NW DC (gorgeous). There's a huge mix of houses there, from very nice to not-so-nice. I think it's fairly expensive. It's not considered that because there are a lot of small houses built originally for military that you can get into for a good price. This is a big downgrade though in size from some of the other areas.

Also, there's Bannockburn in this same area which everyone loves.

[Anonymous]

We live in Chevy Chase, MD and there are tons of houses on the market right now and many have been on the market for a couple of months making it a great time to go in with an offer. You won't necessarily get your dream house and may have to compromise by being on a big road like Connecticut (a PP sent a great list of houses including a great one on Connecticut), but it depends on your priorities. You could get something in closer in MC for $950k if willing to make some choices. If not, then some of the other areas mentioned are great. CC has added bonuses of Bethesda (walking distance from some), the trails, and Rock Creek park on the other side of Section 5. Do look if you want to see what you can realistically get. it is not hopeless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider Carderock Springs in Bethesda. It's in the Pyle / Whitman cluster, there's a real community feel to the neighborhood, the elementary school is outstanding (not diverse though, so there's that...), and I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a house in move-in ready condition for $950K. Most houses are midcentury modern, so you'd have to decide if you were okay with that.

I work near this area. It is a great area in terms of location, although not as "urban" as some of the other areas. It borders the Palisades area of NW DC (gorgeous). There's a huge mix of houses there, from very nice to not-so-nice. I think it's fairly expensive. It's not considered that because there are a lot of small houses built originally for military that you can get into for a good price. This is a big downgrade though in size from some of the other areas.

I'm the Carderock Springs poster, and I'm wondering if you're thinking of Carderock, which is where the Carderock Naval Center (I don't know the exact name) is. It's not far from Carderock Springs, but it is a different neighborhood. Carderock Springs doesn't have military housing; it was mostly built in the 1960s by a developer who built houses in the midcentury modern style. There have since been some areas that have had colonials built on them - these tend to be more expensive. Houses in Carderock Springs go from around $850K to 1.2M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in Chevy Chase, MD and there are tons of houses on the market right now and many have been on the market for a couple of months making it a great time to go in with an offer. You won't necessarily get your dream house and may have to compromise by being on a big road like Connecticut (a PP sent a great list of houses including a great one on Connecticut), but it depends on your priorities. You could get something in closer in MC for $950k if willing to make some choices. If not, then some of the other areas mentioned are great. CC has added bonuses of Bethesda (walking distance from some), the trails, and Rock Creek park on the other side of Section 5. Do look if you want to see what you can realistically get. it is not hopeless.

Yeah, that's the thing. I've been looking in 20895, 20815, and 20814 for the last few months, and there are lots of nice houses, but so many of them on the market are right on top of the Beltway, the train tracks, or Connecticut Avenue or 355. If you're sensitive to noise, that rules a lot of houses out already.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you need to define your terms and set priorities. What's "close in" to you? How long a commute will you tolerate? Do you need to be near Metro? Do you really want to be able to walk to entertainment destinations? What are you willing to do, if anything, in terms of updating or more extensive renovation/repair? And most of all, which is most important to you -- being close in? living in a cohesive friendly n-hood? avoiding the time and financial commitment involved in buying an older home? You might be able to get two of three of these objectives, but it will be tough to get all 3.

FWIW, we wanted all of this as well when we bought our house 10 years ago, and even then, when the real estate market was much more reasonable than it is now, we had to compromise. Our choice was to buy a smaller, older house than we would have liked, but in a very close-in neighborhood in Chevy Chase with good schools and a great n-hood feeling. We figured we could change the house, but not the location, schools or neighbors. For us, it was a good decision -- we love our n-hood location, and, while we really hated the time-suck factor of renovating, financially it worked out well as an investment.

[Anonymous]

Try 20852- that's luxmanor Windermere timberlawn old farm area then try 20910 - part of that zip code is Rosemary hills area just have to pay attention to the area.

[Anonymous]

I've been feeling increasingly disappointed by what 950K can buy.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Wow. Life is hard for you, OP. I have no advice but find it mindboggling that you can write that you're SO disappointed at what virtually $1M gets you in this area and seriously look for some help w/ this 'big' problem. I agree the house prices are horrendous, but as someone who doesn't even have HALF of that for a housing budget I find it impossible to dredge up any sympathy.

[Anonymous]

AS she said, she knew she would get flamed - I am surprised it took this long, honestly. Just because she has a bigger budget is no reason to disdain - plus she legitimately needs help, and its hard to know about these things going in. You only know about the neighborhoods everyone talks about and have no idea about the tucked away beautiful neighborhoods that are around this area. [Timberlawn and Windermere for instance] I find this board an excellent source for this type of information - and there is a string devoted to the search for less than $500M, which is helpful to me as well.