Do wealthy people buying $1M-4M homes near a Metro stop even use the Metro?

[Anonymous]

I can't believe no one has pointed out the value of living near Metro if you have teens. Car accidents are a leading cause of death for teenagers, and I'd much rather have my teen riding Metro into town for a baseball game or concert than driving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feds ride Metro because the G gives a transit benefit that makes it cost almost nothing.

Why is State Dept. full of Bimmers, Audis, Land Rovers and fully-loaded Yukons/Tahoes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. In this thread about the sale of a $2.5M home in AU Park [DC], about half the responses mention its proximity to a Metro stop:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/562605.page

And I'd say a good number of people living near that home take advantage of the closeness of the Metro but you don't have to use it to benefit from it. The closer you are to the Metro the higher your property values go, the more likely it is you'll have great amenities like fancy restaurants and yoga studios next door, and the in general - the greater chance the people you're living next door to will have significantly higher income levels. It's just the way it is.

Here is that AU Park House for $2.5M.



https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/4222-42nd-St-NW-20016/home/45505083

Here is the exact same house with better updates, 2 1/2 extra baths, 1 extra bedroom and it feeds into Wilson. Yet, its on the market for $700,000 cheaper. Why? Because its 1.5 miles from the metro.



http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5100-Van-Ness-St-NW-Washington-DC-20016/437492_zpid/

Metro is not why the second house is cheaper. 2nd house is cheaper for many reasons:

1. AU house has been renovated, SV house appears to have been last renovated in the early 80s,

2. AU house appears to have been better maintained than SV house.

3. SV house is a short sale, so it will be a hassle to buy it and may not close if the lender doesn't agree to the deal.

4. AU house is Janney/Deal/Wilson, SV house goes to Hardy. (Yes some people who live in $2M+ houses do use the public schools).

To answer OPs question, yes, many wealthy people use metro -- even the metrobus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. In this thread about the sale of a $2.5M home in AU Park [DC], about half the responses mention its proximity to a Metro stop:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/562605.page

And I'd say a good number of people living near that home take advantage of the closeness of the Metro but you don't have to use it to benefit from it. The closer you are to the Metro the higher your property values go, the more likely it is you'll have great amenities like fancy restaurants and yoga studios next door, and the in general - the greater chance the people you're living next door to will have significantly higher income levels. It's just the way it is.

Here is that AU Park House for $2.5M.



https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/4222-42nd-St-NW-20016/home/45505083

Here is the exact same house with better updates, 2 1/2 extra baths, 1 extra bedroom and it feeds into Wilson. Yet, its on the market for $700,000 cheaper. Why? Because its 1.5 miles from the metro.



http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5100-Van-Ness-St-NW-Washington-DC-20016/437492_zpid/

First house is in walking distance to a lot of stuff, hardly just the Metro. And first home looks a lot nicer to me - how do you know or define "better"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. In this thread about the sale of a $2.5M home in AU Park [DC], about half the responses mention its proximity to a Metro stop:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/562605.page

And I'd say a good number of people living near that home take advantage of the closeness of the Metro but you don't have to use it to benefit from it. The closer you are to the Metro the higher your property values go, the more likely it is you'll have great amenities like fancy restaurants and yoga studios next door, and the in general - the greater chance the people you're living next door to will have significantly higher income levels. It's just the way it is.

Here is that AU Park House for $2.5M.



https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/4222-42nd-St-NW-20016/home/45505083

Here is the exact same house with better updates, 2 1/2 extra baths, 1 extra bedroom and it feeds into Wilson. Yet, its on the market for $700,000 cheaper. Why? Because its 1.5 miles from the metro.



http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5100-Van-Ness-St-NW-Washington-DC-20016/437492_zpid/

Metro is not why the second house is cheaper. 2nd house is cheaper for many reasons:

1. AU house has been renovated, SV house appears to have been last renovated in the early 80s,

2. AU house appears to have been better maintained than SV house.

3. SV house is a short sale, so it will be a hassle to buy it and may not close if the lender doesn't agree to the deal.

4. AU house is Janney/Deal/Wilson, SV house goes to Hardy. (Yes some people who live in $2M+ houses do use the public schools).

To answer OPs question, yes, many wealthy people use metro -- even the metrobus.

Get real. Lots of SV has places with the same or better structure and a better lot, yet are cheaper than this place. You can pay for a lot of private school for $500k. People are paying for one thing: location!

[Anonymous]

People buying $2M homes because of DCPS feeders? (lol)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
First house is in walking distance to a lot of stuff, hardly just the Metro. And first home looks a lot nicer to me - how do you know or define "better"?

All of which come with being in close proximity to a Metro.


As for 'better'...the first house looks like it was last upgraded in 1995. Aside from the drab, grey kitchen which to be honest looks builder cheap with a nice choice of appliances nothing about the house appeals. Not a good use of space, too much wallpaper, oak is last century, all the rooms are closed off and boxy.





Then there's the second house which has an open, airy feel - clearly updated hardwood floors, great architectural features, you can tell its been renovated recently and higher quality interior design. The second house is world's better than the first. The location just sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
1. AU house has been renovated, SV house appears to have been last renovated in the early 80s,

Are you sure you're talking about the same $2.5M AU Park house? Because if that's renovation, their designer needs to be shot. It looks like a bad 90s film.

[Anonymous]

Properties near the metro have option value due to the better than typical chance development pressures could lead to changed zoning/ changed use. Imagine 5 THs on the AU Park place or a mid-rise apt building, that's a lot of land value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feds ride Metro because the G gives a transit benefit that makes it cost almost nothing.

Why is State Dept. full of Bimmers, Audis, Land Rovers and fully-loaded Yukons/Tahoes?[/quote

What? Explain how "Feds get Metro stipends" relates to your post? Are you saying that Feds don't get Metro stipends because some Feds drive expensive cars? I own a Range Rover and sometimes take Metro. Sometimes I drive (when Metro is not working, which is often). I really don't know what point you think you're making.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a big house near Metro and take it to work most days. We never ever ever use it on weekends or evenings. When we lived in DC we basically never used it even though we lived 5 mins away. The service is so awful and it's such a bad experience that lots of people are like us -- live very close to Metro, but very rarely use it. I guess if I didn't value my time or ever have to be on time to things and didn't care about my safety I would ride.

Yes, the tons and tons of people who ride it every day don't care about these things either.

What a privileged world you live in. My god.

Those tons and tons of people are becoming fewer every year. Metro is a joke and people are dumping it. There's nothing privileged about pointing that out.

What are service workers and "impoverished people" using instead? Serious question. Only Millennials are using Uber and ride shares.

"Service workers and impoverished people" often can't afford the metro, so they take the bus.

[Anonymous]

The poors care about metro

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feds ride Metro because the G gives a transit benefit that makes it cost almost nothing.

Why is State Dept. full of Bimmers, Audis, Land Rovers and fully-loaded Yukons/Tahoes?

blacks from pg

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
First house is in walking distance to a lot of stuff, hardly just the Metro. And first home looks a lot nicer to me - how do you know or define "better"?

All of which come with being in close proximity to a Metro.


As for 'better'...the first house looks like it was last upgraded in 1995. Aside from the drab, grey kitchen which to be honest looks builder cheap with a nice choice of appliances nothing about the house appeals. Not a good use of space, too much wallpaper, oak is last century, all the rooms are closed off and boxy.





Then there's the second house which has an open, airy feel - clearly updated hardwood floors, great architectural features, you can tell its been renovated recently and higher quality interior design. The second house is world's better than the first. The location just sucks.

have you actually been inside these houses? I can tell you that if these 2 homes were side by side, I'd pick the one that went for $2.5. look at the photos for when the SV home was last for sale more than a decade ago-- the photos are exactly the same- it has not been recently renovated. the SV house bathrooms are dark grey marble and brass - very very dated. it's really a look that will appeal most to people in their 60s/70s+. And SV homes are "underpriced" because of the munitions issue. There are a group of buyers who won't consider that area because of those environmental issues - which is a large reason for the difference in price. Believe what you want to believe, but the $500K price difference is NOT because of the metro proximity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feds ride Metro because the G gives a transit benefit that makes it cost almost nothing.

Why is State Dept. full of Bimmers, Audis, Land Rovers and fully-loaded Yukons/Tahoes?

You know State has more than one annex right? And if you're a parent who drops off your child at daycare before work you're more likely to drive to work...