Brookland -- anyone live there?

[Anonymous]

DH are on the hunt for a new house. We've looked at about one billion homes right now and are nervous about buying right now, given the market volatility. We are mainly looking in Capitol Hill, and Capitol Hill extended (Hill East and Atlas District). The main reason for this is that I work on or the Hill with and strongly prefer a short commute.

We feel strongly about city living, and while we would not rule out the closer-in suburbs, we are confident that we can find something that suits us in the city, which is where we want to remain.

This said, we are finding that many of the homes are appraising VERY low. Sellers are asking prices that seem fair to them (and necessary, frankly, because to ask less would be to sell short). Unfortunately, "the market" does not agree with these asking prices. Even 85-90 percent of the asking price is well over appraisal, and this makes lenders nervous. So for us to buy a new home, we need to find something that appraises well or go even lower than what we'd hoped to have our range be so that we can throw a little bit more cash at the downpayment. (We were planning to offer a more standard 20 percent).

The bigger issue for us is that we have some unique space needs. Because of our flexible hours, we have the need for a designated home office space for each of us (we can't share -- DH is an architect and his models and drafting tables take up an entire room). Because we will be offsetting child care between the two of us, we also need our home offices to be distinct from one another. We have one child on the way and expect to have at least one more child after this. So basically, we figure our basic needs are: 3 bedrooms up plus den and basement (either finished or finishable, but basically it has to be more than a utility basement). We do not want or need a separate rental unit, but would not rule a house like this out as that could be our office space.

Those are our inflexible needs. Our more flexible needs are that we would love to have a little bit of space -- a good backyard would be incredible. Because of the yard issue, we have started to look at Brookland (which is near Catholic University). The crime in the area is surprisingly low -- much lower than Hill East or the Atlas District. And the space you get there is incredible -- most of the homes have the kind of yards that you would not encounter elsewhere in the city except for perhaps foxhall / palisades / upper NW (which is too far away for us and way out of our price range).

Honestly, I feel we may be just about sold on Brookland. While I would miss some of the benefits of living on Capitol Hill, it's still really close. And the upside is all of that space. It would be a very long time before we would outgrow some of the spacious Brookland homes we've seen.

So my questions are twofold. First of all, anyone live in Brookland? If so can you share your honest assessment about what you like about the neighborhood, and what you don't like? I'm obviously concerned with safety but I've already visited the crime sites and feel pretty good about that. So i'm also talking about the neighborhood / sense of community aspect. Second question is to do with appraisal. I wonder if I should be nervous that Brookland houses are going to remain VERY flat or even drop further due to the market volatility while Hill East and Atlas District are expected to do better w/in 8-10 years? We are not looking to make money off of this home, but we don't want to be glued in a home and be so upside down that we couldn't sell for the next two decades without taking a steep haircut.

Our price range, FWIW, is up to 650K. we'd VERY much prefer to spend about 550. This includes great homes in Brookland, but not so great homes nearer to Cap Hill.

Thoughts? Thanks for reading through this long one!

[Anonymous]

Hi -- I recognize you from a previous real estate thread. I posted as Random Internet Stranger in your defense. I think at that time, I shared that we almost bought a home in Brookland (in spring 2007) that would have fit all your needs (3 BDR, basement, sunroom, recently well-renovated, porch, deck, fenced-in yard) and ultimately sold for $535k. We decided against that house in favor of a much smaller house and more expensive near Eastern Market -- we're happy with our decision but it was really tempting and I still think about all that space we passed up, and the big yard.

One thing that was ultimately the dealbreaker for us were that my husband would have been commuting via metro and frankly the walk from the house to the metro (1/2-3/4 of a mile) seemed a little scary at night. We have a tough friend who rented in Brookland in 2004-2005 and was so scared by his walk home from the metro that he broke his lease and moved away. We drove by the house at night and the block that looked absolutely charming during the day started to look a little frightening after dusk. I don't know if the crime stats bear that out, but that's how it felt. We also realized that we didn't want to be as far from our friends who lived elsewhere in the district, and we still wanted to be able to walk places (restaurants, shops, etc.) and Brookland doesn't have much in the way of those things. The metro/walking thing was the kicker -- I think if you are prepared to drive everywhere, those things won't seem like problems to you. I would have felt perfectly safe in the house and driving to/from, I think, it was just the idea of wandering around that seemed daunting. We just decided it would actually feel like living in the suburbs and we'd rather move to the actual 'burbs if that was the case (or just spend more money for a lot less space in our desired location, which is what we did).

Do you already have a realtor? I assume you do, but we used a Brookland realtor and I highly recommend her. Her name is Andi Fleming and she's at Long and Foster in Brookland. She was great and is very knowledgeable about the neighborhood (she lives there).

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Mt. rainierite here. I would recommend my little border 'burb, but would not dissuade you from Brookland! I bike through it every day, and home again at night. I feel pretty safe.

[Anonymous]

I live in Brookland with my husband and 7 year old daughter. We have lived here for 6 years. Previously, we lived in Cleveland Park. We love the community, the commute downtown for work is a breeze and driving my daughter to school in NW is no problem. We have a great sized house and a very large yard. We have never had any problem with crime. That being said, if I am working very late I will take a cab home, but I did that in Cleveland Park. It is a great area and I highly recommend it. It can be difficult to find a house as turn over is lower than in other areas of the city. If you are interested in community issues regarding Brookland you can check out Brookland's Group on Yahoo. It is very helpful and informative. Good Luck in you housing search!

[Anonymous]

Hi ! I have lived in Brookland for 6 years, I have a 2 year old and a newborn. Here's what I like about Brookland - great neighbors, great space - inside the house and yard wise. I have to say I have never felt unsafe here - mostly because I feel like my neighbors all look out for one another. I used to live on the Hill and never felt like that. I will also state that I live only 3 blocks from the metro, so I might feel different if I were further out. I have some friends who are sort of in Brookland but more on the outskirts and they feel it is harder to walk places. We walk everywhere and have no problems with it.

What I don't like is that there aren't really good parks and playgrounds here for little kids, or shops and restaurants. Since having kids I mostly drive to the Hill and go to those playgrounds, as I feel the ones here are either for older kids and/or have teenagers hanging out on them alot that I don't want my 2 year old around. If you haven't looked into it already, you may also want to check out the proposed Abdo development for this neighborhood, which I am a proponent of. That may take care of my beef of no shops/restarurants, but not for awhile. We did just have a new mexican place open on 12th st that is decent so that has helped.

Lastly, I will say that my husband owns a business in the Atlas district. Both he and I would agree on the fact that we worry more about walking around that neighborhood at night than we do this one. I think it is a great neighborhood, don't get me wrong, but I feel safer here. There are a ton of families and I don't feel like there is as much random pedestrian traffic, which makes me feel safer ( not like I'm going to be mugged, etc).

Our house has increased in value by about 140,000 since we bought it in 2003. Even in this market, I don't feel worried about that aspect of things, and I do think that if the Abdo project goes through it will help.

Good luck with your decision!

[Anonymous]

Thank you all so much for that information! Exactly the kind of information I was looking for. PP, I definitely agree on the walking around aspect of the Atlas District. We are only 4 blocks up (kind of more HIll East than Atlas) but definitely walking distance to H. Before I got pregnant, we'd go to the pubs down there on occasion but sadly, would NEVER walk even though it is so close to our house! Anyway, if we find the right house for the right price in Brookland, I think we are going to do it. Maybe we will be neighbors!

[Anonymous]

I used to love going to Island Jim's Restaurant - was sad when it closed. We are also tempted by Brookland. There is a house and garden tour every year. You should go on it if you can - great opportunity to meet people. What about Turkey Thicke Rec. center? I think that is in Brookland.

[Anonymous]

I live in Brookland with my young children and will agree with everything the previous posters from Brookland have said--crime is relatively low compared to other parts of the city, including the Hill but it isn't Tenleytown... That said, we've never had an issue with crime and I live on the Southern edge of Brookland, closer to Rhode Island Ave than Michigan Ave which supposedly has more crime but hasn't really been our experience. I don't walk at night to and from the metro, but my husband does and hasn't had any problems during the "work hour" when there are lots of commuters, but we don't do it after 7 oclock or so.

As for community--this is the best part of Brookland. If you have kids you can go to two playgroups a week, join a book club, join a garden club, join a knitting circle, or start something new completely. I've met great friends here, and there is a fantastic sense of community here. Pretty easy to plug in.

Good luck, and come on up!

[Anonymous]

Hilleaster here who has always admired Brookland. Sounds like PPs have it right. I have just one thing to add: I'm a confirmed "metro rat." If you can buy close to the metro as the one pp has, you will have quick access to great places around the city. You're just a few stops from shopping, movies, and theater at places like Union Station, Gallery Place, Metro Center and close to Silver Spring and Takoma in the other direction.

I live near the metro in Hilleast and jump on the metro to go most places and love it. But if I lived further away, say half a mile or more, I would end up driving more often because walking to the metro (especially on the weekend with reduced service) would seem to really add to the trip.

In my mind, it's worth the money to buy close to the metro and in Brookland you can live in a nice community and be close in to the retail stuff downtown.

It's part of what I love about Hilleast but I would have moved to Brookland in a shot if dd's school in NW had been easier to reach from Brookland.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who lived in Brookland and recently moved out of the area after being held at gunpoint on her front porch (while pregnant). Obvioustly, there can be isolated incidents anywhere, but I know this was not the first one for her and she started to feel unsafe with her baby there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lived in Brookland and recently moved out of the area after being held at gunpoint on her front porch (while pregnant). Obvioustly, there can be isolated incidents anywhere, but I know this was not the first one for her and she started to feel unsafe with her baby there.

She was held at gunpoint more than once?

[Anonymous]

Once at gunpoint would be enough for me!

[Anonymous]

Just curious, would you move out of Georgetown or Palisades if you were held at gunpoint there? I'm not saying that Georgetown or Palisades and Brookland enjoy the same crime rate, because obviously that is not true. But I can't afford thtose neighborhoods so I'm trying to figure out the livability of Brookland. Yes, once would be enough for me too, but the poster said it was not an isolated incident but rather this had happened to her friend before. I'm guessing that she is talking about crime in general, but to be honest, a few car breakins is the kind of urban crime I can live with, but gunshots all of the time and certainly getting held up puts things into another category. The thing is, nothing I have heard or read about Brookland indicates that this level of "dangerous weapon crime" (I'm sure there is an official term for it) is the norm. So if that is just one unlucky aberration, okay. I had a bullet come through the window of one of my apartments near Lincoln Park one time, so obviously you can get crime anywhere. It's sad that urban dwellers have to sacrifice some safety based on what they can afford, but that's a fact of city living. I'm not trying to get all defensive about Brookland -- I don't even live there (yet) but when I hear sensational stories I want to know how they happened. Not that I don't believe the poster -- I do believe him / her. But I'm not sure about it happening more than once. I think maybe she's also including more petty type crimes in the more than once category, which really does change things when you're trying to figure out if it's an isolated incident or not.

[Anonymous]

I live in Brookland and this type of incident occurs, but not with regularity. I say this because I read the 5D police listserve daily. Violent crimes involving guns are infrequent although they do happen.

Read the crimes in 502 on the listserve for awhile and it gives you way better data than heresay involving Brookland.

[Anonymous]

I agree with most of the previous comments. Brookland is a really nice neighborhood with lovely homes. But the local schools are not that great, which is something to consider if you want to public school to be an option.