Glen Echo Heights?

[Anonymous]

What's it like to live there? Is it neighborly (unlike some of the more stodgy suburbs)? Any pluses or minuses to be aware of? Thinking of adding it to the search--I know it's in a great school district.

[Anonymous]

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/407912.page

[Anonymous]

Just moved here a year ago and absolutely love it. Close to downtown Bethesda and D.C. Right near the river. The neighborhood has a great mix of older couples and young families.

[Anonymous]

Many teardowns, but this is happening in most parts of Bethesda, and it increases property values.

[Anonymous]

Some of the streets are treacherous for pedestrians - watch out if you have dogs or need to walk to bus stops, kids going to friends' houses, etc. We tried to get sidewalks several years back and the county was willing, but a faction of neighbors protested histrionically about the horrors of sidewalks.

[Anonymous]

Do you hear much from nearby MacArthur and the Clara Barton Pkwy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you hear much from nearby MacArthur and the Clara Barton Pkwy?

depends on what part of the neighborhood you're in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of the streets are treacherous for pedestrians - watch out if you have dogs or need to walk to bus stops, kids going to friends' houses, etc. We tried to get sidewalks several years back and the county was willing, but a faction of neighbors protested histrionically about the horrors of sidewalks.

I heard it was because sidewalks would impact too many of the trees. Was that the reason people were against them? We moved here not that long ago,and I'm a big fan except for the sidewalk thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you hear much from nearby MacArthur and the Clara Barton Pkwy?

We never did.

[Anonymous]

We've lived in GEH for 20 years and love it. I will say it has been changing over the past few years. Once upon a time the neighborhood was filled with smaller home with some quirky but very nice (and entertaining) people. Now we are going through a big tear down phase. Beautiful but oversized house are going up and hitting the market for upwards of $2 million. It's changing the character of the neighborhood but not necessarily for the worst. One thing to know though is that there is no HOA. GEH is dotted with older homes that are poorly kept and no one can do much about it. Basically holdovers from when it was a much lower income area (25-30 years ago). That will all go away but it will take time.

[Anonymous]

There's certainly a big selection of large new builds there. They tend to sit for a very long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's certainly a big selection of large new builds there. They tend to sit for a very long time.

True. House hunters in that price range generally tend to want a more manicured environment, e.g. Sumner. That's definitely not Glen Echo Heights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's certainly a big selection of large new builds there. They tend to sit for a very long time.

True. House hunters in that price range generally tend to want a more manicured environment, e.g. Sumner. That's definitely not Glen Echo Heights.

I'm pretty sure it's been easier to find land/houses in GEH to tear down, but given the large stock of $1.8M+ new builds there, why would builders keep building them? It would strike me as costly to have a property sit a long time on the market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's certainly a big selection of large new builds there. They tend to sit for a very long time.

True. House hunters in that price range generally tend to want a more manicured environment, e.g. Sumner. That's definitely not Glen Echo Heights.

I'm pretty sure it's been easier to find land/houses in GEH to tear down, but given the large stock of $1.8M+ new builds there, why would builders keep building them? It would strike me as costly to have a property sit a long time on the market.

And they are paying meaningful amounts for the tear downs--$500k and up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's certainly a big selection of large new builds there. They tend to sit for a very long time.

True. House hunters in that price range generally tend to want a more manicured environment, e.g. Sumner. That's definitely not Glen Echo Heights.

I'm pretty sure it's been easier to find land/houses in GEH to tear down, but given the large stock of $1.8M+ new builds there, why would builders keep building them? It would strike me as costly to have a property sit a long time on the market.

The developers have interest-only loans. They don't pay principal. They can afford to sit on the house for at least a year or two.