Columbia MD?
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Anonymous
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We are looking at houses in Columbia, MD- the location works well for us and it's well within our price range.
I'm noticing that many of the houses on Redfin are asking approximately the same price they last sold for in 2008 (within 10k or so). I'm concerned that the houses do not seem to have appreciated at all over 10 years, even given the housing downturn and climb back out. Houses in a nearby Howard County neighborhood sell for significantly more- they are newer and more updated, but also twice the price per square foot. So I don't think the issue is Howard County/distance from DC. There is a lot of new construction in the "Town Center" area- Whole Foods opened about two years ago, multiple new restaurants, mixed use luxury apartments, etc, which makes it seem like Columbia should be growing and housing appreciating. On the other hand, there are clearly areas that could be redeveloped. Does anyone have an opinion on the future of the market in Columbia? Is buying in Columbia a bad idea? |
Anonymous
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A few things about Columbia:
1. Columbia schools aren't the best schools in Howard County. On the whole they're not as "good" as the rest of HoCo schools. There are variations within Columbia, of course (a small part of Columbia feeds into River Hill HS and that's one of the best in the county). And even the "worst" schools in Columbia are leagues better than, say, Baltimore schools and hardly bad by any stretch of the imagination, but that's still the general reputation. 2. Because Columbia was built around a village model, with each village having a mixture of SFH, townhouses and apartments, Columbia has a higher concentration of Section 8 housing than elsewhere in the county. Some villages have more than others (practically none in River Hill, but lots in Long Reach). See how this affects the reputation of local schools. And real estate in the county is driven first and foremost by schools. 3. Columbia is ageing rapidly. The oldest villages were first built in the late 1960s and most of Columbia in the 1970s-1980s. Housing tend to be smaller than elsewhere in the county, and they were never that well built to begin with. Dated, needing some repairs, that's typical of Columbia for you. Regarding housing appreciation, Howard is far enough from DC that housing appreciation tends to follow the Baltimore market pattern, and selling today what you paid for 10-15 years ago is still the norm in many areas. There are always the variations and exceptions, of course. I would not unduly worry about this, it's highly unlikely Howard will see declining values. At the peak of the boom people were paying top dollar for anything, anywhere, but in today's market they can afford to be choosier, which is why you saw "stagnant" values in the older parts of Columbia (which were overpriced at the peak) relative to the rest of the county. I don't wish to discourage people from moving to Columbia, at all. It's still a nice area with many amenities. The changing downtown could attract people looking for a more walkable environment but that would be restricted to a pretty small radius around downtown. It's where I'd look if I wasn't thinking about schools and probably does have the best chances for good appreciation within Columbia. |
Anonymous
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Thanks! Your information is really helpful.
We did look at the schools, and we are fine with the ones we would be zoned to, although, I gather some massive rezoning is coming as they build new schools in Howard County. Beside location being great for us, we could afford private school if needed with the prices in Columbia. I didn't know that the housing mix was as intentional as you describe- that explains a lot about some of the neighborhoods. Agree on the aging housing stock- we are looking at it as an opportunity to buy and do an extensive renovation to make the house our own within our budget, but again, that is investing a fair amount of additional money. I know we'll probably not get the renovation costs back when/if we sell, but I also don't want to lose money on the initial house purchase if we need to sell 5+ years from now! Thanks, again, for your insight! |
Anonymous
| I'm from Ellicott City. Literally 5 minutes from Columbia. Different vibe, but would you consider that? Schools are better. |
Anonymous
| Why do you need your house to appreciate in 10 years? |
Anonymous
Thanks- yes, we are also looking in Ellicott City. There is a lot we like about Columbia, but we are keeping an open mind right now. |
Anonymous
Not all schools are better. Ellicott City downtown was the jewel, now not so much. |
Anonymous
Is this a serious question? It's a good way to build wealth. From 2009-present my townhouse has appreciated $300k. Tax free. |
Anonymous
Great, but that is not normal - you lucked out. If you are expecting that kind of return in Columbia you are completely insane. It sounds like it’s a good fit for your family but it’s not a get rich quick scheme. |
Anonymous
OP here- I'm not expecting to get rich on a house in Columbia, but I do hope one of my largest investments will not stagnate or decline in value, either. I don't expect to live in Columbia for the rest of my life, so at some point I'll want to sell and use the proceeds toward my next home. It would be nice if the value kept up with inflation, at least. Having done some more research tonight, it actually looks like homes in Burke, VA area also selling for prices similar to 2008. We've been renting in Arlington, then Silver Spring, for the last 10 years, and I've seen the crazy appreciation there. I was under the impression that the whole DC region had benefitted, but it looks like the appreciation is more tightly confined or driven by more local factors. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| There was a housing rise in the last 5 years where we are, upper MoCo, but it has stagnated in the last 1 or two. I follow market prices. Maybe see if you can find what the price was for houses sold in 2012 or so? If you are looking at house prices in 2008, yes, you will see a similar price today. In fact we paid for our house in 2011, almost 200K below what our neighbors paid in 2008. But, houses are back to that same level and showing some increase right now. Maybe it is similar for Columbia houses? Now houses are selling for almost 200K more than what we paid for in our area. But, this year is a mixed bag. If you are buying a huge house, appreciation is not great at all, in upper MoCo, and maybe in Howard county as well? |
Anonymous
| OP, you mentioned considering private schools. There are not as many private options in Howard County, and you will commute a far distance for a good private school. Either to DC or Baltimore. In Howard, there are some somewhat crappy parochial schools and Glen Elg Country, a really expensive, snobby crappy school. My aunt and uncle live in the eastern part of Ellicott City and send their kids to Baltimore privates which makes for a very long commute for children. |
Anonymous
+1 to this. I grew up in Columbia. My parents looked at private school, but to get a decent one, we’d be driving to Baltimore/Baltimore County every day. My parents preferred the GT program in HCPSS to Glenelg Country School. Looking back, most of my classmates who left for private/parochial either had learning disabilities that benefitted a smaller class size, or behavioral problems. Or their parents were incredibly racist and didn’t want their kids going to one of the more diverse HSs. |
Anonymous
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Columbia is a great place to live and a terrific place to raise kids. We bought in 2010 and our house has appreciated around 15% since then. We did put a lot of work into it though and don’t intend to move for at least another 12-15 years.
We love our ES and our friends and neighbors are nothing but positive about their experience with the middle and high schools which are not highly regarded. I care more about people’s personal experiences than a GreatSchools rating, though. We love that we can walk to our neighborhood pool, how connected everyone in our neighborhood is to one another, and how convenient shopping, restaurants, gyms, etc are. I would not want to be raising my kids anywhere else and we can afford to live in other parts of Howard County. |