Reply to So tired of the crappy housing stock in the DMV combined with skyrocketing prices

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I could deal with the high prices if it didn't buy such garbage. There are so many houses in DC and the suburbs selling in the $1-1.2m range that are just... bad. Ugly flips, cheaply built new developments, houses in desperate need of major updates.

I used to live in California and before I moved to the DMV (about 15 years ago) I felt like the cost of housing there was insane. And it is. But it has been eclipsed in the DMV, but for much uglier, poor quality houses.

Look at this bungalow in an LA suburbs (Monrovia, which has decent schools and is a nice little community but still good proximity to LA -- a perfect suburb compromise if you have some WFH flexibility). Yes, it's on the small side (3/2, so still plenty big enough for a small family with 1-2 kids). But it's beautiful, updated, in a nice neighborhood, and has great outdoor spaces. For $1.2m.

In the DMV, $1.2m buys you a cramped row house on the Hill with no outdoor space, or a completely unrenovated home in one of the close in suburbs, or an ugly McMansion further out with cheap finishes and no charm.

I'm not just saying housing here is too expensive. It's expensive, and that's driven by demand, and while it's a lot, that's what it costs to live here. [b]I'm saying the housing stock is freaking ugly and in poor shape and you wind up spending money for location and schools but the houses themselves suck.[/b] There are so few good houses here, even when you have money to spend. It's just depressing.[/quote]

The bolded isn't quite right. The locations and schools suck, too.  :lol:

Seriously though, you are right in a few senses. Housing is super expensive, and often (in my view) uncharming. So are the areas themselves, except for certain picturesque pockets of certain suburbs or neighborhoods in DC. Commutes can be pretty bad. But there are a lot of great things about living in, say, Silver Spring (as uncharming as that can be) that you won't necessarily get in Monrovia: the whole chain of Smithsonians, which are free; great concerts at multiple venues within 20-30 minutes drive/Uber; many famous historic homes, battlefields, buildings, monuments; sometimes super interesting and well educated neighbors, sometimes with surprisingly interesting jobs; some access within 2 hours of some of the nicest national parks (in my view). All that is to say, yeah, there are things that are great about Monrovia that we don't have here, and some things about here that Monrovia doesn't have. You have 3 options: (1) weeping and gnashing of teeth; (2) move; (3) celebrate what you have. [/quote]

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