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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm sure it frustrates some local builders that people will buy older homes and maintain them, rather than seek out the cheapest houses and tear them down.   [/quote]

In my opinion it's a certain fading demographic that buys these homes in McLean, and it's not for the schools. It's the empty nesters who have have lived in the area a long time and still think a home in McLean is the pinnacle of success, like in the 1980s. Just like the middle aged man who buys the used car he always wanted in high school. They trade up a few times and finally buy that dream home from the 1980s. Then reality sets in and they realize that they're too old to maintain a massive house and yard, and they sell it five to ten years later, either breaking even (if they're lucky) or at a loss. Millennials don't want these houses. [/quote]

You're entitled to your opinion, but not to your own facts.

School enrollments have been increasing in that area, and there are many buyers who want to be in a close-in location zoned for a top school pyramid.

The ideal neighborhood for some Millenials might be Lyon Village, but they can't afford it, or for that matter new construction anywhere close in.  So they turn to older homes elsewhere in Arlington, McLean, and Falls Church. 
[/quote]

That may be true for the cheapest homes in McLean, but not helping the $1 million+ old homes, which is primarily what you find in CW. [/quote]

Over the past two years, there have been about 50 sales of houses built before 1980 in that neighborhood and the median sales price was around $1.05M.  We could parse all the property records and try and assess how many sellers made money, and how many lost money, but the market is reasonably active, and there are also trade-offs with other houses in that price range (i.e., there are similarly priced older houses in North Arlington, but they are smaller and zoned for lower-ranked schools; there are newer (but not new) houses in Vienna, but they are further away from DC, etc.).  Or you could claim every buyer in that range wants to live in DC now, but that's contradicted by the volume of transactions. [/quote]

You must be a realtor.  That's only two sales per month, on average. Definitely a cold market. Would be interesting to see the full stats, but I think it's safe to assume that sellers who bought in that neighborhood pre-2005 made money, and those who bought after lost money, unless major improvements were made. [/quote]

Not a realtor.  Just someone familiar with the area and real estate data.

CW is not a huge neighborhood, and I'm only referring to sales of older homes in that neighborhood, and not to sales of newer homes in that neighborhood, or to transactions elsewhere in the same school district or zip code. If there were more transactions, you'd undoubtedly be claiming people were abandoning CW in droves.

It is safe to assume that sellers who bought prior to 2005 made money.  It's less clear that those who bought later lost money, although some may have, particularly when you factor in sales commissions.  However, many property assessment for older homes in this neighborhood were at all-time highs in 2017.   [/quote]

The tax assessments mean nothing except what someone who has never been inside your house says it is worth.  Do you know how many people, in older homes especially, in close in NOVA, talk their taxes down every year?  The new homes are the perfect leverage, because everyone loves to hate new homes, including the county workers who live in - guess what? old homes.  So, the new homes go up, and the old homes go down.  It's not rocket science.  My landlord does this every single year. [/quote]

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