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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wow, most of DCUM is bad, but this thread really sets a new low for self-indulgent self-pitying.

DC was a relatively small city/metro area until the Depression (ie, wasn't one of the 15 largest cities in the country until the New Deal and WWII mobilization).   So much of the  housing here was built either during the Depression and WWII (when resources were scarce and the clientele was middle class govt workers) or after the war.   And the fact is MOST postwar suburban housing in the US (please don't tell me about Brad Pitt's mansion in Malibu...) is pretty drab.  Honestly, people here are are pining for NY but some of the dated 1960s housing stock in the lesser parts of Westchester and Long Island and NJ looks locations for a bad Mad Men spinoff (although i will admit the NJ housing in the Sopranos was incredibly classy).   Do people move to the San Fernando Valley or Lakewood for the charming architecture?    I'm not sure why the OP so dislikes split levels - they're actually efficiently designed, and mid-century design has been in vogue for about a decade -- but they're pretty commonplace across the nation.

Yes, you can look at prewar suburbs in one-percenter suburbs like Bronxville or Oyster Bay or the Upper Merion and say "why don't houses in Chantilly have the same charm - that's so unfair to me!" but it's a completely inapt comparison.    If you look at DC's prewar luxury homes in Forest Hills or Foxhall or Chevy Chase Village, you'll see comparable houses.

Whining that one's dollar can buy so much more in Baltimore or Shady Side or Shaker Heights or Grosse Pointe than in DC is just silly.    Obviously prices are depressed there because of economic or other challenges (yeah, I want the housing costs of metro Cleveland but the professional and cultural offerings of greater DC too -- pls make it happen).   Furthermore, comparing the sales prices alone isn't useful because those lower-priced old suburbs generally have much higher property tax rates to provide the services that their residents expect (notwithstanding lower home values).

Ironically, many people who come to DC find that the original prewar housing stock -- the 19th century townhouses of the original city, the 20th century row houses in the outlying parts of the city -- to be not just charming but distinctive.  I thought it was a triusm that all taste is subjective, but apparently not on DCUM.

Real estate everywhere involves trade offs, including location, size, age and that ineffable category of charm/appeal.   OP thinks they (or all DMV residents) are uniquely vexed in facing that tradeoff -- they're not. [/quote]

+1 I can’t imagine people moving away from the DMV and telling their friends it was because they couldn’t find an attractive looking house and that the whole region is hideous. [/quote]

Unless you have a $3 million plus budget, it really is hard to find curb appeal and character here.  Lots in DC proper,  Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and a few homes on the VA side in that range but if you’re looking outside DC for under that, it’s slim pickings. Lots of drab, cheap builds in the style of the moment from every decade.  [/quote]

This sounds like a very extreme point of view [/quote]

I challenge you to find good design, curb appeal, and character for under $3 million in the suburbs. There are just a few. [/quote]

Check this out, with 150k worth of changes this can be nice.

https://www.redfin.com/VA/McLean/1207-Winter-Hunt-Rd-22102/home/9377282[/quote]

lol what[/quote]

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