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][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]

Here are some random selections that sold in the last 6 months:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5309-Blackistone-Rd-Bethesda-MD-20816/37175556_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/43-W-Lenox-St-Chevy-Chase-MD-20815/37199313_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3400-Cummings-Ln-Chevy-Chase-MD-20815/37181690_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3206-Rolling-Rd-Chevy-Chase-MD-20815/37174060_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7311-Baltimore-Ave-Takoma-Park-MD-20912/37284424_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7300-Holly-Ave-Takoma-Park-MD-20912/37284749_zpid/?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4520-32nd-Rd-N-Arlington-VA-22207/12060866_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10610-Wise-Owl-Way-Great-Falls-VA-22066/51699903_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1508-Hardwood-Ln-McLean-VA-22101/51759027_zpid/

I could go on. I literally just clicked on ones for a couple of minutes. If you have 3mm, you can get a beautiful house around here in the suburbs, with plenty of land, and easy access to a city with great jobs and great cultural amenities. If you think the the Main Line, or Shaker Heights, is superior, you are a philistine. Sorry.

[/quote]

The only two of those houses I like are the Holly Ave in Takoma Park and the Wise Out Way in Great Falls. But in any case, we're really moving the goal posts if now the ceiling is $3m and not $1.2m. And you can find lots of housing on the Main Line or in Shaker Heights that is much more attractive than any of the houses you just posted, but for under $1.2m instead of under $3m. Which is the whole point -- DC does have some attractive housing, but because of price increases, most UMC people are priced out of it, and are left with the cheap, post-war garbage or the teeniest of row houses. Even if you are willing to commute a bit. Other cities might have that ugly post-war housing or tiny pre-war urban housing, but it's much less expensive than in DC.

Just as an example:

This is what just over $1m buys you in Shaker Heights zoned for great schools in a developed neighborhood with lots of community and amenities: https://www.redfin.com/OH/Shaker-Heights/16390-S-Park-Blvd-44120/home/66097578

This house needs a number of updates but is loaded with charm, IB for great schools, and is a 5 minute walk to a train that will get you right into the heart of Philly in about 25 minutes, and sold for less than $500k last year (leaving tons of room for updates): https://www.redfin.com/PA/Wynnewood/1519-Crest-Rd-19096/home/38501274

Housing in DC is very expensive for what you get. It is what it is, but you absolutely can buy objectively better housing for less, sometimes much less, in other cities all over the country. Housing in DC really is uniquely bad, I'm sorry. There are other reasons to live here, but if your dream is to own a charming house in a great neighborhood, and your make less than like 500-600k/yr, you will be disappointed in DC in a way that you absolutely would not be in other cities.[/quote]

It is not moving the goal posts. It was a direct response to the poster above, who used the 3mm dollar figure.

And I would rather live 30 minutes from DC than from Philly or Cleveland. DC is a far better city, culturally, historically, in terms of jobs. I used to live in Philly, in a really nice part of town that felt quite suburban, and I'd never move back, and certainly not to Wynnewood. Not to mention, the really nice parts of the Main Line, comparable to Chevy Chase or McLean, are really quite expensive, too.

And if Philly or Cleveland were as desirable as DC, those houses would be much more expensive, so I'm not just speaking for myself.

Having said all that - yes, the DC burbs are pretty ugly for the most part. [/quote]

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