pp:

http://www.vrbo.com/369144

http://forums.redfin.com/t5/Bay-Area/Mid-Century-Homes-now-chic/td-p/139550

http://www.vacationpalmsprings.com/buy_a_home.php

Anonymous wrote:The irony in all of this, OP, is that those 50s houses you think have no curb appeal are both very chic on the West Coast, where real estate trends tend to begin. The trend has been away from larger mcmansion style homes to smaller, more sustainable houses. Smaller rooms for better energy efficiency. Mid-century chick... Also, those 50s homes were constructed with far more craft and care than pretty much anything that gets thrown together today. Quite shocking the difference in quality.

Most of the 50s tear downs built for govt workers in this area would not be the envy of the West Coast set. Get a grip.

The irony in all of this, OP, is that those 50s houses you think have no curb appeal are both very chic on the West Coast, where real estate trends tend to begin. The trend has been away from larger mcmansion style homes to smaller, more sustainable houses. Smaller rooms for better energy efficiency. Mid-century chick... Also, those 50s homes were constructed with far more craft and care than pretty much anything that gets thrown together today. Quite shocking the difference in quality.

Like a pp said, teardowns are almost inevitable where the value of the land soars past the value of the structure. This is happening for a lot of places in Vienna, where I live. You have old school GI-stock ramblers on very large lots. While many of these are quite nice and renovated on the inside, the land is just so valuable because you can't get lots that large anymore.

Whether they "work"--I don't know. I happen to really like (and envy, since I can't afford one) the style of the arts and crafts style homes that are popping up in Vienna, but they do really, really stick out like a sore thumb. A lot of them are plopped into the middle of not very well-kept rental houses, and I have to wonder.

Anonymous wrote:I recommend you pay very close attention to building materials in your potential teardown. If the house had lead paint and asbestosis, you might incur some unpleasant remediation costs so that you don't contaminate your new neighbors properties. Add that into the rebuilding cost. Obviously an empty lot is easier, but check to see if it already has utility services. That can raise the cost too.

This isnt a problem. Even asbestos siding only costs a few hundred to properly dispose. Its only a problem is you are trying to keep the structure and remove asbestos and lead.

I recommend you pay very close attention to building materials in your potential teardown. If the house had lead paint and asbestosis, you might incur some unpleasant remediation costs so that you don't contaminate your new neighbors properties. Add that into the rebuilding cost. Obviously an empty lot is easier, but check to see if it already has utility services. That can raise the cost too.

OP again. Thanks for all those interesting tidbits and perspectives. I guess there's a theme that in some neighborhoods, teardowns will be increasingly common. So I guess if I found a place with suitable tear-down potential I'd go for it and not worry. On the other hand, it's finding that suitable opportunity that will be tricky --given that they are not any easier to come by at an affordable price than an already-wonderful existing house is going to be. Sigh.....stretch the budget or compromise...I know which it'll have to be.

For me it's all about a reasonable commute in without having to drive, and this is the factor which causes the most limitation....why is the Metro system not more extensive!!!

We live in a teardown in Bethesda. I'd say about 50% of the houses on our street are teardowns, and the number goes up yearly. Just in the adjacent few blocks are 2-3 teardowns in progress.

I think what will happen if you choose a close-in neighborhood is that over time, the whole place will be teardowns. It basically happens when the land value soars above the structure value. For example, we bought the house behind us (a 50's style house) and we'll tear it down to make a backyard eventually. The land price is 3x the value of the structure on it.

I've talked with some builders. They have their numbers down pat, so they know exactly how much the property is worth to them in order to make money. They know the numbers well, so even a $50k difference and they'll walk away.

One thing to watch for is lot size and zoning/setbacks. If it's a narrow lot (even if it's deep), that's tough to do a teardown if you also want a 2-car garage. Also realize that often you can only build in the front starting from where the existing house began, so that can be limiting. An experienced builder will know about all this.

My friend who lives in Bethesda in a teardown-worthy house plans to buy a manufactured home in a few years. I think the whole process will take less than a month from tearing down the old house to trucking in the new one. I have another friend who did this in Fairfax. The entire home came in on 4 flatbed trucks and was "assembled" in a matter of hours. The quality is very high since the houses are built in factories with very strict manufacturing standards.

I just got a copy of "Arlington" magazine delivered to my house this week (never heard of it before!) but there the cover story was about teardowns/renovations that end up being the biggest/fanciest house on the street.

I know several people who have done teardowns in Arlington - the trick is to find a house to tear down. It needs to be on a big enough lot that once you tear it down you'll have the room to build whatever it is that you want, and it also needs to be kind of a dump so that you can afford the land/house in the first place.

Land is worth more than house (especially old house) in Arlington so that means larger lots in more desirable neighborhoods (as you go north) will be more expensive, even if the houses on them are real dumps.

Ramblers are often good teardowns because they lack the charm of colonials or capes. But I think you will have to be very luck to find a decent lot/teardown home for $550k or even $600k in N. Arlington. And once you end up paying for the new house you'll be at a million easy.

Obviously everyone has different tastes and if you buy the house you can do what you want. But in my downtown Bethesda neighborhood of brick colonials, the new houses (built from teardowns) stick out like a sore thumb. Some blocks are mostly this type and they are hideous, in my opinion, but at least if you buy on that block you know what you're getting. But my block has only 1 new house and everyone hates it. Recently a couple bought another house and announced their intention to tear down and built something modern. Everyone is pissed. Of course no one will say anything and the owners probably don't care. But it doesn't endear the new occupants to the neighborhood, that's for sure.

So ... just saying that you will do what you like, as well you should, but neighborhood attitudes may vary.

I'm 17:04 and we worked with a well known custom builder. He bought the lot, tore down the existing house, and built our home.

I can highly recommend Arlington. People are so nice, minimal snoot factor! Good luck!

OP here. Thanks for those ideas and info. I have to say I'd need to do a little research/math to figure out the square footage of what I would expect to build if I did go the teardown route. I've been a renter my whole life, DH is wary of buying until he feels more settled in DC, and only now I am starting to think of the nuts and bolts of home-buying.

17:04, so you did go with a teardown yourself (rather than moving into one that was previously done)? Glad it has worked out positively including with your neighbors. I have similar criteria as you (close in, nr metro, neighborly feel--not necessarily a huge lot but not one that's squeezed in between its neighbors). You have inspired me to look more closely at N Arlington.
19:06, thanks for the specifics-- I am not familiar with those areas yet (have been mainly looking at MoCo), but will investigate. It always helps to know some concrete examples.

Would love to hear from any others that have experience or an opinion.

In Arlington you can get a tear down in the $550k range (further out on Lee Highway by Lee Harrison shops). Builders build for about $80-$100 per square foot. You could definitely do something with Stanley Martin Custom Homes for about $1 million. Nothing fancy, but adequate.
A lot on John Marshall just sold for $1.1 million. They tore down the house, and I assume that they are going to build 2 new houses. They will probably be about $1.4 million each.
It's much cheaper to build your own because you have the risk, not the builder.

I think 800k to million is not going to get you much in the way of a tear down. We moved to Arlington recently but looked in Berthesda as well and the issue is that the land is costly and then you have to tear down the house and then build another one. For us, that took us north of 1 million by by about 500,000. People on this board have a variety of opinions a bout tear downs. For us, we were looking close in, needed to be fairly close to Metro and wanted a neighborhood feel and a fairly sizeable lot. A lot of the hoods that fit those requirements turned out to be mixed...lots of older, smaller homes with bigger, newer homes here and there. Would I rather live in a more uniform hood. I guess so but in the scheme of things we are happy. Everyone in the new hood has been very welcoming and conplimentary of our house. Maybe they actually hate it and us or maybe they're happy cause they think the value of their home is going up, I don't know.

I'd love to hear the input from DCUMs savvy about real estate, including any realtors there--plus anyone with a neighborhood that has teardowns in it.....:

Background: I've been driving through some locations that look good according to the map (e.g., close in, not too far from metro, etc), but are filled with houses that are all of the same unappealing style...early 50s, brick, small (I'm supposing that this is due to a post-war population/building boom). I say 'unappealing' because the houses are often not in good repair, or are very small, very plain, etc. No curb appeal for me personally. In some other places I've looked, the neighborhood will be great, but a house on the market will be priced below average because it's not up to par (in looks, condition, etc) with the others around it. This has me wondering about the teardown concept that I see happening in some places (e.g north bethesda, e. bethesda). I'm starting to consider this option.

My questions are:
1. How does a tear-down work financially-speaking? If a house is in a neighborhood with $1m plus homes in the vicinity, what is a reasonable price to pay for the one you'd be tearing down? or for an empty lot? (and how long do new houses take to build?). I saw an earlier thread that touched on this but would like to know the specifics of what to expect for the financial side.
2. The aesthetic issue. If you lived in one, would it bother you to have all the other ones in the neighborhood be of a different, older, less appealing style? Or if you lived next to one, would it be annoying to have a new one stick out....or is it likely that over time, many of the old ones will be torn down as well, and it's a matter of waiting it out?

Interested in any thoughts about this. I'd ideally be looking for something $800-$1 mil but that doesn't seem to buy you very much when you're looking close in.