Anonymous wrote:I don't know where you live OP but likely when you leave the house for your commute downtown the owners of these houses are still asleep. And those houses aren't north of East-West Highway.

I'm not entirely sure what your first sentence means but I presume it's meant as a snobby snark. Alas it happens not to be true but whatever.

And if you actually read my post, i didn't say those houses were north of EW Highway. I said that snobby folks...you may know some...apparently don't consider any part of CC that is north of EW Highway as "real Chevy Chase." In other words, there is some premium to houses south of that dividing line that enables a 1300 sqft house with a small poorly designed kitchen and a half unfinished basement to list for $900k.

And this is very much in the desirable part of CC. Maybe your friend is thinking of North Chevy Chase.

I don't know where you live OP but likely when you leave the house for your commute downtown the owners of these houses are still asleep. And those houses aren't north of East-West Highway.

everyone knows that anything north of EW Highway isn't really Chevy Chase.

Your friend is right in everyday parlance. Who really cares, though?

But technically, historically, that IS a part of Chevy Chase, if only because the original developers in ~1900 or so built an amusement park up there --aka, The Chevy Chase Lake -- for the enjoyment of the Chevy Chase residents near Chevy Chase circle. http://www.chevychasehistory.org/content/view/3/144/

I grew up a poor child in the crime-ridden ghetto of Chevy Chase, MD; said no one ever.

Op here, and obviously I don't get the real estate market here. I think those houses are perfectly nice- they are a little smaller than ours and very reasonably updated. I didn't mean to imply they were unlivable. Just not homes that would seem to command a price tag bordering on $1m, unless they had super nice features or unless they were walk able to a metro or downtown Bethesda. But as the PP said, the market determines what is the right price, not my opinion or anyone else's. I guess I'll be curious to see how quickly they sell.

And as to whether there is a "sketchy" side of CC, I didn't (and wouldn't) use that word. There are still a few spots where the houses are older, smaller etc. our neighborhood was a gerontocracy when we moved here 10 years ago, and now lots of the houses have turned over, mostly to families and many have been improved (or knocked down) in the process. That's not gentrifying in the U St/Logan Circle sense of the word, but it is socioeconomic change. Still there is definitely a hierarchy of neighborhoods, or so I've learned. As a friend who lives in one of the fancier CC areas said to me, everyone knows that anything north of EW Highway isn't really Chevy Chase. Who knew? But there may be something to that view; I don't think those houses would sell for $900k in North Chevy Chase for example.

I know the brookville rd house, used to live right around the corner. That is NOT overpriced for that house.

The Bradley Lane house is so cute. If it were in my budget, I'd put an offer in, no question.

It bums me out that these homes are often razed.

Anonymous wrote:The real estate market is wonderful in that prices are not set by what they should be or what a house is worth or whether the right people can afford it. Even listing prices don't mean much.

The selling price is the number where you have a willing seller and a willing buyer. The prices may seem crazy to you or me but that's academic.

This is correct if we assume there are no such things are house price bubbles.

The real estate market is wonderful in that prices are not set by what they should be or what a house is worth or whether the right people can afford it. Even listing prices don't mean much.

The selling price is the number where you have a willing seller and a willing buyer. The prices may seem crazy to you or me but that's academic.

I didn't realize there was a sketchy part of CCMD.

Bradley Lane will be bought for cash by a developer, who will build a McMansion with a wrap-around porch, and it will sold to a flashy law firm couple who want to show people they've Made It, See Our House That Takes up the Whole Lot??? We're so proud we don't even care we're on this busy corner!!

Alternatively, a finance guy and SAHM will buy it from the developer because they're moving down from the Jersey suburbs.

Brookville Rd., it's a toss up.

Anonymous wrote:There is something off about your post.

A) those houses seem lovely to me
B) since when is Chevy Chase poor/downtrodden/crime-stricken/inner city violence such that is now "gentrifying"? It is almost laughable that you are using that word.

And, no, I don't live in CC.

My thoughts exactly.

There is something off about your post.

A) those houses seem lovely to me
B) since when is Chevy Chase poor/downtrodden/crime-stricken/inner city violence such that is now "gentrifying"? It is almost laughable that you are using that word.

And, no, I don't live in CC.

Full disclosure, I live in CC MD but in the unfashionable part, not posh although gentrifying some. We like it well enough here, schools are good, commute to DC is easy, there is too much traffic but that's partly the price of living close-in (and not having enough money to live in the posh parts.) We are at the stage of renovate or move, and I'm pretty sure we have to renovate because the prices I see for houses in 20815 and other nearby neighborhoods just seem insane to me. We've been here about 10 years and while I'm sure our house has appreciated I am quite sure that it would NOT go for anywhere near these prices, if only because it's not in the nicer part of CC.

And I know (and sort of understand) people pay ridiculous sums to live in the parts of CC (or Bethesda) that are within walking distance of the metro, or even on the quieter quaint streets of the Town of CC or whatever. But why would anyone spend $800k and beyond for a small, older home with relatively modest updates? For example, I drive by these houses every day and it boggles my mind that anyone would pay $850k or $900k for such small places, next to a somewhat busy street.

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/7507-Brookville-Rd-20815/home/10652733
http://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/3701-Bradley-Ln-20815/home/10641582

Am I totally out of touch with the market (which is likely)? Still, how does someone justify spending $900k on a house with a small galley kitchen, or $850k on a house with only 2 upstairs bedrooms? What am I missing here?