Do a search on this forum for "Pasadena" and you will see where I'm coming from. 150 hits. There is someone here who posts obsessively. Apologies if it isn't you!

And I'm happy here, too. But I still love California and miss it. I just think it's really strange how frequently people post listings in Pasadena in response to people's DC queries. Also San Diego.

Ok, this thread went left.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or you could buy a slightly bigger house in the mountain-vibe, quaint, small stores and restaurants, laid-back L.A. suburb of Sierra Madre (though I would decorate it very differently). It also has very good schools through high school, and even then Pasadena High isn't bad.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Sierra-Madre-CA/pmf,pf_pt/82581962_zpid/47695_rid/pricea_sort/34.180015,-118.029191,34.156225,-118.068502_rect/14_zm/

OMG--From one displaced Californian to another: Give it up!

Also, I am sorry that you are feeling displaced living here. I am living quite comfortably and happily in the DMV, thank you very much. Perhaps it is you who have the California obsession, and are just projecting? In that case, it might be best if you return to CA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or you could buy a slightly bigger house in the mountain-vibe, quaint, small stores and restaurants, laid-back L.A. suburb of Sierra Madre (though I would decorate it very differently). It also has very good schools through high school, and even then Pasadena High isn't bad.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Sierra-Madre-CA/pmf,pf_pt/82581962_zpid/47695_rid/pricea_sort/34.180015,-118.029191,34.156225,-118.068502_rect/14_zm/

OMG--From one displaced Californian to another: Give it up!

How dare you, I am not a displaced Californian(!) I am originally a Midwesterner (Iowa), thank you very much.

Oh. Then I REALLY don't understand the Pasadena obsession.

I posted this from a real estate subscriber site with "look what $X will buy you in Benton Harbor, MI or League City, TX" postings, which featured the property and a town/schools overview. If you look up Sierra Madre on a map, as I just did, that is like saying that someone posting about Falls Church has a McLean obsession (even if parts of it do feed into McLean HS).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or you could buy a slightly bigger house in the mountain-vibe, quaint, small stores and restaurants, laid-back L.A. suburb of Sierra Madre (though I would decorate it very differently). It also has very good schools through high school, and even then Pasadena High isn't bad.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Sierra-Madre-CA/pmf,pf_pt/82581962_zpid/47695_rid/pricea_sort/34.180015,-118.029191,34.156225,-118.068502_rect/14_zm/

OMG--From one displaced Californian to another: Give it up!

How dare you, I am not a displaced Californian(!) I am originally a Midwesterner (Iowa), thank you very much.

Oh. Then I REALLY don't understand the Pasadena obsession.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or you could buy a slightly bigger house in the mountain-vibe, quaint, small stores and restaurants, laid-back L.A. suburb of Sierra Madre (though I would decorate it very differently). It also has very good schools through high school, and even then Pasadena High isn't bad.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Sierra-Madre-CA/pmf,pf_pt/82581962_zpid/47695_rid/pricea_sort/34.180015,-118.029191,34.156225,-118.068502_rect/14_zm/

OMG--From one displaced Californian to another: Give it up!

How dare you, I am not a displaced Californian(!) I am originally a Midwesterner (Iowa), thank you very much.

Anonymous wrote:Or you could buy a slightly bigger house in the mountain-vibe, quaint, small stores and restaurants, laid-back L.A. suburb of Sierra Madre (though I would decorate it very differently). It also has very good schools through high school, and even then Pasadena High isn't bad.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Sierra-Madre-CA/pmf,pf_pt/82581962_zpid/47695_rid/pricea_sort/34.180015,-118.029191,34.156225,-118.068502_rect/14_zm/

OMG--From one displaced Californian to another: Give it up!

Or you could buy a slightly bigger house in the mountain-vibe, quaint, small stores and restaurants, laid-back L.A. suburb of Sierra Madre (though I would decorate it very differently). It also has very good schools through high school, and even then Pasadena High isn't bad.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Sierra-Madre-CA/pmf,pf_pt/82581962_zpid/47695_rid/pricea_sort/34.180015,-118.029191,34.156225,-118.068502_rect/14_zm/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's lovely but no garage and at this price point it's going to be sitting there a while. Houses above $1.2 take a lot longer to sell in AU Park. Anything decent under $1mil seems to be a blood bath-13+ bids, no contingencies, no warranties but $1.1mil seems to be the breaking point for this nabe.

I agree - while expensive houses are sold in AU Park, the market over 1M$ is not as fast moving as the under 1M$. I also noticed when I drove by this house that it is a FSBO, which might be why it's priced so high. Owners tend to over value their properties.

Isn't the market over 1M slower everywhere? This doesn't seem specific to AU Park.

in NWDC things over $1m go fast - I think you need to get to $2 m before things start slowing down, sadly.

+1 But in AU park specifically, stuff listed over $1.1 slows down. It still sells but typically they have to lower the price or it sits for a while. At those prices, you start to get a lot more in Bethesda and you're still on the redline.

What a pretty house. BUT: Does anyone else think the lighting in the photos is bizarre? Many shots are so overexposed that you can't really see the details. I get that we now equate overexposure with nice houses, but this seems like too much.

Love the décor, especially the lighting and the window treatments and the wallpaper. Whoever redid the house did a beautiful job. I even like the kitchen, although I think they made a typical mistake of trying to cram in too much seating at the expense of storage and function. (You don't need a kitchen table and counter seating if you have a full dining room!) From the photos though, this doesn't look like a 3400 sq ft house.

The price seems a bit high, but one thing that really seems unique about this house is that it seems like a full-house renovation, rather than a piece-meal renovation (like most houses including my own). And the decor makes it look especially good. I think it would still look good without the beautiful decor, but perhaps not as great.

The yard is nice and the fence is beautiful -- looks like the spent a pretty penny on that fence.

For me, since this house is just a few blocks from Bethesda, I'd probably just go with Bethesda. But I drive past this house occasionally when I'm in the neighborhood, and it looks like a very nice house in a nice part of AU Park.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's lovely but no garage and at this price point it's going to be sitting there a while. Houses above $1.2 take a lot longer to sell in AU Park. Anything decent under $1mil seems to be a blood bath-13+ bids, no contingencies, no warranties but $1.1mil seems to be the breaking point for this nabe.

I agree - while expensive houses are sold in AU Park, the market over 1M$ is not as fast moving as the under 1M$. I also noticed when I drove by this house that it is a FSBO, which might be why it's priced so high. Owners tend to over value their properties.

+100.

Too high.

I live two blocks away - price seems crazy high to me. I would have guessed $1.2 based on what I see walking by it.