We recently purchased in Calvert Hills. We love the neighborhood; it's quiet, great neighbors, we have a good size lot, and are accessible to transit and food/shopping. You can hear the trains but it's not loud and can only really be heard with the windows open or from outside. We also have newer windows. I am sure sound also varies with proximity to the tracks, but the train noise is also a pleasant reminder of how close we are to the metro/marc... we can walk! Our buying experience was pretty smooth. The house we bought was on the market for a little bit longer than normal due to a leaky basement which we had fixed immediately after moving in. I am surprised how many people passed up a great house in a sweet location for a few updates needed for an older home that had been passed down for generations. Renovations just come with the territory for older homes. The City also does a good job of providing amenities. We love it.

Lovely neighborhood. Leafy green. Close to Metro and the MARC train stations. Hiker biker trail access. Whole Foods just opened last week (in Riverdale Park) but an easy walk. Will soon be nicer choices for dining (as opposed to the over saturation of pizza stores now found in a college town). Different housing options, i.e., Colonials, bungalows, etc. Nothing cookie cutter. University Park Elementary is well regarded and has active parental involvement. A good sense of community in Calvert Hills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great neighborhood but there is plenty of noise from the trains and Metro, and many of the houses are older and some not well-maintained. Last problem: you are somewhat trapped in that neighborhood, with Rt. 1 the only road in or out. Some times of the day Rt. 1 gets completely backed-up.

I've never experienced being locked in the neighborhood due to Rt.1.

I do agree that the train can be loud but that depends on how close you live. Some houses directly face the train. I also suspect that many homes have original windows. I never hear the metro but I do hear the trains. It's the trade off for being walking distance to public transportation.

The previous owners of our house installed new windows, so we never hear the trains or the traffic on rte. 1, and we only occasionally hear student party-goers. (We can hear all those things from our backyard, though.) And I have absolutely never been "trapped" in the neighborhood because of traffic on rte. 1. It gets slow when there's a major event on campus, and there's a lane closure right now that's slowing things down, but these are not major problems. Plus, many of us walk, bike, and metro/marc everywhere since that's kind of the point of living here.

Anonymous wrote:Great neighborhood but there is plenty of noise from the trains and Metro, and many of the houses are older and some not well-maintained. Last problem: you are somewhat trapped in that neighborhood, with Rt. 1 the only road in or out. Some times of the day Rt. 1 gets completely backed-up.

I've never experienced being locked in the neighborhood due to Rt.1.

I do agree that the train can be loud but that depends on how close you live. Some houses directly face the train. I also suspect that many homes have original windows. I never hear the metro but I do hear the trains. It's the trade off for being walking distance to public transportation.

Great neighborhood but there is plenty of noise from the trains and Metro, and many of the houses are older and some not well-maintained. Last problem: you are somewhat trapped in that neighborhood, with Rt. 1 the only road in or out. Some times of the day Rt. 1 gets completely backed-up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

OP Here - Thanks, yes I did see that home. I like the price and location, but am hoping to get a colonial.

Those of you that live in the neighborhood - Is there any talk of UPES redistricting? Is there room for all the new Riverdale TH families at UPES?

For those that bought recently, did you face a multiple bidding situation? Escalation clauses?

I'm the PP who bought five years ago, so I suspect I don't count as "recent." Back then, we placed an offer the first day the house went on the market for $20K under asking, I think, and they countered with $10K under asking. Their realtor said they were expecting other offers, but who knows whether or not that was true. They countered within about 48 hours, and we agreed quickly. I have no idea whether it still works that way.

I meant to say earlier, with regard to the question about cash investors: there's definitely a shared community spirit of keeping landlords out. So when a house comes on the market, neighbors advertise the listing widely, and sellers tend to want to avoid selling to landlords. I know a half-dozen young families who have bought in the last 1-5 years, so sellers are definitely choosing us over any hypothetical cash offers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

OP Here - Thanks, yes I did see that home. I like the price and location, but am hoping to get a colonial.

Those of you that live in the neighborhood - Is there any talk of UPES redistricting? Is there room for all the new Riverdale TH families at UPES?

For those that bought recently, did you face a multiple bidding situation? Escalation clauses?

They talk about redistricting every few years apparently. I'm not sure if there will be that many kids at RPS. A few of the owners I have seen are older, single, and gay. It's not all families. Apparently fewer than 10 kids in Calvert Hills go to UPES.

Gay couples are typically at the gentrification edge due to an indifference to the schools. This area is still years away IMO from being anything more than a slightly better part of undesirable PG.

The remarkable thing is that the OP didn't ask for opinions like yours bc they specifically asked to hear from ppl who live in the area. Nor does this area need to be gentrified and that's not the goal of the surrounding towns, their leaders or residents.

College park is 70 percent white. How do you gentrify that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

OP Here - Thanks, yes I did see that home. I like the price and location, but am hoping to get a colonial.

Those of you that live in the neighborhood - Is there any talk of UPES redistricting? Is there room for all the new Riverdale TH families at UPES?

For those that bought recently, did you face a multiple bidding situation? Escalation clauses?

They talk about redistricting every few years apparently. I'm not sure if there will be that many kids at RPS. A few of the owners I have seen are older, single, and gay. It's not all families. Apparently fewer than 10 kids in Calvert Hills go to UPES.

Gay couples are typically at the gentrification edge due to an indifference to the schools. This area is still years away IMO from being anything more than a slightly better part of undesirable PG.

The remarkable thing is that the OP didn't ask for opinions like yours bc they specifically asked to hear from ppl who live in the area. Nor does this area need to be gentrified and that's not the goal of the surrounding towns, their leaders or residents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

OP Here - Thanks, yes I did see that home. I like the price and location, but am hoping to get a colonial.

Those of you that live in the neighborhood - Is there any talk of UPES redistricting? Is there room for all the new Riverdale TH families at UPES?

For those that bought recently, did you face a multiple bidding situation? Escalation clauses?

They talk about redistricting every few years apparently. I'm not sure if there will be that many kids at RPS. A few of the owners I have seen are older, single, and gay. It's not all families. Apparently fewer than 10 kids in Calvert Hills go to UPES.

Gay couples are typically at the gentrification edge due to an indifference to the schools. This area is still years away IMO from being anything more than a slightly better part of undesirable PG.

The remarkable thing is that the OP didn't really ask for your opinion at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

OP Here - Thanks, yes I did see that home. I like the price and location, but am hoping to get a colonial.

Those of you that live in the neighborhood - Is there any talk of UPES redistricting? Is there room for all the new Riverdale TH families at UPES?

For those that bought recently, did you face a multiple bidding situation? Escalation clauses?

They talk about redistricting every few years apparently. I'm not sure if there will be that many kids at RPS. A few of the owners I have seen are older, single, and gay. It's not all families. Apparently fewer than 10 kids in Calvert Hills go to UPES.

Gay couples are typically at the gentrification edge due to an indifference to the schools. This area is still years away IMO from being anything more than a slightly better part of undesirable PG.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

OP Here - Thanks, yes I did see that home. I like the price and location, but am hoping to get a colonial.

Those of you that live in the neighborhood - Is there any talk of UPES redistricting? Is there room for all the new Riverdale TH families at UPES?

For those that bought recently, did you face a multiple bidding situation? Escalation clauses?

They talk about redistricting every few years apparently. I'm not sure if there will be that many kids at RPS. A few of the owners I have seen are older, single, and gay. It's not all families. Apparently fewer than 10 kids in Calvert Hills go to UPES.

Oh to answer your question: yes I did face multiple bidders and had an escalation clause. But I was used to the D.C. market so it wasn't anything new to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

OP Here - Thanks, yes I did see that home. I like the price and location, but am hoping to get a colonial.

Those of you that live in the neighborhood - Is there any talk of UPES redistricting? Is there room for all the new Riverdale TH families at UPES?

For those that bought recently, did you face a multiple bidding situation? Escalation clauses?

They talk about redistricting every few years apparently. I'm not sure if there will be that many kids at RPS. A few of the owners I have seen are older, single, and gay. It's not all families. Apparently fewer than 10 kids in Calvert Hills go to UPES.

Anonymous wrote:OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

OP Here - Thanks, yes I did see that home. I like the price and location, but am hoping to get a colonial.

Those of you that live in the neighborhood - Is there any talk of UPES redistricting? Is there room for all the new Riverdale TH families at UPES?

For those that bought recently, did you face a multiple bidding situation? Escalation clauses?

OP have you seen this home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4806-Erskine-Rd_College-Park_MD_20740_M51348-03821

Another happy Calvert Hills homeowner here. Inventory is always low and houses go fast because we are sort of a unicorn neighborhood (affordable, walking distance to metro, good ES). There are some student rentals, but we seem to be trending away from rentals because of the boom in construction of student apartments (a strategic decision by the city). So I don't think houses are going to cash investors; they just get scooped up fast because inventory is so low. We bought our house five years ago, the day it went on the market, and I've only seen 2-3 since then that I would have wanted to buy.

Anyway, I'm happy to answer any specific questions!