We are looking at SFH in the Vienna/Oakton area and a lot of houses have well grown tall mature trees around the house or community. From a climate change perspective and & future perspective how desirable it is to have a house with lot of mature trees (think >70ft) around? Is that a plus or minus? Of course assuming everything else in the house checks out first - this is purely a qn around whether tall trees around houses hurt its future sale or its desirable?

OP, if you have a problem with mature trees, please buy a house somewhere else. The Vienna/Oakton area has been losing its mature trees at an alarming rate due to individual new builds where they rip everything down. We need to keep the mature trees we have. There are plenty of new builds around with no trees at all if that's what you'd rather buy.

Anonymous wrote:Extremely desirable

This^.

Anonymous wrote:Most trees in the DC area should be cut down after 20 years they were y meant to get that large

LOL

We have a few rentals and I can tell you trees are great! However they are expensive to maintain and keep your home safe. I had a healthy hickory get uprooted from massive rains over saturating my lawn and completely split the house in half. Thank God nobody was hurt, but the house was unlivable for 6 months and was a complete nightmare for my renters.

I prefer trees that are on the property, but far enough not to cause a hazard if we have a fierce storm or a saturated ground.

Love love love mature trees. I just spent $20K to have mature trees planted along my fence line after a new neighbor chopped down 50-year-old gorgeous trees. I'm still upset about it.

Most trees in the DC area should be cut down after 20 years they were y meant to get that large

I'd suggest having someone come out to look at the trees before or during your buying process, if possible. We ended up spending $12K+ on tree maintenance/removal in our first year living in our starter home and more a few years later - not saying we wouldn't have bought the place, but it would have been good to have known the state of things and to get a better picture of the full financial picture.

Not desirable within 20-25 feet from my house. Fine beyond that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not desirable if on your lot, desirable if between your lots and neighbors. You'll need to consider cutting them down if they are on your lot even more so if close to the house

When we built our new hours we cut all the trees down and have much less maintenance inc gutters

I’m pretty sure this qualifies as a war crime.

+1

WTAF?!

The entire town of Garrett Park is an arboretum. It's delightful!

Anonymous wrote:Someone in our neighborhood who lives next to a corner lot that was filled with mature trees, bought that adjacent lot, cut down all the trees and put a pool on it 🤮🤮

I think we live in the same neighborhood...it's so bad!

Anonymous wrote:Not desirable if on your lot, desirable if between your lots and neighbors. You'll need to consider cutting them down if they are on your lot even more so if close to the house

When we built our new hours we cut all the trees down and have much less maintenance inc gutters

This is a good reminder that people of all incomes and wealth can be stupid.

In the past two years, a lot of those trees have started falling down and damaging houses. Just get them checked out by an arborist before you buy.

Anonymous wrote:Not desirable if on your lot, desirable if between your lots and neighbors. You'll need to consider cutting them down if they are on your lot even more so if close to the house

When we built our new hours we cut all the trees down and have much less maintenance inc gutters

You have neighbors who hate you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DCUM is any indication, your neighbors may think that you are responsible for any repairs should the trees fall - despite the fact that isn't the law.

Interesting? What do you mean? I always thought if neighbors tree falls on your house your neighbor isn't responsible, and it's very much your own insurance to cover it. isn't that true?

Yes, that's true. Most on DCUM seem to think that is not the case and that you would be responsible if your tree fell on your neighbors' yard.

All that said (and huge tree supporter here), whether you would be responsible legally is a different question from being a bad neighbor. Don’t cut down your trees, but do maintain them. And if they are dead, remove them.