I grew up in the Bethesda part right next to Potomac, and went to school with kids who lived in both areas. I think the issue with Potomac is 1) the commute to anywhere isn't great -- you're either stuck on River Road or Macarthur to get into town, and both are one-lane roads and 2) the housing stock is mostly from the 80s/90s. I bet half the houses in Potomac have trash compactors in the kitchen, a central vacuum system, and a Nutone/Scovill intercom system (remember those?).

The same size of house, slightly newer but on a smaller lot, will sell for 30-50% more in Bethesda. It's just a lot closer in. Traffic matters.

If I didn't have to commute and didn't go out much, I think there are some real deals on houses in Potomac. Good bang for your buck. A friend of mine just bought a house out there with 5 acres and plans to rent it for a few years then when he's ready to retire, he'll tear down the 80's era house and build a custom home for him to retire to.

So houses in Potomac are actually moving very fast and much faster due to the pandemicr than they have in the past few years. The problem in MOCO wealthy areas is that there has been inventory sitting out when it doesn't sell for high as people wanted. MOCO property tax assessment is substantially higher than the market value. People who bought back in 2005-2007 never believed that their house value dropped 200K and never challenged their assessment. Many that went on the market delisted and the owners decided to wait it out. Now that things are selling they are all jumping to sell with prices back up but the increased inventory is holding back what they can get.

Potomac doesn't really compete with Bethesda. these are very different markets. It competes with Northern VA -McLean. MOCO has been losing badly to NOVA as all the higher paying jobs are located in NOVA. Potomac does a little better when the school boundary talk comes up because families who want a good school and to pay a little less who were considering Wootton get spooked and move into Churchill boundaries instead.

The other drawback with Potomac is that most of the residents who are selling bought their house 15-20 years ago and updated based on what was current back then. They are selling now and at Potomac price points you are looking at buyers who don't want to live in a dated house. This isn't Silver Spring where something can be incredibly ugly and tacky but the buyer will say its charming because they are simply grateful to find something they could afford. This also isn't a buyer population that is OK loving in something dated for several years. In the pandemic no one wants a remodel/complete re-decorating going on so its easier to buy a tear down and build new.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Potomac was one of the places to be in this area maybe for my parent's generation. But now, more millenials prefer the urban setting with proximity to metro over the McMansions and the large plot of land.

I would disagree - I grew up here & Potomac has never been a place to be. It was always for people who couldn’t afford cc or even Bethesda. As the traffic has gotten worse, it has gotten even less desirable. The only people I ever knew who aimed to live there were people into horses who wanted to ride regularly.

Really? People who can afford $2M+ houses in Potomac can’t afford CC or Bethesda? What a strange comment.

Anonymous wrote:Potomac was one of the places to be in this area maybe for my parent's generation. But now, more millenials prefer the urban setting with proximity to metro over the McMansions and the large plot of land.

I would disagree - I grew up here & Potomac has never been a place to be. It was always for people who couldn’t afford cc or even Bethesda. As the traffic has gotten worse, it has gotten even less desirable. The only people I ever knew who aimed to live there were people into horses who wanted to ride regularly.

Anonymous wrote:The comments about Potomac not being family friendly are way off base. We have tons of families with young kids in our neighborhood. Many of the families are large (3-5 kids), probably attracted by the larger homes. I think Potomac gets a bad rap because of the hideous mansions along river road, and there are certainly a few neighborhoods with bad McMansions. But there are lots of beautiful neighborhoods with tasteful houses off of Falls Rd. and off River past the village.

speaking of mansions off river rd...there's this one near the potomac farm market that's been under construction for years. anyone know the story behind it?

The comments about Potomac not being family friendly are way off base. We have tons of families with young kids in our neighborhood. Many of the families are large (3-5 kids), probably attracted by the larger homes. I think Potomac gets a bad rap because of the hideous mansions along river road, and there are certainly a few neighborhoods with bad McMansions. But there are lots of beautiful neighborhoods with tasteful houses off of Falls Rd. and off River past the village.

I walked through the second one about a year ago. Very very cheap construction and poorly maintained. The floors that look like hardwood are actually laminate. IKEA level cabinets. Just all around bad.

On river road not far from Gary road the owner of the Nats/Caps lives. Almost walking distance.

I am interest when Jackie Stallone’s house hits the market. Sadly she died last week, but she lived alone in a Potomac mansion so that will be a big sale

Anonymous wrote:Most of Potomac is upper middle class but not "mansion" territory. It's beautiful, peaceful and serene, and you can't find better schools (Churchill and Wootton pyramids) anywhere. Especially lovely to have a spacious quiet home now that we're all here 24/7.

+1

And we have Great Falls!

Most of Potomac is upper middle class but not "mansion" territory. It's beautiful, peaceful and serene, and you can't find better schools (Churchill and Wootton pyramids) anywhere. Especially lovely to have a spacious quiet home now that we're all here 24/7.

All of this goes in waves, people here so busy referencing McMansions, but what are all those 2.0-3.0 homes in Bethesda - why McCraftsmans of course?

Potomac and Bethesda have a variety of homes, no one is forced to buy.

That being said, I think the premium people pay to live close to downtown Bethesda is odd, especially as it changes from mom n pop businesses to national brands. Why do I care how close I live to Anthropology and Pottery Barn and J Paul?

Each buyer's choice is to be respected, but these threads bashing one town or another are senseless.

Edit: meant 20854

Another Potomac troll post, homes in that area are selling incredibly well. Trotting out a few higher end homes is not a summary of a locality's sales data.

Filter Redfin or Zillow for 20865 and see how many homes are selling and higher than previous purchase, it is pretty easy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All those houses are walkable. In particular Gary drive is a five minute walk brand new Potomac Elementary and five minute walk to village. Bank, post office, library, two supermarkets and several restaurants. And river road has a great sidewalk.

The one on Holly Hill is super nice and a cul de sac.

Walkable these house are 100 percent.

What are you smoking. Most of the homes there don't have sidewalks. I live not that far from there, and drive through it to get to a camp my kids were going to over previous summers.

River road has a sidewalk. The one house is literally river road and Gary.

River road from Bradley to River falls has a sidewalk on one side

Again, I want to express my love for the second house. It's all custom and was so obviously a labor of love. The rest of them are cheap Chinese drywall, but that house is something special.