Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Potomac is going to make a comeback within the next few years. You don't get much for your money in Bethesda and you have construction going on around you with all of the tear downs and new builds. The houses built within the last 10 years are all cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style. My Bethesda search has been disappointing.

The "cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style" houses in good locations like Bethesda with more modern features will continue to have a big advantage over cookie-cutter Colonials with giant foyers and two-story living rooms built in the 80s in car-dependent places like Potomac.

Most homes in Potomac do not include giant foyers and two-story living rooms, let's keep broad generalizations out of this. And the advantage of one over another is in the eyes of the person making the purchase and using the house. I agree that side-by-side appreciation of Bethesda vs Potomac will likely always favor Bethesda, but consider the math. If Potomac appreciates at 1% per year, and Bethesda at 3% even, but it costs 15%-20% more for the same house in Bethesda, then the math might favor the Potomac location. After all, if you invest whatever you save by living in Potomac, that return will more than offset the difference in appreciation.

It's not as straightforward as one versus the other. And that is even before the more micro conversation of one neighborhood's value vs another. There are some Potomac neighborhoods that appreciate as quickly as Bethesda ones.

Anonymous wrote:I think Potomac is going to make a comeback within the next few years. You don't get much for your money in Bethesda and you have construction going on around you with all of the tear downs and new builds. The houses built within the last 10 years are all cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style. My Bethesda search has been disappointing.

The "cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style" houses in good locations like Bethesda with more modern features will continue to have a big advantage over cookie-cutter Colonials with giant foyers and two-story living rooms built in the 80s in car-dependent places like Potomac.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Potomac is going to make a comeback within the next few years. You don't get much for your money in Bethesda and you have construction going on around you with all of the tear downs and new builds. The houses built within the last 10 years are all cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style. My Bethesda search has been disappointing.

Why would a further out area be making a comeback, when commute times are only increasing over time? I’m sorry, but sounds like wishful thinking.

A lot of people have the ability to or work from home full time. Commutes aren't as important as they used to be.

Some people may work from home, sure, but they are still the minority. The biggest jobs centers are still in or close to downtown. Which is why appreciation is healthy closer in but slower further out in places like Potomac.

Bethesda sucks as no parking and a lot of Bethesda is not walking distance from metro or Bethesda Row anyhow yet you pay a big premium.

And Potomac downfall a long drive from DC only issue is not everyone works in DC. Rockville and Bethesda has tons of jobs and VA.

Anonymous wrote:I think Potomac is going to make a comeback within the next few years. You don't get much for your money in Bethesda and you have construction going on around you with all of the tear downs and new builds. The houses built within the last 10 years are all cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style. My Bethesda search has been disappointing.

Tear down activity will eventually end in Bethesda. We live there, and some streets are now 90% tear downs. Nothing left to tear down really. The remaining homes were older ones that had large additions.

Look at Aberdeen Road between Wilson and Bradley, a popular cut-through. What's left? Maybe 4 houses not teardowns?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think tastes have changed. Many of the folks I know who would have wanted Potomac in the early 2000s want NWDC now. I even lived in Chevy Chase back then. Now I live in NEDC. There really was something about the allure of it. I dine out a lot more these days as my kids have gotten older. Back then I was at Biglaw with small kids. Now, the thought of the suburbs makes me crazy.

I get it though.

You get that enough of the poor people in NE got pushed out that you can comfortably live there now?

Unlike Avenel, UMC tone-deafness never goes out of style.

Eh. Cities aren't static places. No one is crying because Potomac isn't quite as desirable because people understand places and communities change. No one "owns" a neighborhood. For the same reasons no one (well, most of us) aren't crying if poor people are being pushed out of NE. That's just the nature of cities.

It's pretty amazing, but Avenel has really not appreciated in value in almost 30 years. We looked at Avenel when it was first being built, and I just checked out some of the listings on Zillow. There's a row house on the 18th green that is selling for pretty much what it was selling for in 1988-89ish. I remember because $1 million for a row house in Potomac seemed nuts to me (even now, but especially back then!). A single family home that we looked at (or one that is virtually identical) was selling for around $850 and is now on the market for $1.1. We didn't buy there because we didn't want the commute and it seemed to me that the houses were overpriced. Back then, the houses were shiny new and on-trend, but those vaulted living rooms look pretty dated now (and that's not a cheap fix).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never thought I would consider Avenel but I can't find anything with a decent sized lot and a decent looking neighborhood in our price range. I've looked at a few and yes, you have to put in a few 100K to update it. Most people have done nothing to update over the years. We're considering but I hope more Bethesda homes come up in the next few weeks. This thread is making me rethink Avenel.

I'm curious what you mean about updating. Being in-vogue or simply replacing broken/old appliances?

I just want it not to look like 1986. I don't want peach wallpaper, terra cotta floors, and track lighting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Potomac is going to make a comeback within the next few years. You don't get much for your money in Bethesda and you have construction going on around you with all of the tear downs and new builds. The houses built within the last 10 years are all cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style. My Bethesda search has been disappointing.

Why would a further out area be making a comeback, when commute times are only increasing over time? I’m sorry, but sounds like wishful thinking.

A lot of people have the ability to or work from home full time. Commutes aren't as important as they used to be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think tastes have changed. Many of the folks I know who would have wanted Potomac in the early 2000s want NWDC now. I even lived in Chevy Chase back then. Now I live in NEDC. There really was something about the allure of it. I dine out a lot more these days as my kids have gotten older. Back then I was at Biglaw with small kids. Now, the thought of the suburbs makes me crazy.

I get it though.

You get that enough of the poor people in NE got pushed out that you can comfortably live there now?

Unlike Avenel, UMC tone-deafness never goes out of style.

You make assumptions. My first house was in NE when I was newly married with a baby and in law school. We were not balling back then. I loved the people. That's why after my divorce, I moved back to Brookland. Not because I was pushing people out, but I missed the community. I'm not some newbie who saw a great deal. I came to be a part of the community, not take it over.

Anonymous wrote:I never thought I would consider Avenel but I can't find anything with a decent sized lot and a decent looking neighborhood in our price range. I've looked at a few and yes, you have to put in a few 100K to update it. Most people have done nothing to update over the years. We're considering but I hope more Bethesda homes come up in the next few weeks. This thread is making me rethink Avenel.

I'm curious what you mean about updating. Being in-vogue or simply replacing broken/old appliances?

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the feedback. The commute to downtown isn't an issue for us as we both work in the suburbs (Tysons and Rockville).

The only comments that are concerning to me are the ones about lack of kids. We have two little ones and definitely want to be in a place with lots of other young families. I'm particularly interested in some houses in the Eagle Ridge area- anyone live there and can provide some info on percentages of young families there?

Please understand that the forum bottom feeders always think that everyone works in DC. I constantly get "why on EARTH would you live in Great Falls? The commute must be brutal!" Um, because we work in Tysons and the Dulles corridor?

Anonymous wrote:I think Potomac is going to make a comeback within the next few years. You don't get much for your money in Bethesda and you have construction going on around you with all of the tear downs and new builds. The houses built within the last 10 years are all cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style. My Bethesda search has been disappointing.

Why would a further out area be making a comeback, when commute times are only increasing over time? I’m sorry, but sounds like wishful thinking.

Anonymous wrote:I think Potomac is going to make a comeback within the next few years. You don't get much for your money in Bethesda and you have construction going on around you with all of the tear downs and new builds. The houses built within the last 10 years are all cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style. My Bethesda search has been disappointing.

not if the school system implodes

I think Potomac is going to make a comeback within the next few years. You don't get much for your money in Bethesda and you have construction going on around you with all of the tear downs and new builds. The houses built within the last 10 years are all cookie cutter, faux craftsmen style. My Bethesda search has been disappointing.