Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Maryland > Baltimore
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-11-2015, 10:56 PM
 
Location: B'More
179 posts, read 356,364 times
Reputation: 147

Advertisements

After reviewing over a THOUSAND homes on Redfin, and narrowing down to 60 homes a week prior to the visit, and then down to 24 homes when we actually flew in for the house hunting trip, we ended up (drum roll)....in Bel Air. The final straw was the fact that nothing between Sparks & Towson seemed reasonable for the size/cost, and the few places described as "stunning rehab" were disappointments when we actually saw it in person.

I did the commute drive a few times on the back roads - it wasn't too bad at 35 minutes each way from Bel Air to Hunt Valley, about 5 to 7 minutes more than my commute now.

MrRational might be disappointed but my wife is happy with a house that is built to her exacting standards, and we all know that if the wife is happy, the husband is happy
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-12-2015, 06:18 AM
 
850 posts, read 1,132,587 times
Reputation: 387
Quote:
Originally Posted by casualsurfer View Post
After reviewing over a THOUSAND homes on Redfin, and narrowing down to 60 homes a week prior to the visit, and then down to 24 homes when we actually flew in for the house hunting trip, we ended up (drum roll)....in Bel Air. The final straw was the fact that nothing between Sparks & Towson seemed reasonable for the size/cost, and the few places described as "stunning rehab" were disappointments when we actually saw it in person.

I did the commute drive a few times on the back roads - it wasn't too bad at 35 minutes each way from Bel Air to Hunt Valley, about 5 to 7 minutes more than my commute now.

MrRational might be disappointed but my wife is happy with a house that is built to her exacting standards, and we all know that if the wife is happy, the husband is happy
Bel Air, MD?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-12-2015, 06:21 AM
 
926 posts, read 1,256,633 times
Reputation: 1785
Quote:
Originally Posted by casualsurfer View Post
After reviewing over a THOUSAND homes on Redfin, and narrowing down to 60 homes a week prior to the visit, and then down to 24 homes when we actually flew in for the house hunting trip, we ended up (drum roll)....in Bel Air. The final straw was the fact that nothing between Sparks & Towson seemed reasonable for the size/cost, and the few places described as "stunning rehab" were disappointments when we actually saw it in person.

I did the commute drive a few times on the back roads - it wasn't too bad at 35 minutes each way from Bel Air to Hunt Valley, about 5 to 7 minutes more than my commute now.

MrRational might be disappointed but my wife is happy with a house that is built to her exacting standards, and we all know that if the wife is happy, the husband is happy

Was this (back road) commute done during rush hours, i.e. 7am-9am?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-12-2015, 08:48 AM
 
Location: The Triad
34,092 posts, read 83,000,140 times
Reputation: 43666
Quote:
Originally Posted by casualsurfer View Post
...nothing between Sparks & Towson seemed reasonable for the size/cost
Had anyone said they were supposed to be?

The whole area is overpriced because of location:demand density.
Very much like West Los Angeles or the NYC suburbs.

Quote:
...my wife is happy with a house that is built to her exacting standards,
and we all know that if the wife is happy, the husband is happy
That certainly counts for a lot.

Quote:
I did the commute drive a few times on the back roads - it wasn't too bad...
What time of day/weather?

Enjoy the new home in good health and best of everything with the new job.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-12-2015, 09:12 AM
 
850 posts, read 1,132,587 times
Reputation: 387
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational View Post
Had anyone said they were supposed to be?

The whole area is overpriced because of location:demand density.
Very much like West Los Angeles or the NYC suburbs.


That certainly counts for a lot.


What time of day/weather?

Enjoy the new home in good health and best of everything with the new job.
HOLD ON A SECOND HERE.

This person decided not to move to Baltimore, or even a Suburb of Baltimore County. Now you are picking apart his/her reasons?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-12-2015, 09:32 AM
 
Location: The Triad
34,092 posts, read 83,000,140 times
Reputation: 43666
Quote:
Originally Posted by steppinthrax View Post
This person decided not to move to Baltimore, or even a Suburb of Baltimore County.
Now you are picking apart his/her reasons?
Nope.

Read the first threads.
The increment in housing costs to live in the Hunt Valley Corridor is the issue.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-12-2015, 09:45 AM
 
6,319 posts, read 10,348,792 times
Reputation: 3835
There are definitely worse commutes than Bel Air to Hunt Valley. May be annoying sometimes but at least you don't have to deal with 95/695/tunnels
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-12-2015, 01:20 PM
 
Location: Columbia, MD
553 posts, read 1,707,732 times
Reputation: 400
Quote:
Originally Posted by casualsurfer View Post
After reviewing over a THOUSAND homes on Redfin, and narrowing down to 60 homes a week prior to the visit, and then down to 24 homes when we actually flew in for the house hunting trip, we ended up (drum roll)....in Bel Air. The final straw was the fact that nothing between Sparks & Towson seemed reasonable for the size/cost, and the few places described as "stunning rehab" were disappointments when we actually saw it in person.

I did the commute drive a few times on the back roads - it wasn't too bad at 35 minutes each way from Bel Air to Hunt Valley, about 5 to 7 minutes more than my commute now.

MrRational might be disappointed but my wife is happy with a house that is built to her exacting standards, and we all know that if the wife is happy, the husband is happy
That's not a bad commute nor should it get materially worse...however...you get what you pay for.

Your savings is being paid for at the expense of public schools. If you plan on sending your kids to private school, no problem. But if you don't, you're quite possibly going to end up paying more than if you'd lived closer to work.

I live in the area you passed over, and I have to send my oldest to a private school because he has special needs. More than 50% of his classmates live in Bel Air, and it's not a coincidence.

The drop-off between Harford and BC in public education is huge, and the data validates it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-12-2015, 01:27 PM
 
2,483 posts, read 2,476,223 times
Reputation: 3353
The important thing here is that you conducted your search the right way. You came here, looked around the properties, internalized their respective neighborhoods, simulated your daily work commute, and assessed your own 'value' of each with respect to these attributes. Then, with all of that firsthand knowledge, you chose the property that satisfied both your budget constraint and gave you the best value for the price. We should almost make this thread a sticky.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2015, 09:05 AM
 
6,129 posts, read 6,813,090 times
Reputation: 10821
Congratulations! Hope you enjoy your new home and new neighbors!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Maryland > Baltimore

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:50 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top