Info on Columbia/Ellicott City - Will Be Purchasing Home Within 30 Days (Elkridge: work)

[newhart]

I did a search on the listings as well, and there seems to be quite a bit in your price range that look to be in decent areas. And yes, the prices are coming down.

Good Luck!

[starr71]

Things are moving right along.. I've narrowed it down to four properties in EC/Columbia. The Columbia areas are: Cradlerock, Longreach, and Kendall Ridge. Any info on those areas?? I'm going to look on Saturday.

[ChosenGSR]

Is Longreach any good? I might be mistaken but I heard some bad comments in the past.

[jessy0780]

Originally Posted by starr71

jessy, I've come across quite a few in that price range. I'm also thinking that some sellers with homes listed over $350K will be motivated to accept a lower contract if their house has been sitting for months. Some have been out there for 6 months or more.

That's definitely possible- keep in mind, the lowest priced ones will be in the least desirable neighborhoods. Where is the one in EC that you're considering?

[starr71]

jessy, I'm not using price as my sole discriminator. I'm looking for these things: gas heat, garage, fenced back yard (or at least the ability to put up a fence). The four that I'm looking at are all in the $360K - $390K range. I'd like to be at or around $350K, so I'll have to see where I get with negotiating after I've seen the properties. The property in EC is in Brightfield.

I picked these four properties because they appear to have everything I want in them. There are 10 other properties in the EC/Columbia area that also have gas heat and garages, but they don't have fences (or at least I can't tell from the listings). These are in my "second tier" group if I'm not happy with the "first tier" that I'll see first. The price range on these is much wider, $330K - $400K. The Columbia properties are in King's Contrivance, Longreach, The Gables, and Hickory Ridge. The EC properties are in Woodland Village, Howard's Ridge, and Papillon.

[newhart]

Of the ones you mentioned, Cradlerock might be my last choice. Although the area is attractive, it's leafy and the proximity to Lake Elkhorn makes it a good walking location, it would probably be the most expensive property on that side of Cradlerock, in an area of many older and less appealing townhomes crowded together. Also, it is districted for the Cradlerock school which wouldn't do anything to increase the value of the property. It it were me, safety concerns about the general area would be an issue.

From your second tier, there's no ambiance to Howard's Ridge. The access road for the community is off of Rt. 40 and is the same one used for the Walmart, Super Fresh and an unoccupied grocery store. There's no place else to walk outside of the development, which to me looks very congested and has a lot of cars parked along the curbs. But the homes are pretty new and could be very nice inside. Although Papillon overlooks Rt. 29, it has a prettier look and I find it more appealing. It's smaller development and has attracted a lot of Asian families who want to be in a certain school district. But again, I don't think that section of Frederick Rd is walker friendly. And I think the road noise can be a problem in certain areas. Woodland Village has been around a long time and there might be a lot of renters there. I wonder if there's a way to check that out.

I like Hickory Ridge and Kings Contrivance but I don't know where these properties would be.

[starr71]

Thanks for the info! This is very helpful! Yeah, I drove through Papillon, and was also concerned about it's proximity to Rt. 29. It seemed kind of disconnected from stores, shopping, etc. Just kind of hanging out there by itself.

[starr71]

newhart, I am curious about the school(s) in Cradlerock. Are you talking about Oakland Mills? I don't have any children, but may have some in the future. What's wrong with the school(s) in Cradlerock? Safety is also a concern for me, but I'm not sure I understand the correlation of the school(s) to safety?

[newhart]

Originally Posted by starr71

newhart, I am curious about the school(s) in Cradlerock. Are you talking about Oakland Mills? I don't have any children, but may have some in the future. What's wrong with the school(s) in Cradlerock? Safety is also a concern for me, but I'm not sure I understand the correlation of the school(s) to safety?

Sorry, the safety comment was an afterthought and has nothing to do with the school. It was more about the neighborhood because of it's proximity to the village center and some questionable areas. I'll try and dig up something on the school and get back to you.

edited: starr71, I was hoping to find an article explaining why the elementary and middle schools were merged a few years ago to form the Cradlerock School, but couldn't come up with anything quickly. I'll just say it's not one of the higher performing schools in the county, but that's true for most of the schools in older areas with an abundance of apartments and townhouses. It's the demographics. If you want to know something about a particular school, the school system has very complete information online. You can go to the Howard County Public School System and click on "schools" on the left banner and there's profile information for every school in the county. In addition to having information on test scores, under Fast Facts for that school you can find statistics such as the percentage of students getting free & reduced lunches. This might give you an idea of what to expect.

[jessy0780]

Originally Posted by starr71

jessy, I'm not using price as my sole discriminator. I'm looking for these things: gas heat, garage, fenced back yard (or at least the ability to put up a fence). The four that I'm looking at are all in the $360K - $390K range. I'd like to be at or around $350K, so I'll have to see where I get with negotiating after I've seen the properties. The property in EC is in Brightfield.

I picked these four properties because they appear to have everything I want in them. There are 10 other properties in the EC/Columbia area that also have gas heat and garages, but they don't have fences (or at least I can't tell from the listings). These are in my "second tier" group if I'm not happy with the "first tier" that I'll see first. The price range on these is much wider, $330K - $400K. The Columbia properties are in King's Contrivance, Longreach, The Gables, and Hickory Ridge. The EC properties are in Woodland Village, Howard's Ridge, and Papillon.

I thought maybe it was Brightfield- my brother-in-law lives there. We looked at a few homes there when we were looking 2 years ago, but when we saw the neighborhood we're in now, we decided that it was better for us. There is a nice mix of townhomes in Brightfield- a lot of different styles and an excellent location. The neighborhood we setteld on is actually just across 103 from Brightfield- it's really nice to have everything so close at hand- you don't have to drive more than a few mintues to get to pretty much anything you need.