Montgomery County - good areas/zipcodes

[handy man88]

Originally Posted by lscalder

Maybe you never purchased a home in Bowie or pay property tax in Bowie.
I was about to purchased a home in the older community in the 500k because the new community was too expensive and the property tax was 8k a yr which means my property tax on a 500k home is 666 dollars a month which does not include Principal/interest or hazard so for many or a single mother that is expensive and this home was built in the late 70's early 80's.

What are you talking about?

I've said all along that I used to live in a new community in Bowie, but finally got out.

My house in Bowie was bigger than my current FFX house, lower in tax value by over 1.75x, and the difference in tax between PG and FFX is only about $1000.

PG taxes are just way too high and you don't get the bang for the buck in schools, services, shopping, etc.

Nevermind taxes, the home and car insurance is much higher also, and most white collar professionals in PG have a killer commute to drive to MC, DC, HC, or FFX to their jobs.

Again, I provided you listings of homes, not in foreclosure, that are in the 250-350k range for Bowie. You won't find the same kind of home for the same price in CC/B.

[lscalder]

Sweet heart please got back to those listings. They are Bank owed. They are either short sale/foreclosure or bank owed which does not hold any weight.

When ever an appraiser is doing an appraisal they use short sale/Bank owed or foreclosure as comparable because any properties sold as short sale/bank owed or foreclosure always sell for then then the community and does not give nay true weight on the community home values.

Do you understand real estate. Just you own a home does not make you an expertise. I am telling you facts. These properties for sale does not give any one the true value of the community. If these homes are selling in the $300's as short sale/Foreclosure or Bank owe that means homes in the community are worth much more.

[TrippingJay]

Originally Posted by lscalder

Sweet heart please got back to those listings. They are Bank owed. They are either short sale/foreclosure or bank owed which does not hold any weight.

When ever an appraiser is doing an appraisal they use short sale/Bank owed or foreclosure as comparable because any properties sold as short sale/bank owed or foreclosure always sell for then then the community and does not give nay true weight on the community home values.

Do you understand real estate. Just you own a home does not make you an expertise. I am telling you facts. These properties for sale does not give any one the true value of the community. If these homes are selling in the $300's as short sale/Foreclosure or Bank owe that means homes in the community are worth much more.

Sorry lscalder, but short sales and foreclosure DO have a large impact on the overall area because it brings down the comparables in the area down. Even if a seller owns his own home, if there are short sells and foreclosures in his community, these will still be his competition.

As for Bowie, you can definately find single family homes in the $350K range that are not short sales or foreclosures. Prices have come down in the area and I would imagine that they still have a ways to come down further. You can even find single family homes in Springfield, VA and Silver Spring, MD in the $350k.

[TrippingJay]

Getting back on topic, in MoCo there is a difference between North and South county. In north county, $300-$350K is likely to buy a townhouse in Germantown, Gaithersburg, or Olney. Whereas in south county, you can find a small single family house in Wheaton, Rockville or Silver Spring.

Each neighborhood is different, so it's bit hard to rule out by zip code, but some areas to avoid are:

355 in Gaithersburg-20877, the General vicinity around Lakeforest Mall-20866

Cinnamon Woods in Germantown-20874 and Brandermill and Fox Chapel-20876

Silver Spring/Wheaton- the area around Glenmont Metro and some neighborhoods north of Randolph Avenue.

[baktoorigin]

Thanks a lot TripingJay for getting us back to the topic.
BO

[jsdory]

Check out homesdatabase.com - Click on Maryland, Click on Montgomery,Specify a home type and price range - then you can select all the zipcodes at your hearts content.

In the 20910 area - you CAN find a condo ... just not anything more than a one bedroom for less than 300.. its just slim pickings

20878 - is where I live - its nice - but i think its a bit far out... it really depends on how far you are from I 270.

Bethesda - and POtomac are obviously great areas - Potomac is pure single family - residential - homes averaging six figures ... bethesda not too far from that ...

Check out the White Flint Area - Its rapidly developing.. TONS of condos .. and on the metro.

[Marilyn Emery]

With current housing prices, there are a lot of places where you can get a diverse neighborhood, close to (in some cases even walking distance) metro and shopping with decent schools (maybe not award winning) for under 350K. One area that comes to mind is the 20850 section of Rockville or parts of kensington 20895.