Why Is NoVA Housing So Expensive..... (Lake Ridge, Fairfax: for sale, how much, townhouse)

[NovaOne]

Originally Posted by evilnewbie

I have thought about a tear down and build something else but i just can't find the courage to buy a 3500 sq feet house built three years ago and reduce it to rubble... It seems like a waste of money to do something like that...

That's not how you do it. You essentially hunt for a property where the home is no longer acceptable to people who are shopping for homes in that price range and are very costly to renovate to modern standards. This typically means homes that are built in the 70s, 60s, or older.

Someone we know tore down an all brick 3000sqft home built in the 70s with a 3-car garage. People who visited the house for the salvage sale were mostly shocked that "such a nice house is going to be done away with". But with only 2 levels, 8 foot ceilings, and tiny windows, very few people paying over a million for a home wants to actually live in a home like that.

A 3500sqft home built 3 years ago still has a lot of appeal and value. You would be able to find a similar lot in the same neighborhood with an older home for less.

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by evilnewbie

I have thought about a tear down and build something else but i just can't find the courage to buy a 3500 sq feet house built three years ago and reduce it to rubble... It seems like a waste of money to do something like that...

Umm, because THAT would be a waste of money. Who tears down a new home? You tear down an older home that most people don't want. You don't pay for a huge, new home to tear down; you find a cheap, old, run-down home to tear down.

Although, "cheap" is debatable. When we were looking at homes last year, some of the ones we were being shown in our price range were actually being marketed as tear-downs, but we would just be buying the current house with no plans to rebuild.

[xxengineerxx]

Because a lot folks work in DC making top dollars compared to elsewhere...so higher living standard and better school system, i reckon. I will be paying for it soon....this is why I took the job to work in DC...I made like 40% more than I was in Baltimore even though my overall health benefit is cheaper and less on transit costs. By comparing to like HOCO or MOCO, the different is like maybe a couple hundreds a month...so it worth it since I will paying like a few k less taxes

[Fredesch]

One reason you see "empty" land is we have many streams, the areas immediately around the streams is unbuildable. If you look at a map of parks in Fairfax you will notice lots of them are stream valley parks. Fairfax has a goal to preserve 10% of the county as parks, which are a great benefit to the residents. Other empty tracts are federal government facilities like the CIA, Fort Belvoir and Arlington Cemetery. Or historic sites, old forts, battlegrounds Mt Vernon, Great Falls and the list goes on.

[tysonsengineer]

Palo Alto effect

[GustavoFring]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

Palo Alto effect

Minus the good weather and relaxed vibes

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by GustavoFring

Minus the good weather and relaxed vibes

Ha, hey don't get me wrong Palo Alto is a great place to live if you can afford it but ultimately you will see companies moving away from there if the COL remains so high for their employees. At a certain point it simply will not make sense to pay 200k to a low level CS or engineer.

The problem with Palo Alto as I have noted before is there is no entry point. There is extremely limited condo/apartment housing so the prices for those get way jacked up (sound familiar, ie $1900 for a 1br apartment around here). They need a better housing mix which understands that everyone who moves into an area isnt looking for the supposed "american dream" of a house with white picket fences etc. Some people are young, single, and looking to mingle. Some people are small families who like smaller but closer units, etc. The lack of unit mix there leaves little option, and little option means big prices.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

The problem with Palo Alto as I have noted before is there is no entry point. There is extremely limited condo/apartment housing so the prices for those get way jacked up (sound familiar, ie $1900 for a 1br apartment around here). They need a better housing mix which understands that everyone who moves into an area isnt looking for the supposed "american dream" of a house with white picket fences etc. Some people are young, single, and looking to mingle. Some people are small families who like smaller but closer units, etc. The lack of unit mix there leaves little option, and little option means big prices.

Interesting point. How many small studio apartments are being built now in NoVA?

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Interesting point. How many small studio apartments are being built now in NoVA?

Not enough, and sadly politicians too often focus on rent control as a means of market modification as opposed to more diverse unit mix, and often that is because if you tell established home owners that you are going to introduce other options that might bring down their homes value, they flip out and vote you out of office.

I would love to see atleast a thousand more condo units in Tysons by the end of the decade, even though it would personally impact my properties unique value. Overall it would be a good thing for this area, it would sustain a better economy for the area, and therefore in the long run be better for me as well.

[Smoke_Jaguar4]

The height restrictions in DC creates an artificial scarcity that pushes up prices throughout the region. Furthermore NoVA is a "sweet spot" thanks to our high Quality of Life. This is due to the unusual conditions where our local governments tend to be liberal kept in check by a more conservative state government (you usually see the opposite).