Hyattsville Arts District Townhomes vs. Mount Rainier Real House (Baltimore: schools, college)

[NOVA Girl]

Don't forget to look in University Park. A fair number of single-family homes sold there last year that were in the low 400s. I use the website franklymls.com to find sold homes. The town sits between two Metro stops and supposedly has a top-notch elementary school. The houses sit on fairly large lots and many of them have garages. Every time we go there to an open house, we see kids playing in their front yards.

[Matt2789]

Originally Posted by LauraMM

We weren't overly impressed with any of the Mount Rainier homes in our price range, so I'm thinking we might just have to wait a bit or look elsewhere!

This completely renovated 3 bed, 2 story, large yard, 1,200 sq. ft. SFH in Mt. Rainier is a the bottom end of your price range ($359K) and is only 1 block from DC. I understand and respect if it doesn't impress you as all our tastes are all very different. There are a number of similar houses for sale in this area. Maybe you didn't like the feel of the neighborhood? Thats understandable as it is still a bit "rough around the edges" but from having lived here I can assure you there is a great community of friendly people. Mt. Rainier is not for everyone but I am yet to find a neighborhood that is as safe, close to DC (it is impossible to get closer without actually being in DC!) and affordable. Best of luck to you on your search!


3809 33rd St, Mount Rainier, MD 20712 is For Sale - Zillow

[LauraMM]

We did like that one! It is a gorgeous renovation. But although it's described as a 3 bedroom house, it's more like 2.5 bedrooms. I had a hard time imagining using the smaller bedroom as anything other than a nursery, and since we'll probably have our second child in another 1.5-2 years, that would put us looking for another house in about 3 years--too soon!

[LauraMM]

(Which probably also means that we need a house a little larger than I originally thought--maybe 1500+ sq ft instead of 1200+.)

[afer1500]

Originally Posted by LauraMM

We did like that one! It is a gorgeous renovation. But although it's described as a 3 bedroom house, it's more like 2.5 bedrooms. I had a hard time imagining using the smaller bedroom as anything other than a nursery, and since we'll probably have our second child in another 1.5-2 years, that would put us looking for another house in about 3 years--too soon!

That's funny, we looked at the same one. The house is nice and all but 359K is very high for the neighborhood. There's a reason the home has been on the market for almost 3 months. Also, the basement floods/leaks near the washing machine. Like OP said 3rd room is tiny.

A TH just went up on Redfin. It's an EYA build, absolutely beautiful- save for the carpets. But it's listed at 430k~. That's just nuts. No way am I paying 430k for a TH.

[LauraMM]

The Pulte homes are cheaper by far. We saw both the EYA and the Pulte homes in person, and I don't really understand why the Pulte ones are so much cheaper. If you're interested, definitely check out Pulte!

[afer1500]

My understanding is that the Pulte homes start with a far lesser finish, while the EYE homes are baseline with HWF, Granite counter tops, stainless steel appliance, etc. These are examples but the general idea is this.

[Curbed Enthusiasm]

Originally Posted by afer1500

My understanding is that the Pulte homes start with a far lesser finish, while the EYE homes are baseline with HWF, Granite counter tops, stainless steel appliance, etc. These are examples but the general idea is this.

I toured both developments and spoke in great length with a nice guy from EYA. The EYA homes have much higher standard finishes, whereas many of those finishes would be upgrades at Pulte. But both were very nice. Had they been walking distance to the metro I would have bought one in a heartbeat.

[PurpleHaze1100]

Arts District

[Mr Beco]

Looks like they are almost sold out there.