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Are there pockets of the city that are safe/walkable where a couple in their 40's with no kids can find a home under $500K? We prefer to not live in a condo, but a single-family or townhome/rowhome.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say "No." Give me a sec, I will give you some data on sales/listing prices in more established and gentrifying/transitional neighborhoods. The bottom line is that there's a shortage of supply and a lot of demand. And you know what that means.
These are listings. Starting with Shaw. Prices will obviously vary by condition, size and location (a house directly off Georgia will list for less than a house on a quiet side street).
The last house is nice, but it sits directly on North Cap, which is a busy, impersonal street. The other houses are of varying quality...some nice, one's a shell. Let's go across the street to Eckington.
The final house doesn't have any pictures, which means it's likely a dump, especially at that price. It also sits on Florida Avenue, which is reflected in the lower price as well.
Trinidad is the last "bargain" for a fee simple rowhouse west of the Anacostia River. That house listed at $499K seems underpriced; the price will likely get bid up.
As much as I would like to tell you these homes are overpriced and won't get anything close to what they're asking, I can't. I was reading some report saying that the average house in DC stays on the market for less than two months, which is considered a "seller's market." I'm sure the sell time is even faster in choice neighborhoods. A few may be overpriced, but for the most part, I think most of them will fetch close to the list price.
Are you only interested in DC-proper? You can get easily get a nice single-family home in PG county in your price range. PG gets a bad rep, but it is large, and there are some really nice cities. It's affordable and you can easily commute to DC from most parts. I'm familiar with areas like Bowie and Ft. Washington. Bowie is very diverse. Ft. Washington is majority African American (if that matters to you). They have nice SFHs with nice lawns and everything. I'm not sure about the school system, but you said you don't have kids so that wouldn't be an issue.
I'm always surprised how people always talk about how expensive the DC area is, and never consider PG county, which is very affordable and so close to DC. Despite the bad reputation it gets for some spots, there are nice parts of the county.
I only see two listings in Takoma. One is an $869K SFH. The other is a $450K condo/townhome that's supposedly 1,938 sq. ft. I'm highly skeptical of that claim...it looks way too small. I need to see that to believe it.
Takoma is a beautiful neighborhood, but there aren't many opportunities to buy there.
I only see two listings in Takoma. One is an $869K SFH. The other is a $450K condo/townhome that's supposedly 1,938 sq. ft. I'm highly skeptical of that claim...it looks way too small. I need to see that to believe it.
Takoma is a beautiful neighborhood, but there aren't many opportunities to buy there.
Being familiar with the Takoma neighborhood the one for $450k is indeed townhome, not a condo, and it is in fact 1938 sq ft. All of the townhomes in that development are that size. The listing is accurate. It is far bigger than it looks from the pictures online from being in the inside. The outside's minimalism makes it a bit deceptive, a quirk of late modern design. I have been to open houses with both the condos and townhomes houses in this development. The condos are okay, but the townhomes are really nice. While it is not as big as the large Victorians in Takoma, it is still big by DC standards, especially for a rowhome/townhome/duoplex. This house though has a really good location too if one wants good transit access/amenities as well.
I forwarded this listing to them, I have been aware of this listing for some time. I try to keep an eye on listings below $500k for houses, row homes, and townhomes with good metro access, because they are becoming fewer in number, as you observed yourself. This is one of the nicer ones posted though, especially considering the neighborhood and location. This may be the fault of the listing agent though more than anything. It's surprising it has been on the market for nearly six months.
I think what may scare people away is the association dues attached to the house since it is in a townhome and condo community, but if somebody does not like yardwork that may be a good thing.
I agree with you, not much goes on sale in Takoma, but it is like one of the few neighborhoods I see houses below $500k. The townhomes, douplexes, mid-modern bungalows, all go for that when they come up, but they do not come up often. I guess though this would be a good place to start for this couple.
With regards to PG county, considering they do not have kids, that is not a bad idea either, the one problem is much of PG you need a car, and I am catching onto the fact they want a walkable neighborhood with good transit access. A townhome a half mile from the red line seems perfect. PG's problem is poor design near metro stations and the lack of walkable neighborhoods. It's kind of what holds it back. PG suffers from widespread bad design.
Silver Spring and Takoma Park may not be a bad place to look, if you can find something near the metro.
Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your feedback.
We would consider PG county, but thought the same as what DistrictSonic commented--that we'd need to rely on a car most of the time to get anywhere. I took a peek at the Hyattsville Arts District, but by the time you take into account taxes and HOAs, it was over our budget.
@DistrictSonic, I did take note of the really high HOA at the Takoma townhome. I was going to look further into what the fees include. I'll also look closer into Silver Spring--I used to work there and never was a fan of the area, but that was years ago. I figured Takoma Park is out of our price range. We are also looking at downtown Frederick.
@DistrictSonic, I did take note of the really high HOA at the Takoma townhome. I was going to look further into what the fees include. I'll also look closer into Silver Spring--I used to work there and never was a fan of the area, but that was years ago. I figured Takoma Park is out of our price range. We are also looking at downtown Frederick.
For a townhome community this is actually pretty normal HOA, $200-$400 is typical for a townhome, this is nationally. In DC though they actually tend to skew higher than this for HOA fees, so the fact this is within the national average is surprising.
Again being familiar with this development, this townhome HOA will cover the exterior structure (the brick exterior and the roof), yardwork, trash pickup, snow removal (this includes shoveling sidewalks), insurance on the structure (not what's inside the house, such as your stuff, but the frame and building itself), etc. Townhomes have lower insurance costs for the home is covered under the shared policy. When you start to add in these costs, it starts make more sense, especially since roof repairs and replacement are supposed to be covered by the association in this case. I don't think many people get the difference between the HOA fee between a townhome community and a single family home community. So they see the higher HOA fees and shy away. The fact the townhome community it covers the structure itself, and yard maintaince. Where with a SFH, you are responsible for maintaining both, and HOA fees maybe just cover roads and ammenities. Again this varies from townhome HOA, to townhome HOA, but in these mixed townhome/condo communities more is usually covered because they are under a single association and rules.
isn't trinidad the hood? 500k+ for the hood seems damn expensive
Trinidad has been changing a great deal in the last few years, especially in the southern part of the neighborhood. It is now undergoing rapid gentrification, there have been houses listed there for $800k that have sold. Because many of the residents were renters, instead of owners, in the houses there it is has lead to gentrification sweeping in very quickly compared to other residential neighborhoods in DC.
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