6 months after buying a house in Clinton (update) (Rockville, Fort Washington: foreclosures, car insurance)

[mdfrommw7]

Hello Everyone,

I recently purchased a home in Fox Run Estates in Clinton. I figured I share my experience thus far regarding the good and the bad.

THE GOOD

1) Most of my neighbors are retired and the neighborhood is quiet.
2) I got triple the house I could have obtained in NOVA or Rockville for the same price
3) 5 miles from the DC beltway/branch avenue station
4) 5 miles from Waldorf/Brandywine
5) Far less traffic vs I-66 (aka 666) if I would have bought in NOVA
6) I've experienced no crime nor have my neighbors and they have been here for 20 years
7) I haven't seen the police in my neighborhood at all (with the exception of the cop who lives up the street)

THE BAD
1) This may be everywhere but good grief there are still a ton of foreclosures hitting the market . How low can it go?
2) If you are looking for diversity Clinton is not Diverse. I don't really care so it's not bad for me but might be if you are looking for a melting pot of cultures
3) For a really nice shopping experience you have to go 10 minutes south to Waldorf. They do have a few places (Safeway, walmart, shoppers, etc) but most of the nicer stores are 10 miles away
4) The schools are extremely old and look run down. I don't have kids but went to vote at one of the elementary schools. The school buildings seem to be a last priority in this area.
5) Terrible driving on Branch Avenue. I suppose this is true for most of Maryland but I've never seen so much dangerous driving vs what I've seen on Branch Avenue.
6) Higher property taxes. The tax money sure isn't going to build new schools. In light of the recent corruption I hope things will turn around.

Overall I'm happy but unless the schools are renovated I will definitely not live here if I have kids that are going into elementary school.

[tonyc]

Congrats!

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by mdfrommw7

Hello Everyone,

I recently purchased a home in Fox Run Estates in Clinton. I figured I share my experience thus far regarding the good and the bad.

THE GOOD

1) Most of my neighbors are retired and the neighborhood is quiet.
2) I got triple the house I could have obtained in NOVA or Rockville for the same price
3) 5 miles from the DC beltway/branch avenue station
4) 5 miles from Waldorf/Brandywine
5) Far less traffic vs I-66 (aka 666) if I would have bought in NOVA
6) I've experienced no crime nor have my neighbors and they have been here for 20 years
7) I haven't seen the police in my neighborhood at all (with the exception of the cop who lives up the street)

THE BAD
1) This may be everywhere but good grief there are still a ton of foreclosures hitting the market . How low can it go?
2) If you are looking for diversity Clinton is not Diverse. I don't really care so it's not bad for me but might be if you are looking for a melting pot of cultures
3) For a really nice shopping experience you have to go 10 minutes south to Waldorf. They do have a few places (Safeway, walmart, shoppers, etc) but most of the nicer stores are 10 miles away
4) The schools are extremely old and look run down. I don't have kids but went to vote at one of the elementary schools. The school buildings seem to be a last priority in this area.
5) Terrible driving on Branch Avenue. I suppose this is true for most of Maryland but I've never seen so much dangerous driving vs what I've seen on Branch Avenue.
6) Higher property taxes. The tax money sure isn't going to build new schools. In light of the recent corruption I hope things will turn around.

Overall I'm happy but unless the schools are renovated I will definitely not live here if I have kids that are going into elementary school.

Branch Avenue is dangerous especially coming off the Beltway. I'm lucky that I live off the first exit so don't have to merge. I've seen several accidents in that vicinity and I believe there was a fatality when they were building the new ramp. Also drivers are very aggressive just let them have their way it simply isn't worth it. There was a road rage incident a few years ago in Clinton resulting in a fatality so be careful.

[bowian]

Thanks for the update. It sounds like a great choice for you. Too bad about the condition of the school buildings.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by mdfrommw7

Hello Everyone,

I recently purchased a home in Fox Run Estates in Clinton. I figured I share my experience thus far regarding the good and the bad.
...

5) Far less traffic vs I-66 (aka 666) if I would have bought in NOVA

Anything is better than I-66. That is definitely a big plus to living in Clinton though

Originally Posted by mdfrommw7

3) For a really nice shopping experience you have to go 10 minutes south to Waldorf. They do have a few places (Safeway, walmart, shoppers, etc) but most of the nicer stores are 10 miles away

I'm a little confused because I can't think of a grocery store that's in Waldorf that's not in Clinton. Seem like this part of MD has the same 4 grocery stores and little variety.

Originally Posted by mdfrommw7

4) The schools are extremely old and look run down. I don't have kids but went to vote at one of the elementary schools. The school buildings seem to be a last priority in this area.

Most of the schools in the southern part of the county are like this. A lot of the schools in Brandywine/Accokeek/Fort Washington have the same issue. It's really sad.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying yourself there. Clinton is a nice area and it's close to a lot of major roads so you have an easy time getting around.

[TechlawyerinPG]

[quote=meatkins;17791978]Anything is better than I-66. That is definitely a big plus to living in Clinton though


Congrats on having an open mind and finding a bargain that works for you. I hope it only gets better with time.
I-66 and 270 and American Legion bridge are two areas I would never desire to commute on to/from work. I toyed with considering MoCo but as I see the traffic to/from there to my job in the Dulles area I have changed my mind about MoCo completely. Hubby just got a new job in NoVa also (in lieu of DC which is where we both used to work) so now we will both be working in NoVa so it looks like I will be heading back to NoVa (inside or near 495 avoiding 66) if we decide to leave Ft. Wash.

[dmvviadetroit]

Cool - so I guess overall you like it and are happy? What about car insurance prices?

[GoPhils]

Originally Posted by meatkins

I'm a little confused because I can't think of a grocery store that's in Waldorf that's not in Clinton. Seem like this part of MD has the same 4 grocery stores and little variety.

As you probably know, not all Safeways and Giants are created equal. I go into a lot of grocery stores, so I'm trying to remember the specific ones in the Clinton and Waldorf areas. I know there's a Giant and a Safeway basically right across the street from each other, and if I remember correctly the Safeway was actually kinda nice (although I'm not a huge fan of Safeway in general), but although the Giant is pretty big I don't think I was terribly impressed. But I know there's that new shopping center right off 301 I guess in Brandywine that has Safeway, Target, and Costco all together. Speaking of which, I don't believe there are any club stores in Clinton, but Waldorf has all three of Costco, Sam's and BJ's. Although there aren't as many of those stores so there are a lot of towns where you'd have to drive 10+ minutes to get to one...

But she might be referring to stuff besides grocery stores. Waldorf has basically every big box store you can imagine (which of course to some is not always a good thing)

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by GoPhils

As you probably know, not all Safeways and Giants are created equal. I go into a lot of grocery stores, so I'm trying to remember the specific ones in the Clinton and Waldorf areas. I know there's a Giant and a Safeway basically right across the street from each other, and if I remember correctly the Safeway was actually kinda nice (although I'm not a huge fan of Safeway in general), but although the Giant is pretty big I don't think I was terribly impressed. But I know there's that new shopping center right off 301 I guess in Brandywine that has Safeway, Target, and Costco all together. Speaking of which, I don't believe there are any club stores in Clinton, but Waldorf has all three of Costco, Sam's and BJ's. Although there aren't as many of those stores so there are a lot of towns where you'd have to drive 10+ minutes to get to one...

But she might be referring to stuff besides grocery stores. Waldorf has basically every big box store you can imagine (which of course to some is not always a good thing)

You're right about the Giant off Woodberry. Something is amiss with that store. The Giant in Marlow Heights is better and it's in a worse neighborhood.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

You're right about the Giant off Woodberry. Something is amiss with that store. The Giant in Marlow Heights is better and it's in a worse neighborhood.

That Giant needs to be renovated badly. It is extremely dated and at least they renovated the Marlow Heights one. I would definitely agree with GoPhils that the quality is different comparing some of those stores to the Clinton ones.