Temple Hills/National Harbor (College Park, Hyattsville: sales, apartment complexes, foreclosures)

[lisat]

Hello, all. We are buying a house with an apartment so my grandmother can move in. Were hoping to stay in the District or go to Mount Rainier, but price and structural necessity are making this look less likely. Yesterday we toured a wonderful home in Temple Hills; meets all of our qualifications, loads of historic character, and is already done in our style. I remain concerned about location, as I'm used to the city, but gotta do whatcha gotta do, right? I'll have to learn to adjust.

Anyway, I have a few questions and am hoping to get some insight. I know PG County gets bashed around here a lot. Yes, some areas aren't so great, but everywhere I've seen has been nice for the most part, so I don't have the "run like the wind" mentality when it comes to PGC. The house we're considering is around Temple Hills and Fisher Roads--anyone know anything about that area? I'm more familiar with the Hyattsville/College Park/Mount Rainier neighborhoods, and we hadn't even considered anything this far south until this house popped up. The homeowner told us they've never had a problem and hardly even see their neighbors. We were hoping for a real community feel, so this is both good and bad.

Also, I haven't gotten all the way through the "Opinions About the National Harbor in PG County" thread yet, but would appreciate any info on how this development may impact home values in the area. IOW, would buying three miles away be a good idea? Not the opinions on whether it's "good" or "bad" for the county, but data or projections about how it might impact the area and home values in particular.

And one more, as I said, we'll be moving my grandmother in and I'm curious if anyone has knowledge or experience with senior services in the area. Would this be a good place for older people?

TIA

[lisat]

Bueller?

We're on the verge of making a decision and I'd really appreciate any info/thoughts/advice. We adore this house, but remain concerned about location.

[lscalder]

If the property is close to the National Harbor you should purchase it.
Temple Hill do have nice communities. It seems you have done your homework on the area. Most people who will give you advice on this forum have not been to the area. They are just going off of what they hear on the news.

I had a client who purchase a home in January in Capitol Heights for 180k. The client got an appraisal done last week and the house appraise for $240k.

[TeamBenya]

Originally Posted by lscalder

If the property is close to the National Harbor you should purchase it.
Temple Hill do have nice communities. It seems you have done your homework on the area. Most people who will give you advice on this forum have not been to the area. They are just going off of what they hear on the news.

I had a client who purchase a home in January in Capitol Heights for 180k. The client got an appraisal done last week and the house appraise for $240k.

I wouldn't assume that being 3 miles from the harbor is going to make the property instantly worth more. However, this doesn't mean that it's not a smart decision to purchase the property.

I am a little perturbed by the commentary I hear from other people (lscalder, I'm not directing this specifically at you, please don't take it as criticism or an attack on you personally) about how much the property values are going to go up because of the Harbor Project.

The project is a huge benefit to the region, first and foremost. It also makes the immediate area a more popular place to live, ONCE IT'S FINISHED. For now, it's a lot of construction traffic with virtually no amenities for local residents. I was out at the site today, and my biggest concern is that people have this idea that because they live "near the harbor", their homes are worth a lot more.

I tell people to answer this question: Who is going to find your home more valuable due to location proximity? They are planning condos for the site itself, so obviously small homes/townhouses nearby won't see a big rise in value unless they are priced significantly BELOW the cost of living at the Harbor, and therefore have room to grow. I think that people who's homes could be considered as "comparable" to a buyer need to think about what the buyer could get for the same price on-site.

As far as larger homes, I think they have the potential to gain in value a bit moreso.

I would be careful about the concept of the "appraisal", however. In the current market, a house is only worth the amount you can find a buyer for, and that is almost always less than the appraisal price in a buyers market. Search online for homes, and people are openly promoting "80k off appraised value!". It may sound like a deal, but the fact is everyone else is able to see that sign too, so why hasn't it sold?

The bottom line is to consider what the comparable homes are actually sold for recently, and determine if you think there's value there. If YOU like living by the new harbor, then go for it! But I don't advocate purchasing simply because you think that there may be this huge rise in equity. Gambling today on tomorrow's value is a large reason that the housing market is stalled out right now.

[lisat]

Thanks for the input!

We're most definitely not looking in that area in the hopes that values will rise with the Harbor--in fact, we didn't know much about it until after we'd found the house. I just wanted to explore whether the project would impact--positively or negatively--a property in the area. Of course the property in question is three miles away. I suppose on resale we could tout "near National Harbor" should the project be a success; and "quiet retreat" should it flop.

TBH, we had no real interest in living in that area. Doesn't seem to be much around there and it's a bit "rural" for my taste. And the National Harbor development isn't the type of place we'd frequent. But this house is charming, solid as a rock, and the right price--but of course location, location, location. *sigh*

[TeamBenya]

Originally Posted by lisat

Thanks for the input!

We're most definitely not looking in that area in the hopes that values will rise with the Harbor--in fact, we didn't know much about it until after we'd found the house. I just wanted to explore whether the project would impact--positively or negatively--a property in the area. Of course the property in question is three miles away. I suppose on resale we could tout "near National Harbor" should the project be a success; and "quiet retreat" should it flop.

TBH, we had no real interest in living in that area. Doesn't seem to be much around there and it's a bit "rural" for my taste. And the National Harbor development isn't the type of place we'd frequent. But this house is charming, solid as a rock, and the right price--but of course location, location, location. *sigh*

Well, in that respect, I think that the harbor is a definate asset to the region, and of course being 3 miles away, it's a bit far to see any real negative impact that is directly related. I think that the people who have homes backing up to the project may not be entirely thrilled, but overall it's a huge boon to the quality of life in the area.

Location.... always the challenge to find the perfect home AND the perfect geography! Best of luck with the search, hopefully you'll find something that really makes sense for you and your family!

[froggy925]

I lived in Temple Hills last year and in my particular area I had a lot of bad luck...my car was broken into and my home was broken into in that one year period. You may be looking at a different section of Temple Hills, but I like to inform others so they don't have the same problems I did.

[liliblu]

I lived in Temple Hills for many years. I never had any problems. I lived in a pretty quiet neighborhood with my family. We lived in that home for about 10 years. There are neighborhoods in Temple Hills that are well maintained and lovely. There are areas near large apartment complexes that may attract a different element. I loved the easy access to the beltway and metro. As for National Harbor, I think that any benefit will be over the long term. Once it becomes an established destination for retail, dining, socializing, and family activities (Children's Museum), the areas surrounding it should see some benefit.

[lisat]

See, that's the prob--overall Temple Hills seems to have a negative rep, but the area we're looking at (just outside the Beltway) seems nice. I only saw SFHs near there; no apartment complexes. I'm just concerned about the resale. Of course the sellers told us they've never had any problems in four or so years.

Does anyone know anything about the Temple Hills/Fisher Roads area specifically? I believe the place is on Hinton, or something like that.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by 1973 Forced Busing

Weekly Data
Weekly inventory and median asking prices for Single Family and Condo homes (together) are displayed in the trend box below. 25th and 75th percentile prices for the last ten weeks are shown in the table. For a longer history of trends see the averages data further down.

Trend 04/14/2008 1 month 3 month 6 month 12 month
Median Price $350,000 -1.4% -4.1% -12.3% -20.3%
Inventory 40,123 +5.6% +19.1% -0.9% +25.1%

Thank you I can't believe people are still operating in the mind set of making a profit off of anything other than fire sales and foreclosures. Incredible. The question is will National Harbor slow the decline in housing values in the area compared to elsewhere. The people who are falling for the increasing home value pitch are beyond sub prime.