Please post your local house search updates, MLS finds, on-topic ideas, and links here.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Northern Virginia Real Estate Statistics
REAL ESTATE SEARCH
County Assessment Websites
Buy/Sell Without an Agent
Local Real Estate Agents
Housing Economics Blogs
Local Interest
Housing Bubble Links
Eastern Regional Blogs
Western Regional Blogs
- Bakersfield Bubble
- Bay Area Real Estate Blog
- BubbleInfo (N. San Diego)
- Burbed (San Francisco)
- Dr. Housing Bubble (SoCal)
- Patrick.net (San Francisco)
- Portland Housing Blog
- Professor Piggington's Econo-Almanac
- Rancid Truth (Orange County)
- Sacramento Land(ing)
- Seattle Bubble
- SoCal Real Estate Bubble Blog
- Socket Site (San Francisco)
Real Estate Blogs
REAL ESTATE AUCTIONS
64 comments:
Lots of good stuff in Calculated Risk today, but I think the most humourous statement was from this post:
BB&T marking down Colonial Loans
Yes, Colonial had some really bad loans. Peter Eavis quoted Daryl Bible, BB&T's chief financial officer: "When we looked at Colonial's portfolio versus ours, we saw a lot of borrowers we turned away."
I wanted to get some thoughts on the (hopefully) coming metro extension.
We're interested in moving out to Reston, but driving would be too much for me (I commute to Capitol Hill). We were thinking Reston might become a possibility when the Wiehle Ave stop is operational.
Any guess as to whether property values will rise in the vicinity of the new stations, and if so, when those property values would start to rise? I believe the Wiehle Ave. station is scheduled to open in 2013.
Any other thoughts regarding this?
Mish on the state of the FDIC fund
A comment concerning the FDIC - As of June 30 the rates being charged banks have increased substantially. Risk 1 category went to 12 basis points from 5, risk 2, 17 basis points, risk 3, 35 basis points, and risk 5, 50 basis points. Additionally, a 5 basis point special assessment is being charged on September 30 on total assets less tier 1 capital. It is probable that a second assessment will also be charged in December.
on July 23, 2008 24. There is roughly $6.84 Trillion in bank deposits. $2.60 Trillion of that is uninsured. There is only $53 billion in FDIC insurance to cover $6.84 Trillion in bank deposits. Indymac will eat up roughly $8 billion of that.
Now this doesn't tell us how much is currently in the FDIC insurance fund, but it sure sounds as if we're going to need to have the tax-payer on the line if we don't want to sink the banks purely from the increased fees.
Burke, VA
Well given that you're from Burke, and you can see that the prices in Reston are already consistently higher (if you disagree with my conclusion on that, I'd be very interested to hear it, because I haven't been doing good apples to apples comparisons personally, just basing this on my observations of Burke and others observations of Reston). I'm pretty sure that the extension is already starting to be priced in and will continue to gradually increase due to the anticipated appreciation. There may still be some spike after completion from those who don't want to live with the commute in the interim.
My best friend lives up off Wiehle Ave, and her husband drives/bikes to the commuter bus station to take him to Vienna and takes the metro from there to essentially Capital Hill. It takes him about an hour I believe, sometimes less, but he's okay with it since his previous job involved driving all over Connecticut, NY and New Jersey everyday.
So, my advice would be to wait no more than one year from now before making that move, and just live with the mixed-bag commute for a couple of years until the extension comes in if Reston and the promise of metro is that much of an attraction to you.
Keep in mind that property TAXES are set to rise in the vicinity of the new metro stops in Fairfax County. Starting out as a .1% surcharge and increasing to .4% (or higher "if needed") for the next 20-40 years to pay for the metro stations.
Man, I keep thinking I might someday want to move to a cheaper city, and after all, I can find jobs in my field anywhere, right?
But yesterday's postings per capita graph says to me that I can't afford to move away, because I might not be employable somewhere else!
Scott,
I can't tell if that is sarcasm or not.
Regarding the $1.125 mill. house people were discussing several days ago, it sold for $1085000 net.
http://franklymls.com/AR7082627
Thanks Ace!
1.085 mil seems about right for that house in that area at the moment, but I don't live there or look there. What do you think Ace, or is that too far from your stomping grounds?
I think the house itself could be worth $500k (could) and Arlington thinks the land is $465k, so that would be 965k, only $120k off it's price... So only another 10% down to go if the land values are accurate, either that or Arlington needs to up it's land values because it's become even more desirable than the tax office thinks it has.
Cara, generally it looks like a fair price at this time - next year, who knows?
Arlington does not factor in the value of upgrades, generally speaking, and it looks as if this house had some expensive upgrades. So the assessed value of all homes that have well-designed and expensive upgrades will almost always be well below the market value. So the assessed value next year (which will reflect sales July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009 with a few updates since) may well stay the same, depending on the average price sold for houses in that neighborhood.
Further, I would guess that the new buyers had to get a loan, which would mean that they had to get an appraisal, and so the appraisal likely came in at or above the price they paid.
Since our tastes/needs are different from those of the average buyer, it wasn't a house that interested me, but I can definitely see why it interested others at that price.
(your mileage may vary)
Ace,
Yeah, my house value is a little loosey-goosey and not really related to the assessment. It's just the constant, I've seen nicer homes go for $450k total in other parts of the country, hence this house itself can't be worth more than a generous $500k for it's combination of old charm, nice new upgrades and size. Thus I think if prices stay like this, Arlington is under-estimating its land prices. But that's a pretty academic argument. And one I have gotten berated for in the past.
Cara: the house looks pretty unremarkable. I think $300k is stretching it.
Compare it to this for $305k, and you'll see that the difference is mostly the land:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/6251-Tallowtree-Dr_Hilliard_OH_43026_1111307762
AP article, 13% of homeowners are behind on their mortgage.
"The record-high numbers in the report are being driven by borrowers with traditional fixed-rate mortgages, rather than the shady subprime loans with adjustable rates that kicked off the mortgage crisis."
NoVawatcher,
My point exactly.
However, I hesitate to use new/recent construction to compare to old well-maintained houses with "character". But at the same time, don't feel like going to look for nice old homes in similar condition and additions...
There is a point however where the value of land becomes negative, when supply exceeds demand by too much. I.e. houses can drop below replacement costs. So, it's hard to pick a place with minimal land costs that's still verifiable in good enough economic shape that that dire scenario hasn't happened. Although continued construction into 2010 would be one good sign.
NoVAWatcher, land isn't the only thing that varies in your example. Construction costs in Hilliard aren't comparable to this area. I also think, within a geog. region, you can't compare new construction vs. old very easily - as we all know the quality of most materials and skill of most labor is not what it was in the 40s. And a custom addition and reno., such as in the Arl. house, which has to be retrofitted and blended into the existing house, is going to cost more than division houses, in Hilliard as well as Arlington and elsewhere.
Less squishily, I would note also that the Arl. process factors in the cost of land - within Arlington. They do this (in all likelihood - they won't make the formula public) by regressing the prices of sold houses and land, including houses sold for tear-down, on lot sizes and house features such as square footage, # of bedrooms, etc. So the "real" value of the land isn't totally subjective. This process, by the way, has led to some strange results, with 1500 square foot condos being valued at $350K or more for the improved area only (not the land), but 1500 square foot houses in comparable condition and location, but on a small lot, being valued at less than $250K, for example.
When Fairfax tried to do the same thing last year (upping land values considerably compared to their prior assessment), the residents went berserk.
Eldon
(ah, I had forgotten Tyrell's first name, and it's Elwyn from the song anyway so my reference made no sense).
Calculated Risk on the MBA conference call
On the MBA conference call concerning the "Q2 2009 National Delinquency Survey", MBA Chief Economist Jay Brinkmann said this morning:
•The problem is moving to prime loans, and fixed rate prime loans. Although the delinquency rate is lower for prime fixed rate than for other loans, these loans make up 65.5% of all loans - so the increase matters.
•Brinkmann expects delinquencies to peak in mid-2010.
•Brinkmann expects foreclosures to peak at the end of 2010.
...
And a final comment: historically house prices do not bottom until after foreclosure activity peaks in a certain area. Since the subprime crisis delinquency rates might be peaking, it would not be surprising if prices are near a bottom in the low end areas. But in general I'd expect further declines in house prices - especially in mid-to-high end areas.
Patience grasshoppers.
(says me who has now picked out paint colors for all the major rooms in our SS)
Burke, VA:
It's a hard question to answer. Other than the bubble years there really was not much extra price appreciation for homes near the Vienna, Dunn Loring, or West Falls Church stations as compared to other areas of Fairfax County. In part this may have been because anyone can use those stations as they have huge parking lots. Compare that to Ballston or Clarendon where there's no official park and ride.
Another difference is that Fairfax County did not surround those stations with commercial use and only in the 2000s really ramped up the high density use (although some TH communities around each came before). Indeed, near Vienna there is Nottoway Park and Oakton High School which really eats up a lot of space that technically was supposed to be used for transit oriented development. Fairfax County until recently treated it like commuter rail.
Wiehle Ave & 267 already is surrounded by commercial uses and I imagine it's going to grow even more once that station is in there. So it's a different thing. I think it may raise Reston property values because it increases the number of jobs in Reston. On the other hand, who is clamoring to live in Tysons Corner near the various offices? So far few people. They want to change that but we'll see how that goes.
Anyways, I suppose the stop will be worth something but how much? It's not like people in Reston can't already take 267 to West Falls Church or Hunter Mill Road to the Vienna stop. Is driving five minutes to Wiehle Ave instead of 15 minutes to Vienna or WFC really worth a ton of money? I doubt it.
tbw,
Reston was an established residential town before all the commercial was added. Tysons is a bizarre aberation of planning and hence not helpful as a comparison.
Is there a difference between a 15 minute drive and a 5 minute one? As someone who lives 1 mile walk to the metro now, and has always lived within a 5 minute drive of at least a commuter rail, Heck yeah it makes a difference. All the difference in the world. (1) You can walk or bike if you want to. (2) The feel and frustration of a 15 minute drive after dealing with the crowds on the metro for the very long ride into Capital Hill, is completely different than hoping in your car and feeling like you're essentially already home. Night and day.
As we keep arguing over, I think some places will retain more of their bubble gains than others. Metro accessible areas, and/or ones with great schools will be amongst those that retain a larger amount.
I agree though, if you have to ride the full length of the silver line, it will essentially feel like a the worst of both worlds, the length of a commuter rail commute with the crowds of a metro.
Cara said,
Well given that you're from Burke, and you can see that the prices in Reston are already consistently higher (if you disagree with my conclusion on that, I'd be very interested to hear it, because I haven't been doing good apples to apples comparisons personally, just basing this on my observations of Burke and others observations of Reston).
Using redfin here are average price per sq ft for regions (note many sellers are not listing sq ft [grrr] so these numbers do not include every home on the market but it averaged which ones were listed):
South Reston $209
Burke $191
Given the noise I'd call it about even between Burke and South Reston (below 267).
North Reston $294
Cara,
Obviously there is a value to living in walking distance of a Metro. Some stops have no parking and even those that do charge a ridiculously high price for it (I think it's up to $4.50 now?) So that is of course worth something.
As for the drive I think it depends on whether it feels like another commute. For many in Oakton, Vienna, Fairfax, and many parts of Reston you will not need to commute in stop and go traffic to get to the Vienna metro parking lots. The difference is just between 3-5 minutes of driving and 10-12 minutes of driving. You pay $4.50 either way. Is 3-5 minutes really worth an extra $50,000-$100,000? Not in my opinion. Is it worth an extra $10,000-20,000? Maybe.
Obviously everyone has their own price tag on it and all those evaluations together come to the market boost for it.
Side note -- the ride from Capitol South will be pleasant
Metro Fullness at Each Stop Map
From Greater Greater Washington
Years ago I had to commute back on the Orange Line from Metro Center. That was a pain. Almost guaranteed not to get a seat until Arlington. People coming from further downtown always got all the spots.
tbw,
by "Reston" I only meant those parts of Reston with a school district comparable to that in Burke. So the easy comparison is to North Reston. Or you could use South Reston and subtract off the lesser caliber schools.
cool map!
TBW, I commute on the Orange Line from Metro Center, and I'm happy to just be able to get on the train. The people who try to get on in the evenings at Farragut West have the worst possible commute in my opinion. The train is nearly always packed before it reaches that station.
When things get bad, I tend to take the Orange/Blue in the opposite direction one stop to Federal Triangle, then walk across the platform to catch the Orange before it gets to Metro Center. Of course, many people also know this trick.
I havent really followed the MEtro expansion much since I no longer really ride it, but is there any plan for alleviating the orange crush? People are packed like sardines on those trains...are they just going to add the tyons, reston etc commuters to the current mob scene and hope it all works out? That's crazy.
Hey Robert, that could be another growth area for employment Maybe metro is planning to hire pushers like they have in Tokyo to get everyone on the trains.
Meshell,
I believe they're going to cut back on some of the Blue line service in order to make room for more Orange line trains.
Stealing from Peter to pay Paul. (though the Blue line is never that bad, that I've seen).
Bloomberg gives better specifics on the state of the FDIC deposit insurance fund.
The fund had $13 billion on March 31, the lowest since 1992 when it was $178.4 million, the FDIC said. The 56 bank collapses since March 31 cost an estimated $16 billion. First-quarter failures cost the fund $2.2 billion, the agency said.
The agency is required by law to shore up the fund when the reserve ratio, or balance divided by insured deposits, falls below 1.15 percent. It was at 0.27 percent as of March 31.
The industry will pay $17 billion in premiums this year, including $11.6 billion from the annual fee, said Robert Strand, a senior economist at the American Bankers Association, said in a telephone interview.
From the LA Times:
A few years ago, some economists and others arguing that there was a housing bubble -- often against strong opposition -- acted on their instincts and sold their houses. I caught up with a few of them in The Times today. Dean Baker, a Washington, D.C., economist and one of the prominent early predictors of the bubble, bought a house recently.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2009/08/time-to-buy-a-house-experts-who-sold-at-the-peak-now-wonder.html
Seriously, does anyone know anything about this i.e. where Dean Baker bought?
I ask because when people were telling me not to buy in 2002, they often pointed to the fact that Dean Baker was selling "while he still could".
The irony is if he bought in Arl, Alex, DC or parts of FFX where prices are nowhere near 2002, he is getting screwed worse than I am.
Cara,
I'm glad the banking industry is paying instead of shoring up the FDIC via taxpayer money since the fund had too little money because FDIC stopped asking for money for a few years. Okay, technically some of the money they have to pay for this new levy is from TARP but I'll ignore that to feel better. ;)
Thanks for the input. Even if riding the metro from Reston proves to be a pain, I'm hoping the drive to Capitol Hill would become more bearable from out there with fewer commuters on the road.
For whatever it's worth, please see page 29 of the AG report on cost of children.
Note that in 1960 31% of the cost of raising children was housing and in 2008 it is 32%. Food and Clothing went a good amount down in share of the cost (as I think we all have expected). Transit and Miscellaneous went down a little bit. BUT health care and child care/education went way up (shocking no one).
Cost of Raising Children
I suspect someone will bring up -- families with kids are a smaller percentage of homeowners these days than in 1960. Fair enough. But do singles or DINKs spend a lot more on housing or just a little more (or no more) on housing and a lot more on clothing, food (eating out more), and miscellaneous (travel etc).
Housing costs btw include not just rent/mortgage but utilities and house furnishings. I would guess house furnishings have mostly gotten cheaper in real dollars (assuming you don't go to the highest end places). Utilities may have gone up given homes are bigger on average. So more noise there.
Anyways, just a piece of evidence that families at least did not offset cheaper clothes and food with spending more on the home.
tbw
Thanks that's depressing.
Just solidfies why we're not going to be buying a SFH "for the kids", and keeping our housing costs low.
The Anonymous,
The article (not the blog post) notes that Baker sold in 2004. He admitted the home might go down another 10%. From the article it sounds like his family was tired of renting and did not expect the downturn to take so long (like me.)
TBW - you are right - 2004. I wonder who I was thinking of then. 2002 was so freaking long ago...
TBW See DC7001251 for Dean Baker
econ2
Are you serious? If so, man he has good taste. That's a house I could get excited about and see someone paying over half a million for.
(not that I know anything about the neighborhood).
Robert,
I posted that mention of the chart and THEN finished reading the commentary about it, including the reasonable-sounding comments about fake job postings from contractors, and so EVEN I'M not sure if my post was sarcastic or not.
Mainly, it was just fear of taking a bold leap like that and finding out it's a mistake--a fear which prevents me from almost ever taking a bold leap.
econ2, that is a cute house. IMHO, the neighborhood is "iffy" - beautiful houses (especially right on 16th St.), but a lot of them have bars on the windows east of 16th St.
Cara, if that's his house, I think the neighborhood is okay, but it's not near the Metro and there aren't many good restaurants nearby. Defeats the point of living in the city, IMO. It is near Rock Creek Park, though.
And while it's really cute on the outside, I would want to change a lot on the inside.
I actually think he overpaid. $500k I could see, but not $650k.
Anon412,
If living in the city can give you that cute of a house with that good bones, I'd say it's worth it for some people.
Yes, there's much I would change on the inside too, notable the kitchen and bathrooms. But it's nothing I couldn't live with until I was ready to shuck out the money to change it.
Near the metro is going to mean higher crime or higher prices, one of the two or both. I bet there are restaurants you can walk to, if you're the walking type.
TBW, I think the smart thing to do if you don't have kids would be to use that to keep your housing costs lowering by avoiding the good school districts. That's what I would do.
I like that house a lot too. Strange that so many of the houses on the street are the same design though.
Cara, fair points but I just think the price was too high. Here are a couple of (I think) better deals in the area:
http://franklymls.com/DC7034750
http://franklymls.com/DC7122100
Anon412,
Drool!!! especially over the second one. Both of those look smaller and with smaller rooms, but I think your point still stands that he could have done better. If I had to use those two as the only comps I would put his house at $550k for a better backyard and more size than the first, but lacking the $100k in fabulously upgraded kitchen and fixtures.
I'm guessing the first one has some issues that are apparent in person, given it's length of time on the market. Why haven't they cleaned the back of the house? What else haven't they been doing?
Or maybe they love "retro" bathrooms and aren't aware that they are outnumbered in this opinion.
Yeah, I think that sounds about right.
I would have expected better from Dean Baker.
Also, it's interesting to note that with both of these they are selling for a loss: 22% for the first and 10% for the second (if they get their asking price).
Pretty rough for the immunozone.
Cara said,
If living in the city can give you that cute of a house with that good bones, I'd say it's worth it for some people.
This gets at a pet peeve of mine. There's living in the city literally and living in the city figuratively. This home is in Washington, DC but for all intents and purposes is as far or further from "the city" than Arlington.
Ninety-five percent of what you think of when you think of living in the city is nowhere near this home. In older days we would have called this a "streetcar suburb."
It's like when you meet someone from Queens or Staten Island and they are like "I grew up in NEW YORK CITY and not the suburbs." And then you get more info and hear about their childhood in a SFH and a lot of other qualities that sounds like a suburb. Yes, technically they lived in New York City, but really 95% of what people think of when they think of NYC is in Manhattan.
He also way overpaid on the home as Anon412 pointed out. WAY over assessment. Seems to me he bought into some gentrification hype or something.
Cara I hope you don't think I'm picking on you as I like 99% of what you say on here but I have to correct this as well
I bet there are restaurants you can walk to, if you're the walking type.
There just are not many restaurants around that area. I've driven along Georgia Ave and it's still a little desolate. Most people around there probably eat in Silver Spring or other parts of Maryland (or go to downtown DC).
TBW, I agree with you that Ballston or Clarendon is more urban that this part of DC. And my feeling is that if you don't get city ammenties (Metro, restaurants) you might as well move across the state line so that don't have to put up with city annoyances (DC gov't, schools).
But I can see the appeal of a house like this (or a hosue in Queens) for many, just at the right price. And if you don't care about schools it probably makes sense to live in the city as you should be able to get a better deal.
I do think many parts of Brooklyn qualify as legitimately part of NYC, though.
Haha, thankfully we have walkscore (which Frankly helpfully links to) to settle the restaurant question:
Wings N Things 0.22 mi
Popeye's Chicken 0.23 mi
Graceful Affairs 0.35 mi
Turntable Restauran 0.39 mi
Kendejah 0.39 mi
Bright World Bistro 0.48 mi
McDonald's Restaura 0.52 mi
Moroni & Brothers 0.52 mi
So it's not exactly Dupont, BUT Moroni & Brothers is really good. Just not good enough to make that house worth $650k.
Anon412,
You don't save money living in the city. Far from it. There are entire neighborhoods here (Dupont Circle and surrounding neighborhoods moving toward that model) which basically have a supermajority of homes that have nothing to do with DCPS either because they are single, DINKs, or rich enough for private school. And because of all the city amenities in these areas there is a lot of demand so higher rents and higher home prices. Many are in walking distance of the jobs.
I'm not exactly sure what your point is. That I should move to Brightwood instead of Vienna or Fairfax if I never have kids because I shouldn't care about the schools and would save money? Well there are about a million other things different about those neighborhoods -- crime rates, restaurant options, commute to job centers, shopping options, and so on. I'm not saving any money -- all those ways in which Vienna/Fairfax would be better (in addition to the schools) are why prices are higher.
I disagree with the criticisms of the 16th St Heights neighborhood...I just moved from that area (was renting a large house) and I'd disagree that you're not living in the city. You are a little far from metro, but you have access to buses that run frequently and have quick access to nightlife in Columbia Heights or U Street. It's true that there's only a handful of restaurants right now, but believe me the development is coming. A lot of people who are priced out of Mt Pleasant end up moving there. It is very quiet and has lovely housing stock, and if you have a car you can get anywhere in the city very fast, my commute to Arlington was 20 minutes including stopping for coffee (love that reverse commute). That said I do think Mr. Baker overpaid for his house and I generally think houses there are overpriced, but that goes for all of DC right now!
Jason,
You are a little far from metro, but you have access to buses that run frequently and have quick access to nightlife in Columbia Heights or U Street.
Having quick access to DC nightlife is true for the inner VA and MD suburbs as well. According to Metro's website a Bethesda stop to Woodley Park stop (for Adams Morgan) trip takes 11 minutes. Crystal City Metro to U Street Metro is 16 minutes.
this one has the most bizarre price history
6/3/2009 $947,000
7/9/2009 $975,000
8/5/2009 $949,888
8/7/2009 $875,000
$100K reduction in a month? it just screams foreclosure to me...
it's a big, newer house but faces Lee Hwy and neighbors three apt buildings, so i doubt it'll sell for anywhere near the current price.
Anyways, to be clear, I think the neighborhood is perfectly fine for some people and obviously some people must like it. I just bristled at the notion it was where one would live if one wanted to "live in the city."
I think some people have that attitude and do live there for some reason. But I think if you sit down and think about it you are not really gaining much more there than you would in Silver Spring or other similar places. In fact, you might like Silver Spring better. There was a good article in the Washington Post recently about hipsters living in Columbia Heights who realized they actually kinda liked Target and TGI Friday's and all the things they mocked about suburban life. IMHO a lot of this "I live in the city" stuff is silly and people are just pretending not to like VA/MD for politica reasons.
People should just live wherever the heck they want for commute, entertainment, friends, etc reasons and not pick DC over VA/MD or VA over MD or MD over VA because of some silly ideology. I can't tell you how many people I meet in one of the jurisdictions because they wanted to make a message. But I guess that's to be expected in such a political area.
Having quick access to DC nightlife is true for the inner VA and MD suburbs as well. According to Metro's website a Bethesda stop to Woodley Park stop (for Adams Morgan) trip takes 11 minutes. Crystal City Metro to U Street Metro is 16 minutes.
Yes but that doesn't factor in walking to the metro and waiting for the train etc...I lived in VA Square in Arlington for 7 years without a car, and the metro ride into DC at night sometimes drags you down because of the long waits. It all depends on what areas you want direct access too, it would be different if most of my friends didn't live in NW DC and I wasn't always wanting to go to that area.
MM,
That almost fooled me for a second. I was like constructed in 2002, that large, and in Cherrydale? And thought it was a good price.
Then I looked at the maps and saw what you are talking about. Classic bubble era tear down rebuilds where average rich person would have no interest in it. That being said a realtor once told me that some foreign born homebuyers like these homes because it tells the world how rich they are (since it's over a busy road) and that's how rich people live in those countries -- with a big, showy house.
Whereas traditionally in the U.S. you wanted a big mansion tucked away behind a gate or along a long road hidden by a lot of trees.
There was a good article in the Washington Post recently about hipsters living in Columbia Heights who realized they actually kinda liked Target and TGI Friday's and all the things they mocked about suburban life.
I didn't care for that article, but I agree that there is nothing wrong with the suburbs. I think houses in 16th St Heights are overpriced, but if someone desires to be in the city and have a lot of space/quiet then the neighborhood makes sense, but, yes for those prices I would probably buy in the inner suburbs especially if I had kids.
Jason,
Don't you have to walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus there? I would think the buses come less often than the rail system.
The buses actually run pretty frequently in DC, and the stop would be right around the corner from your house. But again it depends which area you want access to, if you want easy U Street/Columbia Heights access without having to live there, then 16th St Heights makes sense, but if you want Georgetown then Arlington would make more sense.
I agree with Jason, but then again I like the suburban parts of cities.
NEWSFLASH on the SS: a negotiator has been assigned late last week, and said negotiator is "required" to contact the LA within one week.
Soon, soon we will know if all the recent activity in Burke has scuttled our good deal, or if we're about to embark on the final stretch before owning our own home.
Cara,
Every time you use the words lesser school or lower caliber schools it makes me cringe. I get the impression that you actually believe that there is one curriculum for what you term the "higher caliber" schools and another for the other schools. The teachers are held to the same standards at every school.
Most of the test scores differences in schools can be explained by the demographic make-up of the student bodies. Schools that have very low percentages of black and hispanic children and a small free and reduced lunch percentage have higher SOL pass rates and higher SAT scores.
Hayfield Grad,
I apologize for giving that impression. I am also amongst those who have argued that all these distinctions are ridiculous in relation to the caliber of schools outside the Fairfax county system. However, the schools by these measures are a reflection of the house prices and vice versa.
For me it's a matter of cheaper housing (in Burke) AND "better" schools, win-win. For others it's not so straightforward.
Robert should give each of these recent graduates a call and tell them to move to the DC area for a job. ;)
Class of 2009: Who's working, who isn't
Note the one that is in the DC area has an unpaid internship and is from the area (and living at home in Falls Church).
It's totally anecdotal of course but interesting that no one here is quoted saying they are open to moving to another city rather than be unemployed.
It's totally anecdotal of course but interesting that no one here is quoted saying they are open to moving to another city rather than be unemployed.
There are opinions I post on this blog that could go one way, but could easily go the other. The number of jobs from the various programs coming out of the White House and Congress from the Stimulus, Health Care, Cap and Trade, Treasury, and Education, are examples. The direction of interest rates is another.
But, there is one thing I am
absolute, ascertained, authoritative, clear, conclusive, confirmable, definite, demonstrable, destined, determined, establishable, evident, firm, fixed, genuine, guaranteed, having down pat, in the bag, incontrovertible, indubitable, infallible, irrefutable, known, on ice, plain, positive, predestined, provable, real, reliable, safe, salted away, set, sound, supreme, sure, sure thing, true, trustworthy, unambiguous, undeniable, undoubted, unequivocal, unerring, unmistakable, verifiable,
which would be that there is no shortage of people in this country that have the means and desire to relocate here to find work.
BTW, those are the synonyms for "certain."
Robert You are probably talking about professional workers coming to DC area for work but I am seeing more construction workers from out of the area. You would occasionally see a truck from Florida at a construcion site, but I like to go to the 3 big construction sites along Columbia Pike to see how they are doing. Now I see a lot of trucks from New Jersey, Michigan, Arizona, Florida and some from other sites. By signs on their trucks, these workers looked like they may have had small companies in those states that ran out of work. I volunteer at the Arlington Free Clinic and know that a lot of the Spanish workers went back to El Salvador and Guatemala, so I think these workers are the new non-Spanish emigres who came to the area for work.
Post a Comment