posted on August 17, 2001 08:56:26 AM new
I don't see many new single family houses in the Virginia suburbs of Washington,D.C. that aren't huge. Though the prices range from perhaps $360,000 in the outer suburbs to much more the closer you get to DC, some new houses,tightly packed together in large subdivisions, can be found for a bit less. Houses are almost always Colonial or Georgian in style.
If I had to stereotype the typical new house, I'd say grandiose in scale but heavy on the facade. I see large houses on nice lots - and the front of the house and perhaps the sides will be brick and the back will be vinyl. What's that all about? Someone can afford a $750,000 house and can't pay a brick mason to finish the back as well? And architectural details? Some of these houses have all the gobbledygook an architect can imagine on the front of one house - turrets,stone, brick, stucco, gables. The architect must have been having an identity crisis.
What's it like in your neck of the woods? Is this just Washington pomposity or is it spreading?
posted on August 17, 2001 09:22:43 AM new
hehehe...
.75M might get a crackerbox with attached garage in Silicon Valley, even with the tech meltdown...
OTOH, where I live in central California, a neighbor built a southern mansion right across the street from our modest western ranch....even has a Greek-columned pool area ala Hearst Castle. Took them 2 years to build...
Thank God for rural acreage and almond trees...*G*
Someone in a nearby town built a 24,000 sq ft mansion....well, almost...it burnt down about 3/4 of the way through construction....interestingly, the fire chief is a nearby neighbor...hmmm
Lots of kids spending the fruits of their parents hard work, methinks....at least in our area..
posted on August 17, 2001 09:57:14 AM new
The following is a link to a Washington Post article about the reception modest priced housing is getting in one area. Sounds a bit like class warfare to me.
posted on August 17, 2001 10:04:14 AM new
I think its everywhere. Houses here are way out of my range...400 grand and up. Of course, I could buy something in the 200 grand range, but I wouldnt really want to live there. Or worse, I would have to reroof it or replumb it, or re-seomthing it.
posted on August 17, 2001 10:12:51 AM new
"Spreading" - this has been going on for centuries.
I don't think the government should be allowed to force builders to place low income enclaves in high income developements.
If I pay $800,000 for a single family home, I don't want a $125,000 multi-unit home anywhere near mine.
What's the use in having the money if you can't exert the power it is supposed to bring, including maintaining your property value and living among those of equal wealth and status ?
posted on August 17, 2001 10:14:15 AM new
I think the prices are worse in California than around here. A realtor showed me a barn nearby that had been converted to a home. It was for sale for $225,000, but we didn't care for the development going on around it. The realtor's sister was here from California
and said that the barn would have sold for at least $750,000 there.
How about style of housing? Around here there isn't much contemporary styling.
posted on August 17, 2001 10:20:22 AM new
Yeah,REAMOND, an interesting dilemma. Out of sight, out of mind? My neighborhood is quirky. All houses are different - one is on the market for $850,000 right now and others are total dumps for $100,000. It's similar to a small town here - a mixture of occupations, incomes,housing. Kind of reminds one that there are other types of people out there.
posted on August 17, 2001 10:25:46 AM new
Saab, I was reading your link.
Those houses would cost maybe $300,000 here.
But the other thing that caught my eye was that they said you had to earn $39K to afford a $125K home? Can people earning that amount afford that price range??? Here if someone earns $39K they feel they can afford a $50-75K home...maybe....if they can ever come up with the downpayment in the first place.
Also is lesser priced housing required always in your area in expensive neighborhoods?
Most (formal) developments here have a MINIMUM requirement, as in "no homes under..." and it is always given in square feet (for a single family dwelling) rather than price. I have never heard of this concept.
T
posted on August 17, 2001 10:38:52 AM new
Terri, no, lower priced housing isn't required. It's usually something that a developer will agree to in order to build higher density housing( more houses per acre).
Banks will often qualify people for a much higher loan than the people feel comfortable carrying. People are very often strapped by housing costs here. It's not unusual to find the housing budget consuming half of the family income.
posted on August 17, 2001 10:39:12 AM new
WOW! I think I will stay here in Johnstown. There was one house here that sold for over $250k but it had its own heliport.
My brother just bought a brick revolutionary type house for $22k. It is HUGE. The ceilings have to be about 12 feet high. It has 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, dining room, foyer and entry hall and 2 staircases. The city is kicking in $20k to remodel it. For each year he lives in the house they forgive $1k.
My sister in law just bought a brick house for around $40k. It is fully finished - ready to move in. It has a custom kitchen that is gorgeous! It has 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, living room, dining room, and den. It sits on a beautiful tree lined street.
It really doesn't make sense to build a house around here.
posted on August 17, 2001 10:57:14 AM new
Almost all the single family homes being built near us are in the $400k to $1million+ and all the $300k middle class type houses are across the border in the next county. The next county has a LOT less services and allows things like no curbs and gravel lots for businesses they don't here. Also the services like EMS and libraries are not near as good.
One thing they are fighyting is tearing down a $100k to $200k house on a lot and putting up a "BIG FOOT" house that has just enough room around it on the lot for a sidewalk and a little planter type landscaping. They are almost like town houses and usually a second floor the full size.
The houses in subdivisions you can lean out the window and almost touch the house next door. They will have some nice touch like stonework or copper flashing but when all the houses have it the same and each has a fancy pole light all the same it is too tracty. Nobody would put up with a facade and cheap in the back. Most of the subs have windy roads and you see the houses from all angles so that would look like crap. Everybody wants fancy landscaping - Islands of bushes and flowers set off in low stone walls with no grass - and brick baving is real big.
I have an apartment converted into a condo and I would like to upgrade to a condo with a full basement and a two car garage but I am not willing to do so until I have the money. I am not going to go into debt to do so.
posted on August 17, 2001 12:36:35 PM new
Saabsister
The same is true in the Maryland suburbs of DC. The new houses are all huge and expensive with brick fronts only...just like you mentioned and very cheaply built. We refer to these mansions as "houses with thin walls".
Unlike older houses, the floors are not hardwood and are covered with very thick carpet so that you can't hear the warped wood squeak when you walk down the hallway. LoL!
Eventually, everything falls apart...the windows and roofs leak and warping is not uncommon.
Keep your money in the bank or buy an older well built house!!!
posted on August 17, 2001 12:52:22 PM new
This is off topic in a way.
I once read this book, I think called "Life Swap" or something like that. Two restless women who met casually completely switched lives (vowing celibacy with eachother's partners, yeah right) for a year. They switched clothes, and activities, and friends, and family. It didn't turn out like they had hoped and each went home.
That is just a bit extreme but wouldn't it be neat if people here switched houses for a month with some one in a TOTALLY different environment?
Today, I am thinking of moving just because it's TOO sticky hot and hubby misses snow and creeks with rocks. Trouble is, everytime I find the "perfect" place to build, I find out that it's a National Park.
T
posted on August 17, 2001 12:55:12 PM new
Saab, For families with kids, that seems cruel. They would always be the "have nots" and I doubt they would be treated very nice by other kids. For adults it would be fine.
T
posted on August 17, 2001 01:05:11 PM new
Sarah Susanka wrote"The Not So Big House", a favorite book of mine. I'd like to see more people build the way she suggests - on a more human scale. Most of the McMansions around here are a blight on the landscape. Their builders rarely take the natural lay of the land or scale into consideration. At what point does a colossal three story house that perches on the top of an unlandscaped hill cease to be impressive and instead become intimidating and cold. Particularly if it's done in dark grey brick with dark accents. Bring on Heathcliff!
posted on August 17, 2001 01:09:49 PM new
It the "in" thing right now. Huge houses. But with so much wasted space inside that they are in actuality providing very little more in living space. And they are plunked down on average size or small lots so there is about a postage stamp's worth of yard space in the back.
posted on August 17, 2001 01:18:55 PM new
jt, I think most people probably start out in a condo or townhouse, build some equity, and hope the cost of single family housing hasn't gotten out of reach by the time they can buy. Either that or they save a large downpayment. In some of the suburbs built in the 60s, the houses may be a bit cheaper and not as spacious as the new ones but still pretty roomy.
Our family income has been a little above the mean for our county for awhile. My husband retired last year and we started to look for other areas in which to live. Then, two months ago, he found a job he couldn't refuse. We'll probably stay put for a few more years anyway. I just started a zoning application for an addition on our house yesterday. That's probably the cheapest way to get the space we want. The irony now is that I could afford a McMansion but I find them repugnant. I honestly don't know how we would have coped if we'd had children. We certainly would have been cramped in this house.
posted on August 17, 2001 01:20:21 PM new
Maybe they are all ebayers and hardly have room to walk for the boxes and inventory?
T
There are very very very few condos in Jackson. (I could count the condo complexes on both hands and they are not found mixed in "neighborhoods" at all.) People go from apartment directly to a house. Usually, to a "first house" then try to move as soon as possible. Since house payments are ofen about the same as rent per month, the big hurdle is always the downpayment. I do understand what you said.
[ edited by jt on Aug 17, 2001 01:26 PM ]
posted on August 17, 2001 01:26:07 PM new
Teri~ A lot of the national morgage brokers, like CountryWide, have been doing zero down for houses. I'm sure there's also a lot with Fanny May.. and don't forget those veterns who have VA homeloans to use.
Here in Central AR.. new construction runs about 78/sq foot and up. The houses are stuckoed or bricked and range in all sorts of styles. You can get a new construct w/ an average of 1800 sq feet for 140K and up. However, you can always get a lot more house by going with a "used" home. We just picked up a 20 year old w/ new A/C, kitchen remodel, jacuzzi tub, 4 bedroom, 3 full bath.. etc.. with 2500 sq feet.. for 129K.
I don't know, but from the way I see it.. It's sure a lot better to live in fly over country when it comes to buying a home .. lol
posted on August 17, 2001 01:37:52 PM new
That would be neat Helen.
Let's see. Barbie takes up one room. (I hate Barbie, btw.) Hubby's arcade, one room. School books, one room. Packing, one room. Dirty laundry, one room. Etc...
Speaking of all that, I have to go pretend to have been busy before my family returns. Yikes.
T
posted on August 17, 2001 01:39:54 PM new
Helen, that's what I don't understand. I'm in my fifties - I don't want a lot of space to clean or fill. My husband and I want a new kitchen(mine has work space over the dishwasher only),an extra bath, and workspace for our hobbies. My house now has two bedrooms and one bath. I think it'll need the addition in order to sell it.
posted on August 17, 2001 01:50:19 PM new
Frank Lloyd Wright was really good at taking the lay of the land into consideration and you might be able to buy one of his houses for what you would pay for one of these cheaply built three story houses in the Washington area selling for 3 mil.
posted on August 17, 2001 01:56:47 PM new
I sold real estate for almost two years until my hearing got too bad and all the companies were laying off middle managers and they were all going into real estate or insurance. You can only slice the pie so many times!
What I noticed was that a lot of people bought a bigger house than the wanted because if they did not buy a more expensive home they had to pay capital gains on the previous home. If you are coming from the west coast to Detroit that means you have to buy a lot of house here compared to California.
Also the guarantees from the company and the promise to buy it if it had not sold after 18 months when they moved made a lot take full advantage of the company perks.
Some people look at a house as a form of investmant just like stocks. I'd rather not get into that though..
posted on August 17, 2001 02:02:58 PM new
Mobile homes, aka manufactured homes, are getting popular. However, if someone cant afford the really nicer ones, they get labeled trailor trash. Sometimes it fits, depending on the location and the person living there.
posted on August 17, 2001 02:17:54 PM new
Gravid, I imagine Californians moving to Washington have a wider selection of houses that they can afford than someone moving from the fly-over states. I'm sure a lot of people turn down promotions because of real estate prices here.
Helen, I wish I could afford a Wright house. Even the Usonian ones would be too much a stretch financially.
