3 Cheapest Houses in Bethesda MD 20816

Marcie Sandalow Homes For Sale , ,

Bethesda MD 20816 is home to a lot of pricey neighborhoods.  In 2011, the average sales price for homes in the 20816 zip code was $859,135 with a total of 213 sales.  Popular neighborhoods within 20816 include: Glen Echo Heights, Woodacre, Westmoreland Hills, Sumner, Westhaven, Brookdale, Greenacres, Springfield, Brookmont, & Tulip Hill.  Check out the map of 20816.

As of August 1, 2012, the top three CHEAPEST single family homes within the area are….

  1. 5204 Sangamore Road.  Brick cape on a somewhat busy corridor.  Big lot at 12,000 s.f.  2-car garage with breezeway to house.  Screened porch (gotta love that!).  Older kitchen.  Pretty hardwood floors.  4 bedrooms, 2 full baths and 2 half baths. Requires 24-hours notice to show, so plan ahead.  Located in Glen Echo Heights. Listed with Prestige Properties.  Days on Market:  64
    Asking price:  $725,000[space]
  2. 6008 Namakagen Road.  Brick and siding cape with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths.  1-car attached garage. Needs a lot of TLC.  Kitchen looks original.  Big family room over garage.  Good space on the first floor, including a sun room off the kitchen.  I think there are probably some decent hardwood floors under the aged carpet.  Baths look original.  Decent space for the $ and the neighborhood.  Located in Glen Echo Heights. Listed with Allied Realty. Days on Market: 0
    Asking price:  $739,000[space]
  3. 5119 Westridge Road. This one is cute.  Sits on a private cul-de-sac.  Within walking distance to Westbrook Elementary School.  4 bedrooms, 2 full and 2 half baths.  Older kitchen, but by no stretch original (1970s?).  Gleaming hardwood floors.  Nice family room off of the kitchen. Spacious basement with covered patio. Only complaint… yard is sloped an not easily used.  Upside:  it’s woody and private. Located in Westhaven.  Listed with McEnearney Associates. Started off at $769,000.  Days on Market: 50
    1. Asking price:  $745,000[space]

If you would like to take a look at any of these homes, let us know!  And feel free to pass this along to a friend.

Mysterious Lights Of The North

Catarina Bannier Kit Houses , , ,
push buttons on old light switch in washington DC

push buttons on old light switch in washington DCToday’s Photo Of The Week is a bit of a mystery, and we’re looking for help. Can you explain what this switch was designed to operate? Just the ceiling light (which would be, kind of, north of the person operating the switch)? Or does “N” stand for “no,” i.e., “off?” But if so, what’s with the NE?

Or was it part of the “heating plant?” Or perhaps it connected phone calls to different parts of the house? Or was it connected to a buzzer that summoned the maid?

We found the plate in the upper hall of a 1920s colonial in North Cleveland Park, and it appears to be original to the house that was built from plans by the DC-based Standard Homes Company. The writing that circles the “N” on the buttons on the left spells, “HART & HEGEMAN MFG CO.”

Any ideas?

When Nature Is Zooming In On You

Catarina Bannier Home Owners , ,
Hornet infestation Chevy Chase

Agressive Hornets on house in chevy chaseI had thought my problem was ants. Tiny little ants that gradually invaded my house for the past couple of months and formed into armies two weeks ago, after the dreadful Pepco mega outage. There were dozens of them on even the tiniest morsel of food left on the kitchen floor, and seemingly hundreds of them started attacking the cat food bowl even while the kitty was still eating from it. Yuck.

Well, the guy that was sent by my favorite pest control company showed up this morning and set out to explore the perimeter of my house for ant hills (or nests, as he called them).

No nests could be sighted. What he found instead, was every creepy thingy, pest and vermin imaginable. There were a couple of carpenter bee holes in the fence, paper wasp nests under a seat on the deck, large spider nests outside the garage and lady bugs that might live in the walls. The worst, however, was a football-sized nest of bald-faced hornets right above my kitchen door. The entrance to the hive-like thing was crawling with huge inch-long wasps. “And these are really nasty ones,” the exterminator explained. “They will attack you massively if you just stare at them.”

How could I have missed this all??!! Perhaps it’s the weather — it’s been so brutally hot that we haven’t spent too much time outside. (Note to self: never again judge home sellers who might have missed a little infestation here or there…)

Hornet infestation Chevy ChaseAnother two hours and multiple treatment measures later (I pitied the guy who came to bait ants and ended up having to climb around my house in a beekeeper’s suit,  in 100 F heat), the tiny ants on the kitchen counter looked, well, sweet and harmless.

If you own a home in the DC area, here’s my advice for you: grab a pair of binoculars or even just your sunglasses when you come home today, and then go around the house to check if nature might be trying to take over your place as well.

 

Elly May Clampett & Swimming Holes

Marcie Sandalow Uncategorized ,

When I was a kid “The Beverly Hillbillies” was a really big deal.  It was on the air for seven years and led the ratings for two of them. By the time I got around to seeing it, it was on the afternoon rotation (hardly prime time). It was a pretty goofy show, with plenty of canned laughter.

One of the characters, Elly May Clampett, the curvaceous daughter of Jed Clampett, was as famous for her pitching arm as she was for her love of water. She was a big fan of the swimming hole, the ce-ment pond, and the rather dishy pool in the back of their grand Beverly Hills mansion. Let’s just say that she was a water enthusiast.

And so, without further ado, here’s your link to swimming holes across the United States. It’s a great site full of interesting information about, well, swimming holes, hot springs and spots close to major highways (for a road trip dip!).  Natural lakes or quarries are to be found all around the US.  I’ve been to Beaver Dam near Baltimore.  It’s the first time I’ve ever seen people on a spinning log (they weren’t too good, either).  It had a great rope swing that scared the hell out of me when my own kids were on it. I’ve heard that it has closed down, or severely curtailed it’s offerings. Let’s hope the same can’t be said of your local spot.

Summer is upon us.  Make Elly May proud and take a dip!

Citizen Kane and the Vexing Vallonia

Marcie Sandalow Kit Houses , , , ,

We’ve got a new listing in town, and it’s a Sears Kit House… a Vallonia.. perhaps.  “1928 Sears Bungalow” proclaimed the listing description. I was a little puzzled when I first spied it on the MLS because it appeared to be brick, and I’ve only ever seen Vallonias with wood siding.  Lo and behold, when I got a closer look, I discovered that the “brick” was, in fact, fake brick– more like asphalt siding. Sears actually sold brick veneer, then called “face brick” since the 1910s.  It’s also possible the surface was added later and that, as a national kit house expert likes to say, “some siding salesman had his way with it.”

Still, the charm of the house was able to shine through.  The distinctive exterior posts have endured, along with some original windows and doors, and the interior remains pretty true to the catalog drawings. Things started to fall apart when I pulled out the old tape measure.  Room sizes were off an inch here, a foot there.  And while I could explain away the dip in the rear roof to an addition, the second double window at the front should have been my first clue.  I am vexed.

According to the public record, this house was built in 1928.  Back in the day all 12,000 pieces of the Vallonia (give or take) could be had for $2,071.  As always, options were available for improvement (heat, electricity).  An addition has been put on the back of the house, and they modified the stairway to the 2nd floor and basement somewhere along the way.  I didn’t come across any grease pencil marks or identifying stamps on the exposed beams, though there was some writing on one of them… it appeared to be stained.  And if I had my guess at what it said (upside down, of course) it would be:  651 FALLIED.  What the heck does that mean?  Might this be the kit house equivalent of “Rosebud”? We may never know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lovely house resides in Brookmont– one of the prettier riverside communities in Bethesda and home to a lot of kayak enthusiasts.  Erich Cabe of Coldwell Banker is the listing agent.  This Sears Catalog House/Sears knock-off boasts views of the Potomac (if you can see through all of the trees!).  It’s got 2 bedrooms and a full bath on the main floor (like the original) and 3 bedrooms and a half bath on the second floor.  The basement is walk-out, and has a few finished rooms, but needs a little more work.  Also to be found: pretty hardwood floors, original trim work in most rooms, and a couple of decks.  Available for $849,000.

As always, let us know if you would like help authenticating your mail-order home or if you like to live in an authentic kit house (or a close copy)!  We would be happy to help you find one.

(September 2017 update: After the discovery of a Sears & Roebuck mortgage for the original construction, we are now 100% certain that the house is indeed the real deal! You can see pictures of other authenticated Vallonias in the DC area here.)

 

You Gotta Walk the Walk

Marcie Sandalow Buyers ,

When I first started out in real estate, I remember tagging along with a seasoned agent on our Tuesday Tour.  During the course of our ride, I heard about one of her clients who had found the perfect house… absolutely perfect… but for the neighbors next door.  Turned out the neighboring house was home to their daughter’s ex-boyfriend (so they discovered after they fell in love with it). The daughter nixed the purchase. So continued the search.

As a buyer, you have to walk the walk.  Or, in layman’s terms, get out and about in your possible new neighborhood and get the lay of the land. The time to do this is before you write an offer, or at least before all of your contingencies expire.

It’s your golden opportunity to see how long it takes to walk to metro. Or find the nearest park.  Is it an uphill walk to the bus stop?  Will you need to hop in your car to get to your nearest Starbucks?  Or grab a gallon of milk?  Try to be there during the times that you will be coming and going from work. Do the neighbors talk to each other? Are the streets backed up with traffic? Is there a place where people gather to let their dogs play?  Is there a daycare center near by? Does your daughter’s ex live next door? Or, your ex?!

Most importantly, you should talk to the neighbors.  See if there is anything going on in the neighborhood that is contentious (i.e., new middle school or hospital expansion) or controversial. Ask if there are any nut jobs on your “new” block.  I had one client move into their new home only to find that there was a really troubled teen just 3-doors away.  Eventually the kid moved, but for a couple of years he lurked. Another client moved onto a block only to discover that it was the preferred short-cut for overflow traffic heading north on 355 at rush hour. You don’t get that sort of info on a single Sunday open house.

On the flip side, I once heard of a crafty buyer paying some bums to hang outside a Dupont Circle Sunday open house in order to scare off the competition.  Can you imagine!  Again, a single Sunday shouldn’t be the criteria upon which you base your house-buying decision. Invest a little of your time and hang out… as much as you can.

And remember, please, that what you deem important might not be such a big deal to me.  It’s not that I’m insensitive, but everything is subjective.  It pays to do your homework.  As your agent, I’m pretty good at finding houses.  But I’m not so good at sniffing out barking dogs or brash neighbors.  And, even if I were, that barking dog might melt your heart some day, and the brash neighbor could turn out to be your best buddy. Life’s a gamble.

When making the largest purchase of your life, a little due diligence can pay off.

 

“How Is The Market?”

Catarina Bannier Market Statistics and Updates , ,
market stand--sketch--catarina bannier

market stand--sketch--catarina bannierOne of the big real estate trainers of America has suggested for years that there is only one possible answer to this question, ever: “It depends on where you live.”

Of course, he is right. And for the market we live in, this is one very lucky truth right now. While in some parts of the country property values have dropped more than fifty percent, prices in the DC metro area generally have not, at least not in the very close-in neighborhoods.

But it’s more complicated than that: overall market activity and inventory remain low. Many sellers seem to hold back for more lucrative times, while many buyers have a hard time finding a house.

Want to chat with the experts? Tune in tomorrow at noon to the Washington Post online for a live talk with expert demographer Lisa Sturtevant, who will chat with readers about “why the inventory is so low, what impact it might have on the region and where pockets of affordable inventory remain.”

Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?  I’ll definitely stop by–perhaps I’ll learn something new as well!

 

 

The Sears Kit Houses Of Takoma Park

Catarina Bannier Kit Houses , , , , ,
Kit House in Takoma Park MD
A perfectly preserved Sears “Westley” in Takoma Park, Maryland

Washington DC’s streetcar expansion years in the early 20th century went hand in hand with a construction boom and the development of the city’s first suburbs. The Palisades, Chevy Chase, Shepherd Park and Takoma Park were some of the more prominent ones, and they all have one thing in common: an abundance of Sears catalog homes and other kit houses (namely from Aladdin and Lewis Manufacturing Co.). An abundance in relative terms, that is, because so many of them turn out to be copies or look-alikes.

Others are authentic but might have been modified so much over the years that they will be hard to spot and thus will go unrecognized and forgotten. As sponsors of the Takoma Park House & Garden tour, we have been working together with Lorraine Pearsall and Diana Kohn, president and VP of Historic Takoma Inc.. Over the past couple of years, Marcie and I have started to put together a catalog (no pun intended) of mail-order homes in the Takoma Park Historic District. What could be more fun, and what could be a worse thief of sleep than poring over pictures, old listing records and piles of 1920s catalogs?

While we now a list of about five dozen candidates in North Takoma alone, only a fraction of them has been identified and authenticated beyond a reasonable doubt. There are some mysteries we have discovered together, as well as some amazing historic finds.

Historic Takoma will feature our work in a special section on their website once we feel we have enough solid information assembled.

If you think you own (or live in ) a Sears house or other kit home and would like some assistance in authenticating it, I’ll be happy to help! Just fill out this form and I’ll be in touch shortly.
If you provided a phone number, how do you prefer to be contacted?

The Garage In The Mail

Catarina Bannier Kit Houses , , , ,
1920s Mail-order Garage

1920s Mail-order GarageIf you ordered your house in the mail, some 90 or 100 years ago, and you had enough land (and money for a car) left, you might have wanted a garage as well.

So, not surprisingly, all the major kit house manufacturers–in the DC area mainly Sears and Lewis, but also Aladdin and Gordon-Van Tine–sold garage kits in their catalogs as well. The styles often neatly matched the homes with their exposed rafters, hipped roofs, pretty cedar siding or whatever features the house itself sported.

This blue garage here I spotted during the Takoma Park House & Garden Tour yesterday, in the backyard of a lovely Sears house. (Note that the former driveway had long been blocked by a deck; most modern cars no longer fit into these garages.)

1920s mail -order garage in catalogTrying to verify that it was indeed a kit garage, I went through stacks of 1920s catalogs last night–only to find out the model was actually sold not by Sears but by one of its biggest competitors.

“Ready-Cut Garage No. 102” was offered in the 1923 catalog of Gordon Van-Tine.

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If you own (or live in) a Sears house or other mail-order/ kit house, please click here