Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Urban Turf: Is H Street Worth It?

A local real estate blog hosts a reader discussion of buying in the area.

16 comments:

priced out forever said...

You can either sit around and piss and moan how capitol hill is too expensive today or you can wait 5 years and piss and moan how capitol hill and H ST/Trinidad is too expensive.

ro said...

agreed. H st. is either the best kept secret in DC real estate or the worst kept secret depending on how open minded you are. there is still a lot of value here residentially (and commercially) that is hard to find in other parts of the city, especially north of H and on the eastern end of H past 13th/14th st. it will still take a few more years before H St. is really flourishing, but the seeds have been planted.

Anonymous said...

In 1999 I purchased my home North of H street.My desire was to live within a 5 block radius of the Capitol.However,my pockets were not long enough.Looking back,I'm glad I purchased my home because I like the property,not because of chasing what I thought was the next hot neighborhood.Based on the comps ,completed projects,and new development the neighborhood will be a great destinations spot.So,if you like the property buy if.



5th STREET

Rob said...

I have to chuckle at the comments on that link like how people are going to mock the writer for living in NE, and how they tremble in their boots at the danger lurking north of H St.

I was a fool and didn't move in until I was priced out everywhere but Trinidad. Still, I reasoned that it is contiguous w/ residential streets all the way to Capitol Hill, it's surrounded by a beautiful cemetery to the north and a beautiful campus to the west. Since then H St. has taken off (again the comment about how H St hasn't changed was humorous) and so has NoMa. Traffic outside the District just keeps getting worse...I think Trinidad will be a prime house hunting spot once the economy recovers for all these reasons. Buy your $250K house now and I think you'll be happy in five years.

Greg in SoFlo said...

To: All you naysayers

Do you know that a row house with no parking and no outdoor space (I mean ZERO) just sold on 6th and L for nearly $750,000 in 6 days (sale hasn't closed yet) and 1114 and 1116 7th St. NE both sold in about a week for over $ 500k....H St real estate prices are already moving in and if you wait you will wish you would moved in with them now rather than later when you will be paying the huge premium once the trolley starts rolling.

Anonymous said...

I think the area north of H and south of florida ave has already peaked. Values skyrocketed between 2001 and 2006. We've pretty much missed to boat for that area but Trinidad (North of florida ave) still has some good deals

not on parker said...

I think the area north of H and south of florida ave has already peaked. Values skyrocketed between 2001 and 2006. We've pretty much missed to boat for that area but Trinidad (North of florida ave) still has some good deals

Houses of the same stock in the "cute/tidy" areas south of H Street NE still command atleast $100/ft² more than houses north H Street NE. Great example: http://www.homesdatabase.com/DC7134063. Although Near Northeast won't ever have the caché of Capitol Hill, the disparity in property values between the two will ultimately be reconciled.

Anonymous said...

there will always be disparity between the two areas in terms of home values.
The point is it's a little too late to be buying south of florida ave. I wouldn't exactly call that area affordable anymore. Yes I know capitol hill is more expensive but so is $550,000 for a 3 bed 2 bath rowhouse north of H st.

Anonymous said...

it all depends on what shape the house is in and what you're willing to put into via elbow grease and/or dealing with contractors. Tom Faison is making a killing by flipping houses in the H St area, but there are still fixer uppers for less available south of Florida. i have a new neighbor who bought his place for around 300K, he'll need to put 100K or less into it but will be in better shape than someone who buys a flipped house for $500K+ with all the swank trimmings but less intangibles like a yard...

Anonymous said...

Greg - I saw that! The thing that makes me jealous is that they bough it in April for less than $300k!

Tom A. said...

Well folk, I had to put my house on the market and relocate to Montgomery County because of an ailing mother-in-law. It's in the eastern part of the Atlas District that someone mentioned is still affordable. (A block from The Argonaut.) Feel free to take a look at the listing and ask any questions or comment about it on here.

http://tiny.cc/K8ekH

Unknown said...

I don't agree when people say 'you can only find an affordable house in Trinidad' in the NE area. People should take a look at the Rosedale neighbourhood. There are some really nice, affordable homes around there. I would probably stick closer to Oklahoma Avenue, rather than 15th/Maryland, due to safety reasons. I especially like the tree-lined 21st. I recently bought a row house down on C St. NE, but I drive through the five or six blocks of Rosedale every morning on the way to work. I wouldn't have considered Rosedale before, but now that I drive around there frequently, and gotten to know the area, I would definitely recommend it. I would also consider homes on/around Oklahoma Ave - you may have some amazing park-front property on your hands soon enough:

http://www.ncpc.gov/initiatives/pg.asp?p=rfkstadiumsiteredevelopmentstudy

http://www.ncpc.gov/UserFiles/File/PDF_files/RFKReportFINAL.pdf

The 190 acres in/around the stadium is not private land - it belongs to the Federal government, leased to the city for use as a sports complex. If/when DC United leave RFK, all kinds of development will occur in this area. All this, of course, is speculation, and, in my opinion, none of this will likely start for at least a decade. Which is fine by me. I like the neighbourhood as it stands, and frankly, I don't want douche-bags moving in, whose only intent is to flip a property within a couple years for a profit. Rosedale is fairly stable - most of the people have lived here all their lives and the new comers seem to want to stay here long term as well. It's an alternative worth considering to the H. St. area.

- Kevin

Greg in SoFlo said...

I tried to sell a house that was under $300k (on 7th around L St. NE) to several of my clients, but, they couldn't see the value there. I have no doubt that whoever eventually bought it will have to put about $120k into it but will have a home worth $500k and a beautiful home custom made for them! As I write this there are a few properties under $300k in SoFlo.

Anonymous said...

When I was looking in that area the offerings on H St. weren't enough to lure me away from a friend base in NW. Outside of those two hip blocks the retail was kind of depressing. Now that I've landed in Petworth I only wish we had as many cool places to go out. But there were a lot of 9 am winos sitting on the corners in Rosedale and Trinidad was lind of schizo (thugs and yuppies.) Is it better now than it was last fall?

Anonymous said...

As a 10 year home owner in the H corridor,I can see the progress each year.

Anonymous said...

A soon as I can get rid of the section 8 house on my street i will have one of the nicest places in NE. I will never sell as long as i work in DC.