JBG1973

JBG1973 t1_jc4xosp wrote

When we moved to Baltimore for work in our 20's we immediately bought what we assumed would be our forever home in Cockeysville. Seven years later we moved into the city and have never looked back.

When considering the commute to UMMC you need to consider how long it takes to get to 83 and whether there will be traffic on 83 at the times that you go. Most homes in Cockeysville are on the other side of York road from 83 and there are frequent accidents on 83 that can greatly lengthen your commute.

We did not really understand what living in true suburbs was like when we moved to Cockeysville and while there are lot of choices for groceries we could not walk to anything.

But the most important reason we did not like Cockeysville is that most of the people, in addition to being older, were born and bread in the suburbs of Baltimore and it was EXTREMELY difficult to meet/make friends. "Old Baltimore" culture is based around where you went to high school.

As some of the other threads recently have hinted at, Baltimore suburbs are very opposed to public transportation. I remember thinking that when they were going to put a bus stop at the entrance to our development that would be a good thing and would expand the number of nannies that I could hire but the neighborhood was universally opposed and the agreement was that the bus would go down the street but not have any stops anwywhere near the neighborhood. The listing comments included concerns that we were too close to apartment buildings, the closest which were over a mile away. Now, if this is the attitude you are looking for you might really enjoy Cockeysville.

We love living in the city..we have a yard that is just big enough for entertaining, and we enjoy being able to walk along the trails in the city and walk to the grocery store, Walgreens, our eating spots occasionally. We have been living in the city for fourteen years. Our neighbors are friendly, work together and are not limited to hanging out with their high school friends.

There are a lot of smaller family homes or townhomes with larger yards tucked away in the north baltimore corridor...Evergreen is close to the Stoney run trail, Miss Shirley's and other eateries and the homes have large enough yards to entertain...all of the neighborhoods listed in this thread are good choices.

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JBG1973 t1_j7rtedq wrote

I would like to compare the success of city school students on these tests to the success of Fox news viewers.

As a parent of a student at one of these schools, all of the data that we have suggest that our child is doing just fine in math (math SAT, National merit commended scholar, AP exam scores) so I tend to think that there is something unique about the data set that Fox is misinterpreting.

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JBG1973 t1_j6p238i wrote

To get to 2078 square feet you have 1750 sq feet above grade and 328 sq feet for a finished basement area. Based on the pictures in the listing this finished basement area is knotty pine walls/tile floor that was being used as a weight room. This 328 square feet is not as valuable as the above ground space in the other house. For reasons I do not understand, the sun room does not appear to be in the listing square feet. In the floor plans in the listing they give the sun room as 14 ft x 9' 7". This would be an addition 134 sq feet of space.

The house that the lawsuit is about is 2600 above grade and 940 sf finished basement. There are no photos of the finished basement in the previous listing, but it does say it has a jetted tub and could be a separate living space.

I generally agree with your analysis, but the size comparison should be 1864 sq ft (giving the sun room) to 2600 sq ft OR 2212 sq ft to 3540 sq ft.

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JBG1973 t1_j6nx4ck wrote

Googling a few more articles about this case leads to the address:

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/appraisal-firm-loandepot-sued-by-black-couple-for-bias/

The issue in this case is that the house is on the corner, and the address is not on Northern Parkway. This is the section of Northern between Charles and York, not the section between Charles and 83 which is 6 lanes rather than 4 lanes.

The fact that it is on the corner and has a driveway/garage and sidewalk access from a corner street is more desirable than if it was in the middle of the block on Northern.

The house at the center of the dispute:

The computer estimate from redfin is $627,550. The state assessment for 1/22 is 622,000.
4 beds, 3.5 bath, 2600 square feet finished, 11, 395 square feet land. They have made "tens of thousands" of improvements since the initial purchase, although I have not seen any updated pictures of specifics since the listing photos when they bought it.

Across the street and still on Northern:

Sold 2/4/21 for $450K. Redfin currently estimates it at 495,900 It was assessed at $462, 300 by the state at the same time the house in question was. It has 1930 square feet, 2.5 baths, and 10, 772 square feet of land. I don't see the bedrooms listed. This house has a "newer gourmet" kitchen with the heavy tile that is now considered very out.

The house in question in the article that sold next door had a new kitchen (we don't know what improvements the couple in question made) and 1970's bathroom. To get to this house you will need to enter the back door through the kitchen and walk around the house to get to the front door. This is different than the house in the center of the controversy in which you can park on the side of the house and take a direct sidewalk to the front door.

The comp that sold for $465 on 8/21/21 is now listed on Redfin at $526 and is assessed by the city at $487,000. It has 2.5 baths, beds not listed, 1750 sq feet above grade living area and 12671 sq foot lot.

In order to get a 472 appraisal compared to the house that sold at the same time for $465 gives $7 k for an additional 950 square feet of living area, an additional bathroom and side access to the front of the house without stopping on Northern Blvd (which I believe is no parking). 140 square feet of sunroom reduces the additional square feet from 950 to 700.

It is hard for me to believe that the $472 appraisal was particularly accurate. The $750 appraisal does not appropriately address the Northern Blvd problem. However, I have seen plenty of appraisals for houses on busy roads that do not properly knock of for how undesirable busy roads are.

It is more likely that the "staging/impression of who lived there" led to a 10% devaluation than the 50% devaluation that the NY times claimed. It is hard for me to understand that someone would buy $750K for a house on Northern with a very dated 1949 façade. You have a lot of options at that price and the houses behind it completely on Churchwardens were selling for less.

While not headline grabbing, a consistent 10% devaluation of property values for black homeowners has pretty significant long term consequences for building wealth.

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JBG1973 t1_itjgk4w wrote

Just a FYI on the high schools...

When people here magnet schools by admissions, they tend to think of hyper competitive magnet schools like Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax County or Hunter or Stuyvesant in NYC. The formal cutoff for City is 65th percentile on nationally normed standardized tests and successful grades in middle school. Students of educated parents who are spending time researching schools will most often have test scores in the 65th percentile. At a school like Stuyvesant you are looking at 95th+ percentile of those who take the test for magnet schools.

Baltimore School for the Arts is by artistic potential.

But for the most part if you are in a good elementary/middle district your student will be able to go to one of the good public high schools

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JBG1973 t1_itixn5c wrote

My husband grew up in Canarsie, and we have lived in Baltimore for nearly 20 years (and raised a child here) so he is not up to date on the current vibe in Flatbush, but for similar housing stock and a Jewish turned black now become more mixed neighborhood with architecturally appealing brownstones I would add reservoir hill to your list. Druid hill park is a great asset, but the neighborhood is lacking in "walk to amenities (coffee shops, restaurants, grocery, etc).

For example this one: https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/2430-Eutaw-Pl-21217/home/10866259

On a two (even public interest) lawyer salary I would also consider Roland Park, Guilford and Tuscany Canterburry. Tuscany Canterberry is all row homes, Roland Park and Guilford have large row homes at the edges (they were built to keep the riff raff out).

I find that those that choose to live in the city are pretty committed to the city and making it better and therefore very neighborly. I know that our block really looks out for each other and my impression is that is true in many parts of the city.

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