The Best Areas to Live in Camp Springs, Maryland:

Metro rail access:  Because of its proximity to the Branch Avenue Station, the Auth Road area, especially in the vicinity of St. Philip's Church, has the most convenient access to Metro. The entire area is within walking distance of the station. Note that it's not advisable to walk after dark - the level of crime in the area precludes it.

Pedestrian access to stores:  Neighborhoods along Allentown Road between Old Branch and Temple Hill Roads give you a choice of walking to Padgetts Corner, where the Giant is, or to Pyles Corner, where some small shops are located. Allentown Road has sidewalks, but the walk is not a pleasant one. Traffic whizzing by your shoulder is uncomfortably close. If you live in Westchester, Williams Walk or Coolridge Acres, there are shortcuts that avoid Allentown Road when you go to Pyles Corner. Shopper's plaza in Clinton is also reachable by foot if you know how to cross Tinker's Creek. Note that walking in winter can be an adventure after a snowfall. The county makes no effort to plow or otherwise clear the sidewalks, and with the way people drive around here, walking on the street is not an option.

Most quiet:  The streets on the west side of Camp Springs, off Webster Lane, south of Allentown, are the best choice if you're looking for quietness. Also worth checking are the neighborhoods west of Summerhill Road, and the newer developments behind Crossland High School. You want to be as far away as you can from the Beltway and Branch Avenue. Allentown Road can also be noisy, and so can the dump trucks on Kirby Road. The new Cimamaron Woods development is probably the best overall in this regard, however even there you'll hear the muffled background of traffic at times.

Access to green space: Any neighborhood that adjoins either Camp Springs Park or Tinker's Creek will provide excellent access to a network of walking trails that follow the creek. Folks who live in the Henderson Road area have fairly good access to Henson Creek and the paved bike trail that runs along it. Though it tends to accumulate trash from street runoff, the Tinker's Creek stream valley is quite attractive. It's refreshing to walk the trails along it, and you could conceivably follow the stream all the way to the Potomac if you did some bush-wacking. Best of all, you will almost always have the walking paths to yourself - hardly anyone goes down to the creek from the adjacent neighborhoods, and no one outside the area knows about it. It's not a paved bike trail like the one near Henson Creek, but I'll take the privacy over the pavement. If you're concerned about walking down there alone, take a buddy with you. But I wouldn't worry too much about being accosted, you're more likely to encounter a criminal on a neighborhood street or at the nearby plazas than you are on the trail.
The walking trails along Tinker's Creek have become quite overgrown. I recently paid a return visit to the creek, and saw that the foot paths were not being maintained. It appears that no one is going down there, at least not in the area behind Chesterfield Drive. However, a bit further downstream, starting near the new townhouses that went up off Kirby Road, some off-roaders have cut a new trail for their 4-wheelers.

Automobile access: For drivers Camp Springs is either well situated and badly situated depending on where you drive, when you drive, and how often you drive. Commuters who work in downtown D.C., Capital Hill or the Greenbelt/College Park area are in fairly good shape. But if you have to cross the river to Virginia, or travel around the Beltway towards Silver Spring and Rockville to work, you're going to spend a lot of time in your car. At least you won't have to fight the backups on Indian Head Highway and Branch Avenue, like the folks who live further south do. Commuting issues aside, Camp Springs is actually in a pretty good location. It's more like a suburb of Northern Virginia than it is of Washington. We're close enough that a quick trip to Alexandria, Georgetown or even Arlington is not too painful. You have to learn the traffic patterns, however, so you don't get stuck in a two-mile backup someplace (like on the Wilson Bridge). But that's true of the entire D.C. area.

Value ... You will definitely get more house for your money in Camp Springs. There are many all-brick houses on large lots. The tradeoff is that in general the properties in this area are not kept up as nicely as other places - landscaping, flowers, and so forth. Even big four and five bedroom homes can sometimes have a shabby look to them because the exterior is not well maintained. Their appearance brings down the value of the properties around them.

September 2004: The price of homes in Camp Springs has increased quite a bit since last year when I sold my own house (4+br, 3bath) for $232k. Some folks I knew from church just sold their house on Coolridge Rd. for over $300k. Part of the increase is due to the increased cost of building homes. Personally I still wouldn't pay that much for a residence in Camp Springs. There are simply too many negatives about the area. Now, if you're an investor buying rental property, the situation is different.

Location ... People generally look down their noses at Prince George's County. It's not as densely developed, or "upscale" as its neighbors (Fairfax and Montgomery). However, if you want to be fairly close to D.C., but still live in the suburbs, the best bargains by far are here. Because the development barons have not completely taken over yet, there still remains a bit of green space in Camp Springs, and even a taste of the former rural character of the County, with Biggs farm right in the middle of town.

Schools ... The public schools in Prince George's are awful. What's the problem? You name it: bullying, drug use, bad behavior, vulgarity, overcrowding, lack of discipline, poor academics, no respect for teachers and staff. Of course, the real source of the problem lies in the school administration. From my experience as a substitute teacher in Prince George's, I recommend that you don't allow your kids to attend public school here after the sixth grade. Private school and home schooling are better choices. For an inside look at the public schools, see the excerpt from Chapter 6 of Managing the Spiritual Neighborhood that describes the conditions at Friendly High Schoool. (Note: Camp Springs residents should check out Henson Valley Montessori School on Allentown Road.)

Government ... Prince George's has a typical government bureaucracy:  remote and unresponsive. Truthfully, at the grass-roots level, there really is no government. No one in the county bureaucracy ever shows their face in the neighborhoods and subdivisions. Other than cops, the public servants are invisible. If you're a Garden Zone Manager, expect no support from them.

Community ... Community spirit is present in Camp Springs, but you have to go out and look for it. Depending on what neighborhood you're in, what church you attend, what sorts of interests and activities you have, you can certainly find more than a few community-minded individuals in this area. However, it is not like a planned or an "intentional" community. The anonymous, isolated American lifestyle definitely dominates the social landscape here.

Churches ... There are tons of churches to choose from in and around Camp Springs. Too many in fact. Seems every empty storefront turns into a church eventually. Some of them are good, some are so-so, there are a few really big ones, and a number of small ones, some have a mixed congregation, others are homogenous in terms of racial or ethnic makeup, but there is one church that really does stand out among the rest:  First Baptist Church of Camp Springs, Rev. Robert L Jordan Pastor (member of the D.C. Baptist Convention.). If you want to hear the Christian message from the best possible source, listen to Rev. Jordan. He expresses the essence of Christianity, not only with his speech and his intellect, but with his life. Even if you're not a Christian, anyone, from any religious background, will find a sympathetic resonance in listening to him speak.

- - Rev. Jordan has moved to Elicott City and is now the pastor of the Columbia Baptist Fellowship Church in Columbia, Maryland. http://www.wecare.org/~cbf/ It's a bit of a drive from Camp Springs to Columbia, but I would still recommend that folks attend his sermons if you can get up there. There really is that much of a difference between Bob Jordan and most other preachers you hear.

Crime ... The crime rate is absurdly high here. From June of 2001 to June of 2002, Camp Springs averaged seven robberies per month. (See the Camp Springs Crime Report.) Part of the problem stems from the fact that in recent years a lower class of people have been moving in - coming out of the city. Everyone understands this, but no one wants to talk about it. It's not politically correct. Moreover, the county government has the typical reactionary mind-set:  they think they're going to solve crime by hiring more cops and locking more people up. They don't understand that crime is not a problem for the police to solve. Crime is a problem that the community must solve - the churches, the parents, the teachers and counselors, etc. We're the ones who are not doing our job. The police just mop up the mess when something goes wrong. Unfortunately, people just don't get this. They're not taking responsibility for their own kids.

Cost of Living ... Property tax will cost you around $15 per $1000 of assessed value. The county, the state, parks and planning, the water company and others get a piece of this. State income tax is also quite high. Auto insurance rates are very high because of the high accident rate in this area. To give you an idea, I have a flawless driving record, but I still pay $437 per year to insure a 20-year-old pickup with the minimum liability coverage. Average cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment in Prince George's is between $800 and $1000 per month. Cost of water is relatively low. Energy costs are increasing, but they're not outrageous. Food and clothing costs are reasonable if you look for bargains.

Energy ... There is a consortium of suppliers in the mid-Atlantic area who provide us with electricity. The Washington area is part of a five-state power sharing grid called the PJM Interconnection. We've had no shortages, nor any brownouts in recent years. Pepco and Washington Gas Energy Services are the two choices for residential electric. My own electric bill runs around $80/month on average. Natural gas for the furnace costs about the same, but it has been going up. These figures are probably on the low side, since I don't use the central AC much, and I keep the thermostat low in the winter. Southern Maryland does have good sunshine, and you can make profitable use from solar panels. Excess electricity that you generate gets pumped back the other way, into the power grid, and earns you electricity credits.

Air ... The American Lung Association gave Prince George's County an 'F' rating for its air quality, along with pretty much every other county in the Washington-Baltimore region. The reason: ozone pollution, which is a problem during the hot months. We're not alone, however, as there are 400 counties nationwide, containing 141 million people, that were also rated 'F'. Baltimore-Washington came up as the 7th worst area in the country for air pollution. See the report on the Lung Association web site: http://www.lungusa.org/press/envir/sota2001_release.htm

Water ... Rainfall has been low in the past year (2001-2002) and farmers have been suffering, but residential customers of water companies who get their water from the Potomac River (The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission is the outfit that serves Prince George's County) have had no problems at all. The Potomac provides a very abundant supply. Not many people appreciate what a blessing this really is.

Climate ... One of the best features of the area is the climate. We have mild winters - few days below 15 degrees F, and only two or three snowfalls of any significance. Spring is very long. Last frost is in early to mid April. Azaleas do well here. First frost in the fall might not come until November 1st. Rainfall is decent, but not great - around 40 inches/year. Summers are hot and humid - temperatures often in the nineties. There may be a couple of days where it hits 100. You will need to use the air conditioning now and then between mid-June and late-August. I've been averaging 27 days per year with the AC on.

Environment ... The Garden Zone environment in Camp Springs is crummy, even by sprawling suburb standards. Tons of the debris washes into the creeks. Disco posters and signs decorate the utility poles. They stay up pretty much forever. Litter that collects along the roads can be prodigious in spots. Parking lots at the local strip malls are covered with grease and oil. Noise pollution is typical for a developed area - the roar from cars and trucks is more or less constant. The jet noise from Andrews and National Airports doesn't help any. Bird species are retreating as their habitat is bulldozed. We also have our share of invasive, non-native plant and animal species. Be aware of the mosquito problem if you're an outdoors person. The Asian Tiger has arrived. Hitched a ride in the bilge of a tanker no doubt. A side benefit of globalized trade.

Amenities ... Southern Prince George's has very little in the way of amenities. No restaurants to speak of; no bakeries, no delis, craft shops, or exotic boutiques; no espresso bars or book stores. Camp Springs has two or three nightclubs, but they're not the sort of place you'd take your visiting relatives. Our shopping plazas are all of the strip-mall type, and they're all pretty seedy. On the other hand, if you like to prowl through thrift stores and flea markets, there are plenty to choose from. What's amazing is that the county planners are actually proud of what they've produced in Prince George's. You have to wonder whether these planning folks ever leave their offices. And the county educators are proud of what their school system produces, though none of their graduates seems interested in opening up a local business, to serve the citizens of his or her community.

Stay away from expensive properties ... Some fancy-looking homes are going up in the area, but just keep reminding yourself that this is Camp Springs - not Potomac or Bethesda. You ought to be able to find a very nice, all-brick, four bedroom, 2 1/2 to 3 bath house, on a 1/4 to 1/2 acre lot, with a finished basement, for less than $300k. I realize that houses are selling for more than that now (in 2005), and there are no doubt many folks who work in the District who like the convenience of Camp Springs location, and are willing to put up with the lower quality of life, but I personally don't think the area is worth such a big investment. My advice is to get further out from D.C. - away from the crime, the congestion - into the country, and spend your money there.

Find out who your neighbors are ... Before you sign any contract, knock on doors and visit with the people who occupy the homes around you. Don't be shy. You can usually find some friendly folks who can give you the low-down on what sort of block it is - which, if any, of the neighbors are reclusive, noisy, have parties, have dogs, troublesome kids, come-and-go at late hours, have lots of visitors, etc. Having good neighbors is hugely important to the comfort-level of a new home. 98% of the homes in Camp Springs are quite livable in this regard, but that other 2% should be avoided if possible.

Find out what developments are planned ... Prince George's County is hell-bent on development. Every time you turn around, another patch of woods is being cut down. As congested and over-developed as Camp Springs already is, they are not through with us yet - not by a long shot. If you have a property in mind, and it adjoins an undeveloped tract, find out who owns the adjacent land, and what the zoning for it is. If it's privately owned, it is very likely that it will eventually become a new subdivision. Camp Springs is right in the middle of what has been designated as the county's "developing tier" by the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. Every tiny lot is being built upon, and it's going to continue essentially forever, until there is no more land to develop. The area will gradually become more and more urbanized, which means, more people, more pavement, more cars, more pollution, more crowding, and fewer trees. The planning people think of this as progress.

Keep off the beaten path ... Look for homes at the back of a neighborhood; also on shorter side-streets rather than main entrance roads. Homes on cul-de-sacs and courts can also be a good choice. The idea is to minimize the amount of through traffic driving by your house. Heavier traveled streets are not only noisier, they usually have more crime as well. However, keep in mind that homes which back up to the woods, though nice for people who love nature, present a deer problem for gardeners, as the local deer population is quite high.

Check out noise levels ... There are two kinds of noise to be concerned about - traffic noise and neighbor noise. Neighbor noise comes from two main sources: dogs and stereos (and occasionally a motorcycle or truck with a loud engine). Teenagers who blast their mega-bass stereos after school can be a big annoyance, same with people who play booming music at backyard parties. It's the low bass frequency that's the problem. Traffic noise, in increasing order of intensity, comes from: Temple Hill Road, Kirby Road, Allentown Road, Branch Avenue and the Capital Beltway (Iinterstate 95/495). If you could camp out for a few days in the vicinity of a house, that would be the best way to determine the ambient noise level. Talking to the neighbors is also a good idea. Traffic noise varies by the time of day, the day of the week, and the wind direction. Visit the house at rush hour on a rainy weekday, and also early on a sunny Sunday morning. That should give you a range of extremes.

Ask about crime ... The entire area has a very high incidence of crime. The closer you get towards the D.C. line, the worse it becomes. Even solid, middle-class enclaves like those of Camp Springs have begun to see major crimes like robbery and carjacking taking place right in the neighborhoods. (Click here for 2002 Crime Report). However, it's not the serious crime that you need to be concerned with. Property crime is a much bigger nuisance. Things like car radios being stolen and tool sheds broken into. This is definitely not an area where you can leave your doors and windows open when you go out on an errand. Yet crime level can vary widely from street to street, and even block to block. Here again your best bet is to talk to people who live nearby. A Neighborhood Watch leader, if there is one, is a good source of information. Also talk to the Community Oriented Police Service officer (COPS) for the particular beat you're interested in. (Camp Springs is divided between Police District 5, headquartered in in Clinton, and District 4 in Oxon Hill. Allentown Road is the dividing line.)

Hire a buyer's agent ... A buyer's agent works for you, not the seller. Real estate professionals know the area, know the market, and know what to look for in a house. They're in a better position to find you a good deal.

After having sold my home last year, I have better idea of just how convoluted (ie., sleazy) the real estate racket has become. There was a time when a buyer's agent was a professional you could hire for a flat fee - like a few hundred dollars - to help you locate a property. Now we have a situation where realtors declare themselves to be buyer's agents, and yet they STILL collect a commission on the sale, just like they would have had they been working independently, or for the seller. They produce documents stating that they're working for you, etc, etc, but nevertheless, they get their three percent cut of the sale commission when you go to settlement. It appears that the real estate industry has deliberately muddied the waters in this area. It's almost a con game. So, if you do find an agent who wants to call himself a "buyer's agent", insist on a flat fee arrangement before you sign any sort of agreement. If they say they want a commission on the sale, tell them thanks but no thanks.

Hire a home inspector ... Find a good home inspector. One that has been in the business for a while. Some things to look for are good insulation in the attic, storm doors and windows, double-keyed deadbolts on exterior doors, wet basements, tree roots growing into sewerage pipes, pinhole leaks in copper pipes (see below).

Going through the sale of my house, I learned that having a home inspection does not guarantee that a buyer will discover every relevant detail about the property. Moreover, it's possible that an inspector can locate problems that aren't a big deal, while overlooking more important items. Also, unless a house has major structural defects, the physical condition of the property is itself a minor issue compared to other aspects (like crime, location, etc). If the price of the house is reasonable for the area, a few thousand dollars adjustment either way for repairs is easily negotiated. For example, the buyer who purchased my home used an inspector who appeared to perform a very thorough inspection inside and out. I had already told the buyer that I would replace the roof and the hot water heater, and that I would fix an inoperable dishwasher. The inspector noted these items, but he also said I needed a new air conditioner, based soley on its age. Though I knew the AC had not been used much, I acceeded to replacing it, simply to keep the buyer happy. In fact, the old unit was donated to the school system where it is still functioning. On the other hand, the inspector asked nothing about pinhole leaks in copper water pipes - a real nuisance that all older houses in my water district have. Needless to say, an inspector can tell you nothing at all about the people who live next door.. That sort of information is far more relevant to your future happiness in the house. It's a lot harder to fix a bad neighbor than it is to fix a bad pipe.

Look for three full baths ... The more baths the better. Typically homes in this area have a bath in the master bedroom, another in the upstairs hallway, and a third bath with a shower in the basement.

Look for well kept landscape ... People who keep their yards looking good are likely to have maintained the rest of the property as well. If someone has a real garden, either flower or vegetable, you can bet that they have done a lot of soil amending, since the original top soil gets scraped off and hauled away when a development is built.

Check out foreclosures ... I don't know what the numbers are for foreclosures in Camp Springs, but I'm sure they are high. I've seen quite a few homes in my own neighborhood that have gone into foreclosure. They are great bargains. You have real estate scavengers who post signs up and down Allentown Road advertising "cash for your home". Clearly there must be lots of homeowners in this area who are walking away from their mortgages. It's not that the real estate market is bad, it's the kind of people who are buying homes here.

Favor electric heat ... There was a big increase in the price of natural gas last winter. It seems the cost of heating fuel will never go back down. If I had a choice between identical homes, one with a gas furnace, the other with a heat pump, I would go for the heat pump. Note, however, that on very cold days it's desirable to have an auxiliary heat source - say propane or a wood stove - to make the house comfortable. Otherwise the heat pump could be running constantly and you'll still feel cold..

Ask about pinhole leaks ... If the home you're buying is around 30 years old or older, and it has copper water pipes, it will probably develop pinhole leaks in the pipes, if it hasn't already. This problem is occurring in homes supplied by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. ( http://www.wsscwater.com/cfdocs/copperpipe/pinholescroll.cfm ), which means all homes in Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, Maryland. Quite often the leak will develop in a section of the pipe that is not readily accessible, forcing you to tear out wall and ceiling board to get at the leak. It's a big headache.

Don't plan on living here forever ... The bottom line for Camp Springs is that it's okay to live here for a while, but you shouldn't plan on making this your permanent home. Think about a five to ten year time frame, so you can get back your investment, and don't plan to spend money for major home improvements. The same holds true for pretty much all of Prince George's County. The county planners are taking Prince George's straight down the road to urbanization as fast as they can. They have little concept of the quality of life at the grass roots, and no understanding of what goes into the development of a true community. As a result, you end up with a place that is simply not good enough to put down roots. And if you look 10, 20, or even 50 years down the road, the future does not look very bright for Prince George's. To be fair, the neighboring jurisdictions are on the same path. In fact, the entire world appears bent on transforming itself into one big, sprawling city.

Tips for Sellers

SELL IT YOURSELF !
     You don't need an agent to sell a house. Truthfully it is not that complicated, though it will require some
     time and effort on your part. The biggest time requirement is to be available to show the property when
     people want to see it, which could be almost anytime. They don't often give you much notice. If you have a sign out front,
     a buyer could be driving by and want to look at the place right away. So you have to have it in a presentable condition
     pretty much all the time.

Use a Flat-Fee MLS service
     Suggestion: www.RealEstateByOwnerInc.com
     I used this outfit out of Alexandria, Virginia to get my house listed in the Maryland Multiple Listing Service (MLS). They are
     licensed in Maryland, Virginia and D.C.  Cost was a flat $175. No commissions, no contracts.
     It's an excellent service - they even give you a sign to put up and a packet of forms. Once the
     property is listed, your phone will be ringing every day with calls from agents with buyers who want to see the
     place, but also from agents who want to talk you into letting them sell the house for you. The latter try to scare you into
     thinking you'll never get it sold without their help. Tell them politely to go fly a kite.

Get the price right
     The most important aspect of selling a house is to list it at the correct price for your market. The best thing to
     do is to find out which properties have sold recently in your area, and what their sale price was. Find 2 or 3
     comparable properties close by, and perhaps a few others in neighboring communities.

Offer a bonus to the agent who brings in the buyer
      If you list the property on the MLS, you'll be attracting agents who will come in with their clients. The correct protocol
      is to specify whether you are offering a commission to such agents. This information is included in your MLS listing. The
      customary commission in suburban Maryland is 3% of the sale price. You're splitting in half the 6% that you
      would have paid had you contracted with a seller's agent. This figure is totally under your control. If you
      want to specify less, it's up to you, but you may not attract as many agents. On the other
      hand, if you want to get the house sold quickly, you can offer a bonus on top of the standard 3% commission,
      I offered $1000 bonus plus the 3% commission on the sale of my own property, which was listed at $232k. The
      house sold in about 1 month. I was getting about 1 or 2 calls per day during that time - mostly from agents.

Don't pay any points
     This advice was given to me by a real estate lawyer I consulted before I went on the market. "The seller pays no points,"
      is what he told me emphatically. This has to do with the buyer's finacing. The mortgage company may require the buyer
      to pay, like, 2%, or 2 points, of the sale price as part of the loan package. It actually gets added to the total amount.
      borrowed. It's a convoluted system that these lenders use, and I still haven't gotten clear on the whys and wherefors of it.
      But it does seem that there's no real reason why the *seller* should have anything to do with the buyer getting his loan.
      You simply adjust the price of the property (lower it, in other words), if the buyer can't qualify for the amount you're
      asking, rather than getting into paying points for him. It seems that the only beneficiary would be the lending company,
      because they would have the buyer on the hook for a greater amount. The seller certainly doesn't benefit, because
      it's cash out of his pocket at settlement. Bottom line: if the buyer can't qualify for the price you're asking, either
      negotiate the price down, or look for another buyer. (Unless you want to take back financing, which is a whole
      other ballgame.)

Have a lawyer draw up the contract
      You can find standard home sales contracts on the Internet and elsewhere, but unless you're comfortable with
      legalese, it's best to have a local  real estate attorney draw up the sales agreement between you and the buyer. That
      way all of the correct verbiage will be in it. Note you will also have to find an attorney who will handle the settlement for
      you. This could be the same person. If your buyer has an agent, then most likely the agent will make you an offer in the
      form of a contract, in which case, you simply ask your own lawyer to look it over before you sign it. Be sure the lawyer
      is accessible and has time to do this quickly, and on fairly short notice, so you don't have the buyer waiting
      around for you.

Give yourself enough time to vacate
     The contract will most likely specify a time frame in which the settlement must occur: 30 days from the time that you sign
     seems typical. You may want to adjust that if you're still living in the property. I had lived in my house in Camp Springs for
     17 years, and accumulated quite a lot of material possessions, and though I had 45 days until the settlement, I still found
     myself scrambling like mad to get the house totally empty and cleaned during the last hectic weeks that I occupied it.

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