1513 Blue Meadow Road - Horizon Hill - $775,000

Listed by Long and Foster

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Horizon Hill was built in the mid 1970's and is a favorite for buyers moving up to the Potomac market. In the Richard Montgomery cluster, the homes here are usually priced a bit less then those in the Churchill school cluster. This presents an opportunity for those buyers that do not place Churchill as high on the buyer checklist.

This is an attractive split on a quiet street in Horizon Hill. The description of the listing led with one word..."WOW!". I was curious to see what the fuss was about.

You notice while walking up the front path that the home had stone veneered to the outside of the house. While it looked great from afar, it did not look as good as you got closer. I wondered if it was misinstalled. It would be foreshadowing to what I would find as I went through the home.

There is terracotta tile in the foyer leading into the kitchen. You step down to the left into a large family or living room with nice hardwood floors. There are upgraded can lights in this room that were done nicely. This is probably the nicest room in the home. The dining room is attached, and has a yellow faux finish painted on the wall. The kitchen has an addition on the back for a breakfast table with lots of windows and natural light. There is granite and pickled oak cabinets that don't quite go with the terracotta tile on the floor. The back splash behind the range is not very attractive. The kitchen is dirty and poorly painted. This room will need to be spruced up when the home finds a buyer.

The upstairs has a master and 3 teen size bedrooms. The bathrooms are upgraded but very poorly done. The master bath has Corian counters and faucets that look dated and are not in style.

Downstairs is done in a hardwood style Pergo. There are two room additions on the back. One is a sun room and the other can be an office. There is a leak in the sun room and it looks poorly constructed. A home inspection is a must in this home. The stairwell leading to the lower level is carpeted in Berber style carpet. A Corian bar and higher end "Zodiac" sink are on this basement level. A full bath behind the bar leads me to believe that at some point this may have been a nanny suite.

The backyard has a pool and large Jacuzzi under an arbor. The base of the Jacuzzi is stone, once again, poorly finished.

This home has good bones, but all of the improvements look as though they were poorly done in the past. Because of the way this home presents, it is going to be difficult to buy this home near its current price. I suspect some of the work will have to be redone, and I cringe to think what the home inspection may turn up.

I think this home needs to be cut in price by close to $100K. Only time will tell what this will finally sell for, but it has already been reduced considerably from $869K in February. I will re-visit this home and report back once it goes under contract.