Prince George's Couple Set Their Sights Higher
Larry Harley and his wife Joyce looking over the upstairs bathroom in one of the houses they saw in the Bowie area.
(Larry Morris - The Washington Post)
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Sunday, March 26, 2006
Joyce and Larry Harley of Bowie think this spring smells like opportunity.
As in: An opportunity to cash in the pile of equity they have built up in 10 years in a very nice house so they can move up.
And as in: An opportunity to take their time choosing their next place. "We have no deadline," said Larry. "We're taking our time."
On a sunny Sunday this month, the Harleys visited seven upscale Prince George's County houses, with lots of extras and upgrades. All were listed for between $625,000 and $750,000. The outing included a second trip to a "to die for" property, according to Joyce, where the price had just been trimmed from $715,000 to $685,000.
It was their third week of shopping, but the couple still hadn't spotted the perfect place.
"They'll know it when they see it," said their agent, Anthony L. Williams of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Upper Marlboro.
The couple now live with two of their children in a four-bedroom, three-bath Colonial in west Bowie. It's "a really great house," said Joyce, a no-nonsense technology worker. But she would love a bigger kitchen and a more spacious master bedroom and bath, maybe with a separate sitting room so she can stay up and watch TV without bothering Larry.
And Larry, who works in computer operations, imagines himself with a bigger basement for entertaining. Because he really likes to relax when he is off duty, he wants a low-maintenance yard that offers privacy but much more room for barbecues. He also wants to be in a neighborhood with less new construction noise and traffic.
And the Harleys' 2,300-square-foot house, built in 1990, seems a bit crowded these days. They moved there in 1996 when their daughter Lauren was 6 and their son Zachary was 4. Now, Lauren's getting ready to drive and Zachary's nearing high school. And they have a grandson, 7, who needs a bedroom when he visits. Their oldest daughter, Nikia, is in the Navy.
"We'd always planned to take a look at where we were after 10 years," said Joyce. "We wanted to try and upgrade a little before it's time to start the college thing."
The hot housing market of recent years has given them the means to move up. They paid $189,000 for their house after returning to the United States from five years in England. Larry, a Capitol Heights native, had thought the price was high at that time. But now the house is worth more than twice what they paid.
Here's how the day of house hunting went.
