Relocating to DC Area

I just moved to chantilly va from CA 2 months ago. We are renting a townhome. It's a beautiful 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath, 1500 sqft. fireplace, laminate wood floor, nice big kitchen. We pay $1450 for rent. BUT, there are some other townhomes on our street that are for sale for only $185000. Chantilly is only about 25 minutes from DC, and we are only about 15 minutes to the Vienna metro station in Fairfax. It is possible to find something. The townhomes we are in are a little bit older, I think they were built in 1985, but mine at least is upgraded and very nice inside.

I would look in Montgomery County, Maryland. It's got good schools and is not far from DC. You can find a decent house in southern Montgomery County, Maryland for under $300,000, especially with the housing market the way it is right now. You just need to do your homework when it comes to schools. I live in Silver Spring, Md, the (20902) area of Silver Spring We bought a house in 2009 in a great neighborhood for $240,000. We also live only a mile from a metro station. You will not find a house closer in to DC after 1985 for under $300,000, maybe a townhouse. I would not recommend moving in to DC unless you really like urban living, high cost, crime, and crappy public schools. This would also include Prince Georges county another one with lots of crime and bad schools. There are other nice areas but it would be more than an hour of commute time for your husband.

You're scewed- unless you live way outside the city and take a train to work. Lived the dream there for 26 yrs! Even if you find a foreclosure-the taxes in Montgomery Co. MD are staggering. Good luck!

D.C. traffic is horrible. Sadly, you will probably be disappointed at what you can buy in D.C., Virginia, or Maryland for what you paid for your home in Aurora. You probably won't find anything family-friendly at your price point anywhere within 10 miles of D.C. And even if you did, you would probably want to send your kids to a private school.

Fairfax County might be a good compromise for you. Oakton and Vienna have good schools and Metro access. Your husband's commute by car would be about an hour in rush hour traffic. You would probably have to buy a townhouse or a condo though. And even then, it would be a small one.

Loudon County houses are nice and affordable. These neighborhoods are a lot like the western suburbs. But your husband's commute would be AWFUL.

Good luck to you. If you're still trying to decide whether or not to relocate, you should definitely consider the high cost of living before you finalize your decision.

I would look at schools first. Check out the www.greatschools.org website, find some school districts you are interested in and then look for houses. The school districts vary widely, at least you'd be able to narrow your home search that way. Housing is very expensive there -- lived there for 10 years, miss it but glad I don't have to deal with the housing costs.

Virginia tends to be cheaper than Maryland, but that is not always the case. Public transportation is the way to go for commuting into DC.

We used to live in Gaithersburg MD and my husband worked in DC. He would go in around around 5am so that he could leave around 3pm. His commute was an hour at least and this was not during the normal "rush hour". (We had small children that he wanted to see in the evenings) In the beginning he took the metro, but the cost for that is pretty expensive for an every day use once you add in parking. It became less expensive to drive and pay to park in DC. As far as housing that is why we moved away from that area. I can't speak for current costs but a little over 3 years ago you could not even buy a town house in Gaithersburg for less than 350K, I know because we were house hunting at the time. You could always rent a home or town home, but expect to pay at least $1500. a month for either of those. The closer to DC proper that you get the more you will pay and for less space. We rented a very tiny town house at the time with about 1500 square feet of living space and paid $1300 a month and that was cheap 3yrs ago. So all I can say is good luck and I hope you find something or try to relocate somewhere else if possible.

You said DC area....that is a big area people say they live in DC area and live out in Stafford (spelling?)...pretty cheap out that way. Compute will be long no matter where you live that area is very congested....used to take me 45 mins just to go 12 miles up the road.

You will be flying to work but once you hit Woodbridge/Alexandria then traffic will just stop for no real reason.

S.:

You don't need to live IN DC. We have a really good public transportation system.

Our housing market took a hit - but not as big as others in the nation. A 3K sqft home in Reston, is anywhere from $300K and up. I have 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 car attached garage - 3K sq ft. I was lucky - we bought in '96 for $176. A house JUST like ours sold for $555K last month.

The best advice I can give you is to RENT first. make sure you are comfortable with the area, schools, etc. before you purchase. Please feel free to inbox me and I will help you however I can!

Check out Ashburn, Va and Leesburg, Va.
No matter where you are in the DC area - the traffic is a nightmare.
I lived there for 21 years and moved away from it 4 years ago.
My husband has to go back for a meeting every so often and he's SO glad he doesn't have to deal with it every day.
Here's a relator for that area who's good:

http://137873.yourkwagent.com

S., can you give some more details? Where will you and/or your husband be working? What is your deal-breaker as far as commute time you or he is willing to spend each day? You don't want to live way out in, say, Leesburg, Va., if you're working in downtown DC -- it's doable but a looooong commute, and the Metro (subway) does not run all the way to Leesburg....So more details on what you need to be near, whether driving or taking Metro is the preferred option, etc. would help. How important is the school district quality? Do you care if you're in DC, or VA, or MD? Do you care if you have to drive a while to get to, for instance, a grocery store, or does saving on house price mean more than having close-by stores etc.? Info will help those of us in the area to help you. By the way, yes, I agree with the person who said you might want to rent first to find out truly where you want to be around here! The "DC area" is vast and can mean everything from 2 hours south of DC in Virginia, to way east of DC in Maryland, etc.!

UPDATE based on your additional info....
I live in Vienna, which is a great town (part of the huge Fairfax County area but an incorporated town, so it has its own town government). Fairfax County schools are considered very good, and so are Montgomery County (MD) schools -- check both out online. Chantilly, which someone mentioned -- I can't believe it would be 25 minutes to DC, as was posted -- maybe "as the crow flies" on a Sunday morning, but not in rush hour traffic! Another place that could work for you is Arlington, Va -- much closer in to DC. but I'm not sure about housing prices there.

If I were you I would (1) start working now, from up there, with a real estate agent who knows the area well and (2) rent at first, not buy. I would think you will find it very hard to resell a house here if you choose the wrong location/house/school district the first time out, because a lot of houses are just sitting on the market right now and not selling. Good for buyers, potentially, but know your desired area before you commit! A good realtor should be open to working with renters because he or she will see that you want to buy eventually and would be a potential client for purchasing later.

This is a wonderful, wonderful area with kids. There is SO much to do, both free and otherwise, both educational and just fun, with and for children! Don't fear DC, either -- you can look thereffor a home too, but I don't know the school situation, which is always a source of controversy in the paper here; if you get in the area for certain public schools it may be great. And there are some excellent private schools there and all over the area. But I only know the suburbs, as a resident. I do take my child into DC for lots of activities and hope you will do the same!

It's expensive here. Sorry. You might do better to look for a condo or townhouse vs a single family home. I think prices in VA are better than in MD. The 'DC area' is kind of vague. The Metro runs trains all the way to Springfield and all the way up to Gaithersburg. People might consider Frederick "the DC area". We live in Montgomery County, but Fairfax has good schools, too. Your husband should find out if he'll be able to drive and park (for example, near the Pentagon is HOV3 and contractors rarely get parking passes) or if Metro is a better option. Then you can decide if you need to be closer to the highway or the train station.