Help me Find a Home in VA, MD DC area and still afford Disney!!

[LIFERBABE]

Considering taking a job in DC (a promotion and career move) but I am having sticker shock over the homes!!

I want what all good Disers want! A nice home, good schools and family life and still be able to go to WDW once a year.

Please help! It's myself, Dh and 2 boys (10,8)

Am I missing something or looking at the wrong sites? My budget is 300,000. (In Texas, I could buy 3 homes! )

 

[punkin]

$300K is really VERY low for this area. However, the market seems to be tanking nicely. In a year or so you may be able to afford a nice townhouse in a good neighborhood. Where will you be working and what kind of commute are you looking for? There is chaper housing further out.

The good news is that I saw a DING on Southwest last month for $29 each way to Orlando, so Disney is rather affordable from here. (I am so cheap that I drive-the drive is doable too - 14 hours with stops - and you don't need to get a car)

 

[giasmom]

Good luck!! We moved from Northern VA to Richmond last year becuase we couldn't afford a home in the area and we wanted to upgrade from our townhome. We sold our 4 bedroom 3 level 2000 SQ foot townhome last year for $400K and we lived in Ashburn, VA. Which is a long commute to DC. Depending on where you are working you could be looking at an hour +commute if you work in DC to get something affordable.

Homes in the Northern VA area start around 500K and go up from there for 300K you will be in a really bad area and could get at most a condo.

Sorry. If you have any questions on the area just PM me and i'll help you out if I can.

Considering taking a job in DC (a promotion and career move) but I am having sticker shock over the homes!!

I want what all good Disers want! A nice home, good schools and family life and still be able to go to WDW once a year.

Please help! It's myself, Dh and 2 boys (10,8)

Am I missing something or looking at the wrong sites? My budget is 300,000. (In Texas, I could buy 3 homes! )

 

[leslieh]

I live in Southern Maryland, Calvert Cty. Things are crazy here with homes, dd and husband bought a new Ryan TH for 303,000. Its in a great area a few miles from the bay. Its exactly 33 miles to the US Capitol from our door. DH worked there for over 30 years. You can go further south to save on housing, but the drive and time would cost you. It takes a little over an hour here during rush hour. The schools are great here also, dd will be getting her masters in elementary ed this summer and hopes to be teaching by Sept. in the school she, I and my dad went to

 

[LIFERBABE]

$300K is really VERY low for this area. However, the market seems to be tanking nicely. In a year or so you may be able to afford a nice townhouse in a good neighborhood. Where will you be working and what kind of commute are you looking for? There is chaper housing further out.

The good news is that I saw a DING on Southwest last month for $29 each way to Orlando, so Disney is rather affordable from here. (I am so cheap that I drive-the drive is doable too - 14 hours with stops - and you don't need to get a car)

Hi Punkin, I know that is really cheap! I will be working right in D.C. by the mall. How far out do I need to go? I will be working 4 days a week so a little bit longer of a commute is alright (by train preferably) for a better quality of life and schools.

Oh, I will receive a monthly Metro pass to catch the train to work.
Thanks for your help!

 

[Rhia]

I live in on the border of WV and VA. A lot of people around here commute to DC. Our area is really growing, they are building a movie theatre, Target, etc right across the street. the houses are still affordable here too. We want to sell our house and move to Dallas, TX.

We live in Ranson/Charles Town, WV

 

[punkin]

I really only know Montgomery County, MD. There are some good school districts here. There may be something in your price range around Gaithersburg or Olney. The school districts there are not too bad. As far as the Metro, it does not go that far North and you would probably have to drive to the closest station. The chaper areas closer to DC do not have good school districts (Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Potomac which have the best schools are out of your price range).

Have you considered renting for a while to get the feel of the area? Like I said, the market is going down, you will probably get more for your money if you wait a few months. (the people across the street from me bought their house for $725K at the height of the market last year but it is probably worth around $650 now and getting lower with every sale that's a comparable) You will also get to know the area and figure out where you want to live.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I live in on the border of WV and VA. A lot of people around here commute to DC. Our area is really growing, they are building a movie theatre, Target, etc right across the street. the houses are still affordable here too. We want to sell our house and move to Dallas, TX.

We live in Ranson/Charles Town, WV

Hi Rhia, I was looking at the border cities of WV. How are the schools there?
Are the taxes better in WV. It is alot more reasonable. Can you recommend some builders in your area. I am looking at the Ryan homes site now. Thanks Leslieh!

Rhia, you will love Dallas! I really like it here, but I have hit the brick ceiling in my career and I still have a long time to go for retirement. I already miss Texas, but I know we will return.

 

[Marshay]

Unfortunately for you, $300K prob won't even get you a nice TH in Northern VA...If you are ok with a much older home, or one that is small (2 BR?), then you may be able to find something. But you definitely will need to commute or live in a "transitional" neighborhood.

It's just a tough situation. My house in Ashburn has more than doubled in less than 5 years. I couldn't afford it today. We could sell and make $$ but couldn't afford to buy anyplace else close by...

Another alternative may be to live in a group home situation until you get to know the area and see if it is right for you. I did this for many years until I saved enough to get an apartment, then married. (EDIT: I re-looked at your sig and see you have children...so guess group home won't work)

Anyway, I do wish you the best of luck. If you want to talk to a real estate agent, I can recommend someone to you. Just send me a PM.

 

[suevee]

Hi,

I live in Columbia Md Our 2200 brick twnhse community is valued around $330,000 to $350,000. Prices in our area are stablized but unlikely to go down much with the base re-alignments. There are a lot of people in our area that commute to DC. We are situated between Baltimore and DC. AOL has listed our area as one of the top ten places to live in the US.

 

[LauraR]

Hi, I live in Columbia, MD, which is in between D.C. and Baltimore. A lot of federal workers live around here and take the bus into D.C. My husband works for NOAA and takes the bus to Silver Spring and a neighbor takes the bus down to the Dept of the Interior in D.C. I know my husband's commute is about an hour (he gets the metro checks, too, and is a lot more relaxed than if he had to drive!) We have a duplex that we are renting out that is about 1,100 sq. ft. and would probably sell for about $300,000, and we just bought a 2,200 ft. single family home for $500,000. Prices have dipped a bit recently, but not a whole lot. Columbia is a nice place, though, with a system of paths for biking and jogging and some small lakes. The Howard county school system is one of the best in the state, also, which was a big draw for us. And we like to go into Baltimore, a lot, which only takes about 25 minutes.

 

[pamouselover]

Welcome to the east coast. We have high taxes too!
I love PA., but boy does it cost!
Maryland is very nice.
When you get there must go to ocean city maryland beach. By far the best beach on the east coast.
Sorry N.J friends, OCNJ is great too!
Can you tell I am thinking SUMMER, beach.
If it ever gets warm up here!

 

[Rhia]

I dont know about the schools really.. we homeschool. The area is really nice though!
WV has a tiered income tax to 6.5%
6% across the board sales tax, recently to food at 5%
Higher than average gas tax
One of the highest business taxes in the nation
i got the above info from another website. Are you in TX now? hehe, we can just trade houses, LOL! i do like it here though, its not quite as fast paced as No VA but it's not slow either.
Feel free to PM me with any questions or anything!

 

[StephMK]

Hi, We moved from NoVA in December to Omaha, NE. We lived in Fairfax County - still a commute but not too far. Great schools, plenty of parks & county amenities. I like longandfoster.com for searches - easy & can limit to criteria & see pics plus fairly up to date status. I did some quick searches and there are some places you can get a TH or condo for that price.

You can go farther down 95 into Prince William Co, longer commute but slightly more affordable. Unfortunately, in the last few years prices have skyrocketed & the area of expensive places keeps spreading farther & farther outward. Or if you head as far south as Fredericksburg, there are several SFH in the $315k range, could probably get one down to your fig but you're exchanging a long commute time.

With any of the areas, there are nice & not so nice areas. If you have questions about VA, I'd be happy to try & help. I lived there most of my life until now.

Good luck w/your promotion & move! I can't say I miss most of the area but your boys are at a great age to explore all the historial sites/museums, etc.

 

[mommapoppins]

I am also from WV, although still quite a way from DC, but I don't think taxes are all that bad... I don't really know how this would compare to VA or MD but sales tax is 6%. Our real estate taxes are reasonable in Nicholas county - and the cost of living is low also.Crime rates are low as well. All in all WV is one of the best places on earth... next to Disney World!

 

[suevee]

Compared to other states the cost of housing is high in Md. But I don't think the property taxes and homeowners insurance is that bad. My brick 4 bedroom, 2 full bath, 2 half bath, 2200 sq ft Twnhse is appraised at $330,000. My property taxes are a little less than $3000 per year and my homeowners ins. with replacement value is only $700 per year (just went down by $200). Also even though we drive a distance to work my car insurance for an Odyssey and an Accord is only $82 a month, approximately $970 a year.

My neice moved here from Neoga Ill. She said once you get over the sticker shock of the homes everything else is comparable and some things less.

Depending on where you work, you may want to look in the Pasadena/Severn area for more reasonable homes.

 

[Kellydelly]

My sister and her family moved from MI to northern VA three years ago; her husband is a federal agent working in DC. They ended up buying a home in Woodbridge. They bought a 4 bedroom colonial for I think $350,000. It was older (needs some updating), no garage, and barely has a driveway (nothing like MI homes). She wanted to cry when she saw the home prices and the difference between what you could buy down there compared to MI . Coming from TX, the sticker shock will be even worse for you. I think her home is worth over $400,000 now. I hope you find a great area for your family, good luck!

 

[missymouse]

There is some housing in Frederick County, and Washington County around Sharpsburg and Hagerstown areas that you might want to look into. Not sure what size house you are looking for or if you are interested in a townhouse. When we moved from Dallas we too had sticker shock. We had a 2100 sq. ft home in Richardson so as a family of 5 that is what we were looking for or even something slightly larger. We both were not interested in townhouses. We found that 5 years ago to get something similar was double what we had paid for the house in Texas. So we came in with a budget of I think $200-$300K and ended up adding not quite $100K to that. We have done ok financially because we discovered that with the differences with sales tax and utilities it wasn't so bad. Our house payment was initially $1K more per month than it was in TX but is now only $600/month more because of refinancing as interest rates went down.

Currently the electric bill comes every other month and it about the same as the house in Texas was per month and out current house is almost 1000 sq ft. larger.

The gas bill is less than the gas bills in Texas, and the water bill which comes once every 3 months is about the same as I was paying monthly in Texas.

Insurance is about the same for the house.

Sales tax is a flat 5% so that is 3.25% less here. Property taxes are significantly less on this house also. Our 2006 property tax was $5225

The FCPS schools are all pretty good some are better than others. If you decide to take the job and end up in Frederick County PM me and I can tell you which schools are perceived to be the better ones.

The negative about Frederick and Washington Counties is that Metro doesn't come that far north and you would have a long commute. You can take a MARC train into DC which would drop you off at Union Station near the mall or you could drive as far as the Shady Grove Station in Gaithersburg to catch the Metro.
There is some talk of expanding Metro further north but I don't know any of the details.

 

[PlutoPony]

How much of a commute are you REALLY willing to undertake? WV will be over an hour to downtown DC (and I don't know how much more than an hour) unless you're working off hours. Truly it's hard to imagine some of the commutes people put up with on a daily basis, and if you have kids do you want to spend 2-3 hours in the car in addition to your normal working day? Definitely a tough trade off around here of location/$$/commute time. You might look at the outer reaches of the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) and MARC (MD version) paths and see how housing prices are out there. There are the commuter rail lines and go out further than METRO (i.e. subway). For VRE that would be Manassas to the west (you may be able to get a TH in that range but watch location) and Fredericksburg to the south (don't know about pricing there). However, you're talking about $15-20/day in VRE fares which can add up. MARC is a similar cost to ride I think, look at Frederick MD as the "end of the line". There has been a price correction lately, I'd put it at maybe 15-20%. That helps but still doesn't bring a lot into your price range I"m afraid.... I hear the home builders are giving very sweet deals now but it's mostly on upgrades / finishing basements at no additional cost, stuff like that. Good luck - hope you find something that works for you!

 

[UMTerp]

IMO PlutoPony is right on the money (sorry, no pun intended). I refuse to live further out because I don't want to spend that much time away from my family. I really would suggest renting first to see what areas appeal to you and your family.

I'm a DC area native and I have seen the prices jump tremendously!!!

UMTerp