Horses and Good Schools
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Just found out that DH will only have to commute 1 day per pay period (2 weeks) going forward and I'm fulltime telework but need to be in the general area. We want to leave DC (currently in a SFH in Deanwood) and leave the masses to get a nice house with space for horses and chickens. Have 2 kids in elementary school and wondering where we should start looking. Budget is up to 900k. Thanks for anyone who can help with a start. Would prefer MD over VA. Thanks all. |
Anonymous
|
Poolesville
Clarksville Darnestown Laytonsville Brookevile Ashton/Sandy Spring Glenelg |
Anonymous
| Some of this will depend on how many horses, do you want an arena, do you want an indoor... |
Anonymous
|
Horse property/farm owner here (Frederick County MD, private barn, arena, grow our own hay). Get ready for sticker shock because 900K will not get you as much as you think it will, nothing in Montgomery county, and probably not Frederick, Howard or Carroll either. Pay attention to zoning, don't even bother to look at anything not zoned agriculture. Our property value has doubled since the pandemic because everyone is looking for exactly what you want.
Join the Maryland Horse Network on FB, the Farm Exchange FB groups, the Farm property FB groups, get a agriculture/horse property realtor, because you will need all the contacts you can get. These properties are hot and rare. |
Anonymous
| Calvert County, MD - suggest Owings, Sunderland, and Huntingtown. DH’s commute is about 55 minutes. We love it here, but you have to give up diversity and be willing to drive for more restaurant & shopping options. |
Anonymous
| Not going to get far on that budget |
Anonymous
Anonymous
| 19:26 again - You also need to factor equipment costs into your budget, so add 50k but expect to spend 100k on a tractor, mower, and implements needed to care for a property like this. Start-up costs for this type of property are huge. So many people don't think about the hidden costs before they jump in feet first, and that's not even considering the entire "I want horses" factor - usually said by people who have a romantic fantasy of horses that is not grounded in reality or real world experience - and one-hour-a-week lessons do not count as experience. Vet, farrier, feed bills, tack, repairs, fencing, manure removal/management, they are constant and need to be part of your monthly budget, especially if you're on a property that does not grow its own hay. |
Anonymous
| Poolesville has great schools. |
Anonymous
These examples prove pp’s point about good properties going fast. The first has a high voltage transmission line though the middle of the property, the house on the second is smack up against a “learning center” and the third might be ok, but a good portion of the ten acres is occupied by the driveway and pond (the property is oddly shaped). |
Anonymous
| Your budget is funny. Thanks foe the laugh! |
Anonymous
| If you can afford horsies, you should be affording private schools. |
Anonymous
| OP, if your budget for this property is $900k your budget for a normal house in the burbs should be $1.5m or more, to accommodate the costs of running/maintaining the farm property. If that’s not what’s happening here, you should find a smaller property, have a great garden and chickens, and board the horses nearby. Board is a lot less expensive farther out and then you can keep things under control. |
Anonymous
I’d factor in hiring someone. I doubt OP wants to be constantly tending to her new property |
Anonymous
don't get horse, op |