I'm moving to the suburbs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are officially moving but I don't even know where to begin... Tell me what neighborhood / block / elementary school you live in and love... here are my specific asks:

- Needs to funnel into a top PUBLIC high school (we don't have private school money) (I'm looking at Whitman, Wootton, BCC, Walter Johnson in MD and Langley, McLean districts in VA)
- Needs to be within commuting distance to Georgetown
- Needs to be densely populated (houses close together, super neighborhood feel, mature trees would be a plus, I need a yard but I don't want a big one)
- Needs to have a community that gets together a lot / kids outside playing / parents that like to have drinks together etc.
- A plus would be a pool that everyone goes to
- a bigger plus would be that most neighborhood kids go to the public school (rather than private)

You want to be in the Walt Whitman zone if at all possible, much more Ethan the other schools you mention. Its by far the best public HS in MD (and one of the best in the country)

Whitman's greatness is in large part due to the fact that the people who send their kids there are very wealthy. It can be a bit of a pressure cooker environment for some kids. I think it's fine to live in the Whitman area if your budget allows it, but if not, the other Bethesda/Potomac schools are great also.

Any of the MCPS schools OP mentioned are just fine.

They are fine but why not move into a home zoned to the best? Don't trust me, research it. Whitman is that good.

[Anonymous]

My comment got lost above, but here it is:

Whitman's greatness is in large part due to the fact that the people who send their kids there are very wealthy. It can be a bit of a pressure cooker environment for some kids. I think it's fine to live in the Whitman area if your budget allows it, but if not, the other Bethesda/Potomac schools are great also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great neighborhood, great pool, great HS; plus commuting distance to Georgetown:

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/108-Stonegate-Dr-20905/home/10573923

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/14617-Sandy-Ridge-Rd-20905/home/10579959

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/15229-Centergate-Dr-20905/home/10574538

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/14916-Flintstone-Ln-20905/home/10574816

Commuting distance to Georgetown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are officially moving but I don't even know where to begin... Tell me what neighborhood / block / elementary school you live in and love... here are my specific asks:

- Needs to funnel into a top PUBLIC high school (we don't have private school money) (I'm looking at Whitman, Wootton, BCC, Walter Johnson in MD and Langley, McLean districts in VA)
- Needs to be within commuting distance to Georgetown
- Needs to be densely populated (houses close together, super neighborhood feel, mature trees would be a plus, I need a yard but I don't want a big one)
- Needs to have a community that gets together a lot / kids outside playing / parents that like to have drinks together etc.
- A plus would be a pool that everyone goes to
- a bigger plus would be that most neighborhood kids go to the public school (rather than private)

The beset commute to G'town would be from close-in VA areas: Arlington, FCC and McLean. If you want a TOP public school, it would have to be zoned to McLean High. If you are willing to consider simply a very good public school rather than "TOP", it can also be zoned to Madison High and Marshall High.

OP mentioned Langley HS in McLean. That is better than McLean HS

Langley HS has a nicer, renovated building and isn't as crowded as McLean HS. But McLean HS neighborhoods probably meet more of OP's specifications - more neighborhoods close to Georgetown, greater housing density, more mid-size rather than large yards, more community (vs. private) pools, a higher percentage of kids going to public (vs. private) schools, and more properties in OP's budget ($1.5M or less).

This is true. I live in a neighborhood zoned for Langley, inside the beltway and less than a mile from Langley. None of the kids in the neighborhood go to public schools, including mine. Houses are all on 1 acre, no sidewalks. Also can't buy anything in that price range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have private school money, how do you plan on purchasing a home in areas where the homes are all worth $1M+??

Take private school at a tuition of $45k/year per kid times two. That’s $90k per year in tuition. Plus you still have to live somewhere so probably another $3k/month minimum in housing. That’s $126k per year.

Now look at a $1.5mil house so a PITI of $5500/month. That’s $66k per year. Plus you’re building equity off of all of that and perhaps gaining appreciation as well.

What am I missing here?

$5500/month PITI for a $1.5M house? With what down payment/interest rate?

I was going off of 20% down and 2.5% because that’s my payment. You’re right that at current internet rates it’d be more but wouldn’t come near the private school amount above.

[Anonymous]

We were looking for many of the things in OP's list and chose to buy in upper NW. OP are you concerned about the DCPS? Because otherwise AU Park/ Friendship Heights/ Tenleytown/ Chevy Chase/ Glover Park etc. make sense, and would be an easy commute to Georgetown, esp with the Wisconsin Ave buses.

[Anonymous]

Any of the North Arlington neighborhoods that are close to GW Parkway and zoned for Yorktown. Like Dover Crystal, Bellevue Forrest, etc. Quick commute to Georgetown, good schools, and I think they’re all in boundary for Donaldson run pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have private school money, how do you plan on purchasing a home in areas where the homes are all worth $1M+??

Take private school at a tuition of $45k/year per kid times two. That’s $90k per year in tuition. Plus you still have to live somewhere so probably another $3k/month minimum in housing. That’s $126k per year.

Now look at a $1.5mil house so a PITI of $5500/month. That’s $66k per year. Plus you’re building equity off of all of that and perhaps gaining appreciation as well.

What am I missing here?

$5500/month PITI for a $1.5M house? With what down payment/interest rate?

I was going off of 20% down and 2.5% because that’s my payment. You’re right that at current internet rates it’d be more but wouldn’t come near the private school amount above.

DP. There’s a huge difference between 2.5% and 6%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have private school money, how do you plan on purchasing a home in areas where the homes are all worth $1M+??

Take private school at a tuition of $45k/year per kid times two. That’s $90k per year in tuition. Plus you still have to live somewhere so probably another $3k/month minimum in housing. That’s $126k per year.

Now look at a $1.5mil house so a PITI of $5500/month. That’s $66k per year. Plus you’re building equity off of all of that and perhaps gaining appreciation as well.

What am I missing here?

$5500/month PITI for a $1.5M house? With what down payment/interest rate?

I was going off of 20% down and 2.5% because that’s my payment. You’re right that at current internet rates it’d be more but wouldn’t come near the private school amount above.

+1. Literally over 1k in a monthly payment. That adds up unless you’re loaded.
DP. There’s a huge difference between 2.5% and 6%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have private school money, how do you plan on purchasing a home in areas where the homes are all worth $1M+??

Take private school at a tuition of $45k/year per kid times two. That’s $90k per year in tuition. Plus you still have to live somewhere so probably another $3k/month minimum in housing. That’s $126k per year.

Now look at a $1.5mil house so a PITI of $5500/month. That’s $66k per year. Plus you’re building equity off of all of that and perhaps gaining appreciation as well.

What am I missing here?

$5500/month PITI for a $1.5M house? With what down payment/interest rate?

I was going off of 20% down and 2.5% because that’s my payment. You’re right that at current internet rates it’d be more but wouldn’t come near the private school amount above.

DP. There’s a huge difference between 2.5% and 6%.

+1. Literally over 1k in a monthly payment. That adds up unless you’re loaded.

[Anonymous]

What about Richard Montgomery? Doesn’t seem that different from WJ.

[Anonymous]

Also Winston Churchill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have private school money, how do you plan on purchasing a home in areas where the homes are all worth $1M+??

Take private school at a tuition of $45k/year per kid times two. That’s $90k per year in tuition. Plus you still have to live somewhere so probably another $3k/month minimum in housing. That’s $126k per year.

Now look at a $1.5mil house so a PITI of $5500/month. That’s $66k per year. Plus you’re building equity off of all of that and perhaps gaining appreciation as well.

What am I missing here?

$5500/month PITI for a $1.5M house? With what down payment/interest rate?

I was going off of 20% down and 2.5% because that’s my payment. You’re right that at current internet rates it’d be more but wouldn’t come near the private school amount above.

DP. There’s a huge difference between 2.5% and 6%.

+1. Literally over 1k in a monthly payment. That adds up unless you’re loaded.

Right, an extra $1k. So why would anyone assume that another $10K/month for private would be NBD? (3 kids x $40k year / 12 months).

Dh and I are both gov workers (not DC). We have a combined hhi of $300k. Our previous home doubled in value and we were able to put $1m down on a $1.6m house, so our mortgage would be about $3k at today's rates. We can afford this easily but there's no way we could afford $13K per month for this and schooling while still saving anything. Why is that hard to wrap your heads around? Yes we had a large down payment but that was thanks to other smart financial decisions we made. This is how wealth builds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you okay with Lake Braddock/Robinson pyramids? Your request list perfectly describes my neighborhood in Burke, and you'd be way under 1.5 million.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have private school money, how do you plan on purchasing a home in areas where the homes are all worth $1M+??

Take private school at a tuition of $45k/year per kid times two. That’s $90k per year in tuition. Plus you still have to live somewhere so probably another $3k/month minimum in housing. That’s $126k per year.

Now look at a $1.5mil house so a PITI of $5500/month. That’s $66k per year. Plus you’re building equity off of all of that and perhaps gaining appreciation as well.

What am I missing here?

$5500/month PITI for a $1.5M house? With what down payment/interest rate?

I was going off of 20% down and 2.5% because that’s my payment. You’re right that at current internet rates it’d be more but wouldn’t come near the private school amount above.

DP. There’s a huge difference between 2.5% and 6%.

+1. Literally over 1k in a monthly payment. That adds up unless you’re loaded.

Yes but it doesn’t add up to PRIVATE SCHOOL TUITION FOR TWO KIDS which was the point of the original comment on cost.