Moving to DC with 2 Kids HELP!

[Anonymous]

We are moving to DC from Vancouver Canada. We have 2 DD's (3&7). Vancouver is currently one of the most expensive place to live in the world. We own a townhouse that is over an hour outside of the city (and it's worth 400K). We are hoping DC will offer my DH an opportunity to live closer to work while we can (hopefully) get into a house. We love Vancouver but we just can't get ahead here. We are hoping DC can offer us what we are lacking here.
My question is: where should we live? Most of my DH's work colleagues are suggesting Takoma Park, Alexandria and even Arlington. I would love to have your suggestions. Here is a list of what I'm looking for...

ability to rent a house for $2000/month or less
walking distance to the metro
good schools/choices
lots of SAHM's around (I will not be able to work in DC b/c of work VISA issues)
liberal thinkers (Vancouver is the most liberal place you can live in Canada)
great outdoor activities (trails, parks etc)
rec centres/ programs for kids

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am a little nervous about moving as all of our family lives in Vancouver.

[Anonymous]

On your budget, you will need to be considerably further out than Alexandria or Arlington. Arlington is the closest VA suburb to DC and real estate prices there reflect it (along with the some highly desirable school districts) where you will probably only get a one-bedroom apartment on your budget. Where is your husband working? It he's on the red line of the metro, consider Maryland as well. If on the orange line, that's convenient to many neighborhoods in Virginia. You may be to afford something in Vienna, VA which is a family-oriented community on the metro just outside the Beltway, but it will probably be a townhouse and it won't be walking distance to metro. If you want a single family home in Virginia, you will need to consider suburbs such as Fairfax, Springfield, Burke, Reston, Herndon and Ashburn. The parts of Springfield that have decent schools are not near the metro stop. Parts of Fairfax maybe a convenient drive to Vienna metro, but certainly not walking distance. There is a commuter train called VRE that may offer additional commuting options in the area. Reston, Herndon and Ashburn are further out and are not metro accessible.

[Anonymous]

Northern VA has good public schools. From Fairfax to Leesburg, you have options. If you're looking in DC, you'd have to consider private school.

Ashburn and Leesburg have TONS of family-oriented neighborhoods that have rentals available in your price range. Closer in with walking access to metro...way more expensive. There are commuter lots in Loudoun Cty that have busses to transport to the metro. Just something to consider on your budget.

I live on the outskirts of Leesburg and love it here. All the conveniences of living in a big area, but without so much of the local traffic that you'd find downtown at all hours of the day/night.

[Anonymous]

Downtown Silver Spring fits the bill.
Very close to public transportation. Very close to DC. The downtown area has just gone through a huge "facelift". They have made it into a true, walkable downtown.
Tons of homes in your price range. Tons of kids and SAHMs.

http://www.silverspringdowntown.com/

[Anonymous]

Where exactly will your DH's office be in DC? It makes a big different re: what your commuting options are.

[Anonymous]

honestly it sounds like a completely lateral move in terms of cost of living. You'll be moving from one of Canada's most expensive areas to one of the priciest in America. 400K here will buy you a similar townhouse about an hour outside of the city.
If you're hoping to move to DC to "get ahead" in terms of finances (at the expense of leaving all family) then I'd reconsider the move as you'll no longer have free childcare etc.

I don't mean to be a downer but I've never heard of anyone coming to DC because of how it allows them to save money they couldn't save elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

13:36 - I disagree.

I lived in San Francisco - DC is much cheaper. I could not afford to buy there on 1 salary. Lots of options here.

[Anonymous]

DC is much cheaper than a few select places (San Fran, Manhattan) but way more expensive than 99% of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is much cheaper than a few select places (San Fran, Manhattan) but way more expensive than 99% of the country.

I don't know how the costs of housing and living here compare to those an hour outside of Vancouver specifically, but in general, comparisons to fly-over land like PP's aren't really relevant.

Anyway, OP's budget sounds very limited to me given her wish list, though I don't know much about prices outside the District. I expect she'll need to compromise on space if she'd like to live within more convenient reach of the city and its transit network. Living farther out, especially in VA, will hardly offer her the kind of progressive social environment she's looking for. Is her budget reasonable for Takoma Park? If Silver Spring really is an option, it may serve her well enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:13:36 - I disagree.

I lived in San Francisco - DC is much cheaper. I could not afford to buy there on 1 salary. Lots of options here.

yes, but OP seems to want to move to DC for the specific reason of "getting ahead" and/or saving money. Sure, parts of the DC area may be cheaper than San Francisco and or Manhattan but it's not exactly the area that I'd be moving to in order to get ahead financially. She speaks of a 400K condo outside of city limits as being expensive. Sounds like just about any suburb around here.
And while it may be possible to find cheaper housing here in even relatively close in neighborhoods (Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Rockville come to mind) many other facets of life in the greater DC area are also more expensive than just about anywhere else in the US (childcare, taxes, private school, extracurriculars (camps, etc), food, and about a zillion other intangibles))

If you're looking to save money there are dozens of other urban areas in the US with lower costs of living than DC (ones I've lived in and can attest to include Baltimore, Philly, Phoenix and Cleveland).

[Anonymous]

OP- Are you stuck on the idea of renting a house? Or would an apartment be fine too? Apartment rentals are much cheaper and then you wouldn't need to move as far away from DC. I don't know about the traffic in Vancouver but you may not see your DH much during the week if you move too far outside of DC.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you all for your replies. We are not specifically moving to DC to 'get ahead'. My DH got a great job opportunity and honestly, we'd be moving either way. We were just looking at housing prices, it seemed cheaper than Vancouver. There is simply more opportunity in his job here as opposed to Vancouver, which is a fairly small market.

We are not opposed to living in a townhouse, but we will not live in an apartment. We'd like some space and from what I've heard we would be better off living in the surrounding areas of DC instead of within the district. My DH's office will be off the Red Line at Chinatown.

I am a little confused though about rental prices, considering I've been looking on Craigslist and have seen houses for rent in our price range. Silver Springs is on our list for sure as it is close to the metro. Currently, my DH drives, parks, takes a bus, then a train into the city. It takes him over an hour to do this everyday. He does not want such a long commute and I don't blame him. We'd really like to find a place that suits our needs as close in as we can get. If that means we don't rent a house and have a townhouse instead, that's fine. As for the rent price, I'm sure we'll be open to raising that.

I'm fairly certain as far as taxes and cost of living, it's going to be cheaper than Vancouver. If you've ever visited Canada, you'd know clothes are more expensive, gas is more expensive and obviously we have a lot of taxes.

Question about housing costs...are the listed price on houses for sale the final price? or does it goes to auction and the highest bidder wins? I know in certain places because it is so aggressive, people list their houses much lower than what they're worth hoping for bidding wars. Is that the idea here or does a $400K house sell for ~400K?

TIA again

[Anonymous]

OT but what industry is DH in? Curious since there are a lot of unemployed Americans in this economy.

[Anonymous]

You should definitely join us in Downtown Silver Spring (by the way, no "S" on the end). We are liberal, extremely diverse, and can meet your budget. Very walkable, great housing stock and rental stock as well. Montgomery County Maryland schools are excellent.

You may want to join Silver Spring Mom List Serv to find out about rentals and get inside scoop on elementary schools. For instance Sligo Creek Elementary has French immersion -- it may be important to you

SS Mom List Serv --

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ssmoms_2003/


(If I see you there, I'll introduce myself -- people tend to stay anonymous on here!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for your replies. We are not specifically moving to DC to 'get ahead'. My DH got a great job opportunity and honestly, we'd be moving either way. We were just looking at housing prices, it seemed cheaper than Vancouver. There is simply more opportunity in his job here as opposed to Vancouver, which is a fairly small market.

We are not opposed to living in a townhouse, but we will not live in an apartment. We'd like some space and from what I've heard we would be better off living in the surrounding areas of DC instead of within the district. My DH's office will be off the Red Line at Chinatown.

I am a little confused though about rental prices, considering I've been looking on Craigslist and have seen houses for rent in our price range. Silver Springs is on our list for sure as it is close to the metro. Currently, my DH drives, parks, takes a bus, then a train into the city. It takes him over an hour to do this everyday. He does not want such a long commute and I don't blame him. We'd really like to find a place that suits our needs as close in as we can get. If that means we don't rent a house and have a townhouse instead, that's fine. As for the rent price, I'm sure we'll be open to raising that.

I'm fairly certain as far as taxes and cost of living, it's going to be cheaper than Vancouver. If you've ever visited Canada, you'd know clothes are more expensive, gas is more expensive and obviously we have a lot of taxes.

Question about housing costs...are the listed price on houses for sale the final price? or does it goes to auction and the highest bidder wins? I know in certain places because it is so aggressive, people list their houses much lower than what they're worth hoping for bidding wars. Is that the idea here or does a $400K house sell for ~400K?

TIA again

The days of the bidding war have ended here for the most part...houses are selling for under the listed price in many cases. You can make an offer for under the listed price. I'd work with an agent who's savvy in the neighborhood you want to buy in.