Help a first time parent pick a neighborhood
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Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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Go for semi-attached in Glover Park or another upper NW neighborhood. You may be able to find fully detached on that budget -
on market now - https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/4513-45th-St-NW-20016/home/9949594 went for 1.1 in May, AU Park https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/4815-Yuma-St-NW-20016/home/9946321 If you need to move now, you may want to consider doing less than 20% down and paying PMI for a few years. Seems fine on your income. In general, keep in mind that buying and selling are very expensive with high fixed costs (realtor fees, title fees, etc). So you don't want to commit to something that you'll want to leave soonish (I'd say 7 years or less). It could be worthwhile to add another 100K to your budget rather than pay even more than that in fixed costs in 3 years or 5 year or whatever. Sometimes there's good advice on this forum, but the folks that just talk about home price and down payment tend to be overly simplistic. |
Anonymous
| Stars and Bars Manassas |
Anonymous
| FWIW, being a young parent on the Hill is so pleasant. Tons of built-in community. Join MOTH, then join whatever Eaters and Sleepers group is running at the time. Those early mom friends are jewels. |
Anonymous
I’m wondering also - Arlington has many different ways to live - North Arlington is very suburban, then there are the edge cities, and the neighborhoods already mentioned. I’m not an Arlingtonian and always thought I didn’t like it but there is a lot of variety and it has a lot to offer. |
Anonymous
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I would stay and rent for a couple more years and save a ton until you can move where you want. Pay down your loans and save save save for a down payment. No one knows what the future holds especially regarding the economy.
Or try and save the next few months and up your budget. Kids change your life in great ways and also people love to give you lots of stuff for your kid(s), so if you have a smaller place and keep renting maybe you'll end with less stuff you don't need. I know it seems frustrating but you have a great HHI. Babies don't care where you live, they just want love, attention, and to be fed and changed. Don't rush into it because what you need/ want might change as your child gets older. Also, look at the Palisades too, there was just a cute house that went under and was asking 1.2/1.3 I believe. |
Anonymous
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Describes Arlington
But has an emotional repulsion to Arlington Lol get over yourself, OP. Arlington is full of families that were once too cool for the suburbs. Let me know when you need help choosing a minivan. 
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Anonymous
This is so true. I went through PACE Moms after I had my first (PACE is an invaluable program that teaches moms all of the in's & outs of bew parenting (it was for first time moms only when I went through the program, now they have programs for second time moms too). They're all throughout the DMV, and usually have their meetings in spaces like churches, synagogues, preschool, etc that are local to you. Each of the babies in your group will have been born within a few weeks of yours, so you hit all of the milestones together. After our PACE group was over, eight of the ten mom's in our group stayed together, we kept up scheduled weekly play-dates for the next 3 years. Although we were all different personalities, and there were a few that I know I wouldn't have gelled with if I hadn't been in a mommy group with them, none of that mattered, because we were all struggling first time moms and were there for each other. We had such respect, empathy & compassion for what each other were going through, because we knew it wasn't about US... it was about our babies. Those were the relationships that I valued far above any other in those first 12 months... I valued those women above any of my friends, family, coworkers who were moms, etc. What really helped me, was at the very least, I knew I'd be getting out of the house once a week, every week, for a few hours... and during those early months after birth, that alone can make you feel so much more human and more connected to the outside world... it's especially helpful if you're struggling with PPD, like I was. Again, PACE (and the moms in my group) provided such an invaluable learning experience, resources, knowledge & confidence in myself, that I will forever be grateful & appreciative for everything I learned from them. I know this post was supposed to be about housing ideas & towns for you, OP... but if you haven't researched PACE yet, please do so. Read the FAQ page at the link below (fyi, I lived in DC when I went through it, as they have meeting sites everywhere throughout the DMV). https://www.pacemoms.org/ |
Anonymous
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* new parenting, not bew, lol. |
Anonymous
| Another vote for staying and renting for at least another year or two. The baby/toddlers years are great to be in the city! We stayed in our Dupont circle rental until our first was almost 3 and I was pregnant with baby no. 2. Echo the PACE groups, moms on the hill always sounded awesome too. When we needed our space, we reevaluated our needs and bought a house…in Arlington. I had lived in DC for a decade and said I would never ever move to the suburbs, but it really made the most sense for our family. Even more so for you if you work here! So give it another year or two and then see how you feel. |
Anonymous
| Just so you know, Arlington is within the original boundaries of DC, OP. |
Anonymous
| Make CCMD happen. You're looking to live along one of the walkable neighborhoods just over the Western line. Friendship heights metro and whole foods is right there. We make 250k and bought a very livable fixer upper here. Increase your budget a bit |
Anonymous
Right. It’s within the original 10 mile square diamond and Metro makes it more convenient trek to downtown DC, Capitol Hill, etc than from many neighborhoods in DC itself. Getting from Tenleytown to Capitol Hill for example is a long traffic-filled drive or Metro ride. Metro or driving from many parts of Arlington would be quicker. But if you prefer to stay in DC there are occasionally single family home options in AU Park, Tenleytown, Palisades. |
Anonymous
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Another vote for staying. We lived on the Hill for years as a childless couple and then stayed when we had baby 1 and then baby 2. I loved having little kids on the Hill. Lots of playgrounds, everything walkable, lots of other kids and kid activities. I was in a great PACE group and made friends through that and preschool/library story times.
When baby 1 was three and we were starting to think about schools and a third kid, we moved to CCMD, which has been a great place to have older kids. |
Anonymous
+2 what you want is Arlington. It has a lot of similarities to takoma park md which you describe (yes not as hippy), many people from Capitol Hill move here, if you want to be close to the city and your job is in Arlington and you want more walkable less suburb feeling there truly is no where else that makes sense. Unless you stay in the city. What area of arlington do you work in that makes you so repulsed? There are plenty of different types of neighborhoods in Arlington it makes no sense to write the whole place off because you got a bro vibe in clarendon or something. Can you provide more details? |