Help me Decide Where to buy a House (Montgomery County)

[Anonymous]

Rock Creek Hills part of Kensington?

[Anonymous]

I live in Gaithersburg 20878 and I love it here, but would not classify it as "close in Montgomery County." You could, however, buy whatever you'd want here. If I had the money you're spending I would move into a house in the Walter Johnson school district in the northern part of Bethesda, near Montgomery Mall. Great school district, nice, walkable neighborhoods, close to the shopping of the suburbs that you'll enjoy with kids (Target!) and Cabin John Park right there.

[Anonymous]

It's not that 950K won't get you into the Whitman district, but the OP said she wants the house to be move-in condition, so that's the rub.

There are plenty of homes in my neighborhood in Chevy Chase which fit the bill. Some need a bit of sprucing, some a lot. But you CANNOT beat the cluster. Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase/BCC. If you want your home to be an investment, you need to buy inside the beltway these days. IMHO.
Go ahead everyone FLAME AWAY.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So depressing to hear (from the lack of responses) that $950k doesn't get you into Whitman district.

She can get into Whitman in the northern part of Potomac....near Tuckerman, but I prefer Walter Johnson. Not as snooty (draws from a larger economic area), fantastic education and smaller school. Whitman had both a gang issue and a cheating issue last year.....not that I wouldn't send my kids there, I'm just saying that Walter Johnson isn't a "lesser" school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So depressing to hear (from the lack of responses) that $950k doesn't get you into Whitman district.

She can get into Whitman in the northern part of Potomac....near Tuckerman, but I prefer Walter Johnson. Not as snooty (draws from a larger economic area), fantastic education and smaller school. Whitman had both a gang issue and a cheating issue last year.....not that I wouldn't send my kids there, I'm just saying that Walter Johnson isn't a "lesser" school.

OOps! I lied. I was thinking about Churchill!

[Anonymous]

OP here again- thanks to everyone for the great suggestions. I really like Kensington, Garrett Park and Rockville/"North Bethesda". I agree that Walter Johnson is likely less "snooty than the Potomac schools. The prblem is the lack of properties even in what I consider a high price point (up to 950K) By the way, the only reason we can afford to go that high is that we bought our first home pre-bubble in '01 and have been renting for the last several months after selling it.
As someone mentioned, maybe we'll have better luck post- Labor Day. Definitely frustrating though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fallsmead in Rockville. Great schools (feeds into Thomas Wootton). Close to 270 / metro and has a great neighborhood feel versus an urban feel.

My in-laws lived here when my sister in law was growing up (much younger than DH). It's a great neighborhood and they had lots of friends in the neighborhood and SIL had a lot of friends there too. The houses are nice, there's a neighborhood pool, neighborhood swim team, friendly people walking their dogs, etc... It's also not that far from downtown Rockville and Wooton is a good school district.

If you want to be closer to an urban area, try Woodside Park in Silver Spring. This is the area between 16th St. and Spring St. on the Eastern side of Georgia Ave. The houses are older, but most have been remodeled and some are newer construction. The neighborhood is beautiful and the yards are quite big. There's also a good variety of houses there. Neighbors are friendly and there are a lot of kids. I don't see anything on the market right now unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not that 950K won't get you into the Whitman district, but the OP said she wants the house to be move-in condition, so that's the rub.

There are plenty of homes in my neighborhood in Chevy Chase which fit the bill. Some need a bit of sprucing, some a lot. But you CANNOT beat the cluster. Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase/BCC. If you want your home to be an investment, you need to buy inside the beltway these days. IMHO.
Go ahead everyone FLAME AWAY.....

You can't get a house as big as she wants with only minor cosmetic updating for less than about 1.4 - 1.6 that close in, unless you are willing to count very tiny rooms as bedrooms. Sadly, $950K is not a lot of money in CC. It will get you something that needs A LOT of work. There was just a house on the market for about $940K in Chevy Chase Village. Didn't even have central air and would need about a $500K addition to make it into a comfortable house.

[Anonymous]

OP, hang tight for a few more weeks. I am sure you will see more properties listed after labor day.

[Anonymous]

Oh man, don't go all the way out to gaithersburg or Germantown. You can get some SUPER nice stuff in close in Montgomery county for 950K.

Try old town Kensington, Parkwood, Garret Park, Chevy Chase View, parts of Bethesda like East Bethesda or Rosemary Hills, Byeford, etc, etc....

I really love Kensington and 950K will buy you something nice in the middle of the old part of town.

[Anonymous]

OP here- Thanks again for the encouragement! I would love to get into a great home/neighborhood and stay put. We're feeling displaced since selling our home.

[Anonymous]

Just wait until after labor day I am sure you'll find something you want - it's all about patience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fallsmead in Rockville. Great schools (feeds into Thomas Wootton). Close to 270 / metro and has a great neighborhood feel versus an urban feel.

My in-laws lived here when my sister in law was growing up (much younger than DH). It's a great neighborhood and they had lots of friends in the neighborhood and SIL had a lot of friends there too. The houses are nice, there's a neighborhood pool, neighborhood swim team, friendly people walking their dogs, etc... It's also not that far from downtown Rockville and Wooton is a good school district.

If you want to be closer to an urban area, try Woodside Park in Silver Spring. This is the area between 16th St. and Spring St. on the Eastern side of Georgia Ave. The houses are older, but most have been remodeled and some are newer construction. The neighborhood is beautiful and the yards are quite big. There's also a good variety of houses there. Neighbors are friendly and there are a lot of kids. I don't see anything on the market right now unfortunately.

I second this. It is a fantastic neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

PP - What HS does Woodside Park feed in to? I believe that may be the problem.

[Anonymous]

Wow! I'm glad that I can pay my rent, buy groceries, and put a little aside for the future!