Thinking through staying in a condo in Arlington or moving to a SFH in Silver Spring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to live near Wheaton and you could not pay me to move back to Maryland. I’m in Arlington now. Of course a place that’s cheaper is going to have more crime. MD has a lot more Ms 13 than Arlington does. Taxes are a lot higher too if that matters to you.

When you say taxes are higher, do you mean state income taxes or property taxes or both? I want to calculate how much that will impact me each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live near Wheaton and you could not pay me to move back to Maryland. I’m in Arlington now. Of course a place that’s cheaper is going to have more crime. MD has a lot more Ms 13 than Arlington does. Taxes are a lot higher too if that matters to you.

When you say taxes are higher, do you mean state income taxes or property taxes or both? I want to calculate how much that will impact me each year.

I have found this chart to be helpful:
https://www.arlnow.com/2019/02/19/ask-eli-does-virginia-washington-dc-or-maryland-have-the-most-favorable-taxes/

If you move, say goodbye to grocery taxes and to car taxes, and your property tax will be lower, but your income tax will be higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to live near Wheaton and you could not pay me to move back to Maryland. I’m in Arlington now. Of course a place that’s cheaper is going to have more crime. MD has a lot more Ms 13 than Arlington does. Taxes are a lot higher too if that matters to you.

This has been a huge factor in why my DH and I have stayed in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live near Wheaton and you could not pay me to move back to Maryland. I’m in Arlington now. Of course a place that’s cheaper is going to have more crime. MD has a lot more Ms 13 than Arlington does. Taxes are a lot higher too if that matters to you.

When you say taxes are higher, do you mean state income taxes or property taxes or both? I want to calculate how much that will impact me each year.

I have found this chart to be helpful:
https://www.arlnow.com/2019/02/19/ask-eli-does-virginia-washington-dc-or-maryland-have-the-most-favorable-taxes/

If you move, say goodbye to grocery taxes and to car taxes, and your property tax will be lower, but your income tax will be higher.

These numbers may be slightly off, as it was done in 2019. For example, I believe the VA sales tax and car taxes and now higher. And Arlington raised property taxes last year and plans to do so again this year, so don't take it as exactly right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live near Wheaton and you could not pay me to move back to Maryland. I’m in Arlington now. Of course a place that’s cheaper is going to have more crime. MD has a lot more Ms 13 than Arlington does. Taxes are a lot higher too if that matters to you.

This has been a huge factor in why my DH and I have stayed in Virginia.

I think it depends on where you live, we live in an affordable sfh neighborhood off layhill which is technically in "Silver Spring" and have very little crime. If you want to have low crime in MD, avoid walkable areas that are more affordable.

[Anonymous]

We also moved from Ballston to Silver Spring 15+ years ago. We are close in, but not in downtown SS. It’s definitely less convenient than Arlington in terms of walking places, but for a suburb, it’s great! We rarely have to drive more than 15 minutes for shopping or activities. Crime is no more an issue than Ballston.

[Anonymous]

Op, those three elementary schools listed previously are the best - Oakland Terrance(Kensington and SS) flora singer (forest Glen neighborhood) and Woodlin (Woodside and by far the nicest of the listed ss neighborhoods). Plus i might add Rosemary Hills/Rock Creek Forest neighborhoods (pull from Chevy chase some as well). And maybe you can look at East Silver spring Elementary, sligo Creek and Glen haven, but those are a tick down and to the north and east side of the county.

I wouldn't include many others in your list as these are the best Silver spring neighborhoods if we're talking about family-friendly and near Metro &/or DC. SS goes all the way up University Blvd for miles but wouldn't recommend any of those schools or neighborhoods. I grew up here in the 90s/2000s, moved back ten years ago and have kids so I know what to I'm talking about.

[Anonymous]

We moved to SS when our incomes were lower and bought a small home in a nice neighborhood. We decided to stay as our incomes rose and just renovate our house and buy a nice vacation place at the shore. We send the kids to private school. Maybe when the kids transition to high school we will consider moving (since a lot of the high schools are elsewhere and friends will be parting ways at the juncture). It's great here if you pick the right place, and don't let anyone scare you because they themselves are afraid of their own shadows. If you've ever lived in a real city, issues in SS are nothing.

The people we know in publics are happy with schools, but they aren't stellar. However, lots of good magnet programs.

Fortune magazine wrote a nice piece about the area:

https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring-news/2828833/fortune-magazine-names-silver-spring-best-place-to-live-for-families-in-2024/

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if it matters to you now, but as a parent of two high schoolers in MD, I’m a little jealous of all the highly rated public colleges in VA. UMD has become a reach for many kids here.

[Anonymous]

OP, you didn’t give your budget, but this is a great house, zoned for Flora Singer ES and Blair HS, not in a “high crime” part of SS, and within an easy drive to anything you will need.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1000-Dennis-Ave-Silver-Spring-MD-20901/37292079_zpid/

[Anonymous]

That great schools pyramid is wrong. Flora signer kids go to Einstein or apply to DCC schools but aren't automatically going to go to Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if it matters to you now, but as a parent of two high schoolers in MD, I’m a little jealous of all the highly rated public colleges in VA. UMD has become a reach for many kids here.

This is OP. This matters a lot. I am on track to have enough saved for my daughter to go to any in state Virginia school, but that money doesn't give her as many options in Maryland.

There is no perfect option here, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live near Wheaton and you could not pay me to move back to Maryland. I’m in Arlington now. Of course a place that’s cheaper is going to have more crime. MD has a lot more Ms 13 than Arlington does. Taxes are a lot higher too if that matters to you.

When you say taxes are higher, do you mean state income taxes or property taxes or both? I want to calculate how much that will impact me each year.

I have found this chart to be helpful:
https://www.arlnow.com/2019/02/19/ask-eli-does-virginia-washington-dc-or-maryland-have-the-most-favorable-taxes/

If you move, say goodbye to grocery taxes and to car taxes, and your property tax will be lower, but your income tax will be higher.

Thank you for this chart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silver Spring is a big place. Certain parts are popular with young families on DCUM and are likely to meet your parameters. I advise looking into those. Search by elementary - e.g. Woodlin, Flora Singer, Oakland Terrace.

Thank you. Are you able to give me a list of the elementary schools that are popular with young families? Is it the three above, or are there more?

Just no. You want to stay in Arlington. I moved from Arlington and regret it. Real estate (even condos) appreciate faster there, taxes are lower, public safety is better, law enforcement seems to follow-up, Arlington is a small school system vs MCPS large urban district, bike trails in Arlington can’t be beat, I could go on….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you didn’t give your budget, but this is a great house, zoned for Flora Singer ES and Blair HS, not in a “high crime” part of SS, and within an easy drive to anything you will need.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1000-Dennis-Ave-Silver-Spring-MD-20901/37292079_zpid/

OP, I’m the pp who moved from a nice condo in Arlington, and I actually moved into an old house about this size. No. Just no, you do not want this house nor the location.