Buying a House in a Neighborhood w/ Less than Stellar HS?

[Anonymous]

I opted for good schools first. I also picked a home that has good addition/expansion potentia. As a result I got a home that is just over 1500sq feet, but my kids will be going to the best schools in the area, maybe one day we can grow the house some. I'd rather then share a room than get a sub par education. Now the less desirable areas are even worse with the forclosures. I'm sooooo glad we picked neighborhood and schools over house size.

[Anonymous]

Alot of things can change in 10 years so unless you are very positive that the house you are considering will be the house that you will live in for a long time, then I owuld not worry about the high school situation too much! How are the elementary schools in the area? I used to go to Einstein (graduated back in 1987). Even back then, it didn't have a great reputation, but I made it out ok and am now a CPA. I think the neighborhoods surrounding Einstein are very family oriented and convenient and I agree with a pp that the reasons the scores may belower is due to a high amount of immigrants, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. If Einstein participates in a magnet program, then I would certainly consider it. You can also consider the northern Silver Spring area - I hear the schools are decent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What neighborhood are you looking into? The area right around Einstein? Have you noticed the demographics? Once they head in a certain direction, they won't magically turn around IMHO. Things will only get worse. We're moving out of Silver Spring because of this. While our immediate neighbors were great, as new folks moved into the neighborhood and school district you could sense that things were changing. Folks started renting out their SFH to multiple families. All of a sudden there was an influx of low income kids in the neighborhood school (causing it to become a Title I school). When selling the home we quickly learned about foreclosures nearby and that our zip code had been labelled as a declining area. I think the Einstein area is the same situation. You can buy a nice home in the Olney/Brookeville area with great schools (elementary through high school) for $450k. Check out Olney Mill, Tanterra, Brookeville Knolls, etc. -- very family friendly. If you are looking up to $550k, you have even more options. Folks will say that Olney is way out there and that it lacks a metro stop -- but that's a good thing IMHO. There was lots of crime around the immediate area of our local metro stop -- folks were mugged walking home at night, etc. While my commute will be a bit longer (20 mins), it's worth the trade off to be in a family-friendly neighborhood with great schools. Lots of folks are saying that Brookeville is the new Potomac -- they're building million dollar homes left and right -- but there are older more modest homes (built in the 1970s, 80s and 90s) with 4+ bedrooms, all hardwood floors, etc. in established neighborhoods for under $550k.

White flight. Fabulous.

OP, why buy a house now? It's not a great time anyway.

[Anonymous]

I would avoid Einstein school district. Have you looked at Kensington-Parkwood or Georgetown Estates in Bethesda? These areas feed into Walter Johnson and I've seen homes on the market (albeit probably small and fixer-uppers) for the 450-500K range. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

"White flight. Fabulous."

"OP, why buy a house now? It's not a great time anyway."

Um, it isn't exactly white flight. It's more like "we're tired of being scared walking around our neighborhood b/c of the gangs, muggings, etc." The drug bust at the home across the street filled with day-laborer renters was the final straw. It wasn't fun having to explain to our son why the DEA and police were up and down our street while we we're told over bullhorns to stay away from our windows. And this is in a Silver Spring neighborhood where homes sell for $450-500k. And it's not a race thing -- it's a class thing. I'm not thrilled with the idea of sending my kids to a Title I school (and neither are my African American neighbors -- they pulled their kids out of the local public schools and put them in private schools -- they're the ones who told me it's a "class" thing). I want my kids to feel safe at school and attend high school with other kids who plan to go to college.

Now is a great time to buy. Home prices have dropped rapidly and they are starting to taper off. If you wait too long, then you'll be in competition with everyone else who is waiting. We were able to buy into an area that we previously could not afford -- and we got the home for nearly $40k less than asking price (and the asking price was reasonable). There was a bidding war for the home we sold in SS -- even with the "declining neighborhood" label -- location, location, location. Another thing to consider w/ declining neighborhoods: it's tougher to get an appraisal to match what you offer. If there are any foreclosures or homes that have been neglected and sold recently, beware -- those prices will skew things in the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

A whole lot can change in ten years. If you like the neighborhood you are currently considering for all reasons except for the high school, I would feel comfortable moving there. By all means, if you can find a neighborhood you like just as well (and can afford just as easily) with a better high school, move there, but if it's a question of either (1) financially stretching yourself or (2) settling for a much worse house/street/neighborhood just for the sake of the high school ten years down the road, probably not necessary yet.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but no way would I describe Eleanor Roosevelt as a good school. I spent a day visiting that school, and I was not at all impressed. School quality comes first for me (and I'm African American), and there's no way I would send my child there if I had any options at all.

[Anonymous]

I live in the Einstein neighborhood you are thinking of buying in. While I have years to go before I worry about this (currently pregnant with twins), I too worry about the schools. But, contrary to what a PP said, I don't think the neighborhood is so family-friendly. Most kids are not outside on bikes riding, even with their parents; the kids on my block rarely play with each other despite being the same ages (inside play or outside play); and the only kids I ever see walking around the streets are from the other side of Connecticut Ave where there is lower income housing. I personally think that if you have issues (and by you, I really mean me) with the high school, then you have issues with the elementary and middle schools too, because they are the feeders to Einstein. And those are the years that you are in right now with your kids.

I have only noticed one foreclosure in the neighborhood amongst all the other for-sale homes. I think one of the pp's had it right: location, location, location. Even if you buy in the Einstein neighborhood, the location itself will keep prices somewhat steady. Although the prices here have declined over the past 1 1/2 years, I don't think it has been significant and I see that the well cared for homes still sell within a reasonable timeframe.

[Anonymous]

We just bought--schools were the biggest priority for us. Though we always kept high school in mind, we also have many year until then, so we know things can change. There are also a number of magnet options in Montgomery County, so it seems that high school students have some flexibility.

As a result, I focused my research on the elementary schools, because that's relevant to us much sooner. Take tours, read reviews on pages like this or greatschools.com. Look at the scores and surveys for each school on the Montgomery County public schools page (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/).

Still, in the end, high schools do make a huge difference. Not surprisingly, the great elementary schools we ended up concentrating on are also zoned to great high schools...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Einstein neighborhood you are thinking of buying in. While I have years to go before I worry about this (currently pregnant with twins), I too worry about the schools. But, contrary to what a PP said, I don't think the neighborhood is so family-friendly. Most kids are not outside on bikes riding, even with their parents; the kids on my block rarely play with each other despite being the same ages (inside play or outside play); and the only kids I ever see walking around the streets are from the other side of Connecticut Ave where there is lower income housing. I personally think that if you have issues (and by you, I really mean me) with the high school, then you have issues with the elementary and middle schools too, because they are the feeders to Einstein. And those are the years that you are in right now with your kids.

I have only noticed one foreclosure in the neighborhood amongst all the other for-sale homes. I think one of the pp's had it right: location, location, location. Even if you buy in the Einstein neighborhood, the location itself will keep prices somewhat steady. Although the prices here have declined over the past 1 1/2 years, I don't think it has been significant and I see that the well cared for homes still sell within a reasonable timeframe.

OP here, thanks for all the responses. I am interested in hearing where those of you in the Einstein area actually live (since there seems to be some variety in your assessments of whether it is "family friendly" or not), if you wouldn't mind sharing. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I hate to say it, but when I was in HS some 20 years ago Einstein was not a "good" school, and I imagine that will be the case 10 years from now. Don't count on getting into a magnet or G&T program as your ticket out of the school. I would recommend that you buy in a better school district. I think we have the smallest house on our street (though not the cheapest b/c we bought in 2004) but we are in the WJ school district. As a PP said, we can always add on to our house but try transferring schools--it's near impossible. You will have to move when the time comes.

Good luck finding the right home for you!

[Anonymous]

I'm not as familiar with the Einstein district, but as other posters mentioned I would caution going in with the "we'll move in 10 years" thought. My parents moved to what they said was a better school district than where we lived in NJ and to be honest I was so miserable with being the new kid in town that in some ways I wonder if I wouldn't have done better if we stayed where we were. If you do move or say send your kids to private school in 10 years - they wouldn't only be leaving their friends but the new neighborhood or possibly private school may be an adjustment in terms of possibly the economic situation of the kids at the new school. You also don't know what the housing market will be like in 10 years. When we looked 5 years ago we looked at a home that was maybe 40K less than what we ended up with. The other home was very nice inside but tiny and we probably would have outgrown it with two kids. When I tried to figure out what it would cost right now to move to a bigger home (something with the amenities that the typical 1950's home does not have), just between realtor costs, transfer fees, not getting the homestead credit the first year so the jump in property tax, and interest rate difference - even if we got some great bargain on the house we bought - the numbers just won't support moving. We our now just trying to fix up what we have. If we had moved to the even smaller house 5 years ago, probably would have come to the same situation of it not making financial sense to move.

I think other posters have given good options. If you want to stay closer-in (commute/transportation reasons) and can't afford the stellar H.S., look for good magnet programs. There is no guarantee that your child will get in, but at least you know the higher level classes and enrichment classes are available with the magnet. I've known a lot of people go on to great colleges and careers from Blair's Magnet program. Where I lived in N.C. - state legislators sent their children to the magnet H.S. Other option is to move futher out where your budget will go further. The other thing someone mentioned is to look a little outside your price range to see if there is a home that is overpriced in a different neighborhood and maybe you can negotiate so it is within your budget. Current house was a little overpriced and we were able to negotiate it down 25K.

[Anonymous]

I live in the Einstein district, in the neighborhood between Georgia and Viers Mill and am pregnant with kid #1. We have made great friends here with our neighbors - two couples who are also having children at this time. The house across the street from us has a big yard with lots of kids playing out front during the day. We commute in to DC using Wheaton Metro every day and I haven't felt unsafe doing so. I think we live in a really nice neighborhood. House sales are definitely slow right now around here, but some houses have sold, and you can get some really good deals in this area right now. I just can't predict what the high school will be like by the time my unborn child is ready to go to high school so I'm focusing on other things right now - I can see it being more of a concern if I were currently buying a house with young kids, though.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you should worry about it now. Most people do not live in one place for 10+ plus years. I'd focus on the elementary school instead. You can always move later, and you never know if you/spouse will get a job transfer. The school could also be dramatically different by then.

[Anonymous]

Are there really any houses to be had in the WJ area to be had for $450-$475k? That doesn't seem feasible to me.