If you had $1M to spend on a house, where would you live?

[Anonymous]

We recently spent just under this on a house in Bethesda. We love the area - love the proximity to CC Trail, to the Little Falls creek, to other things that matter to us - and really like the house, though it is small. We bought the house with the agreement that our children would go to our local public elementary school, but now that I have looked at it more closely (for K), I have backed out on that agreement. You are right about the soul-numbing worksheets. Add to that the ridiculous class sizes.

MyDH would like to kill me right now as we now have the Bethesda mortgage plus the two private tuitions. I like our new house and love where we are, but if we had to do it over again, we would buy on DC side of the line, get the same sized house for less money, and do the same private schools.

[Anonymous]

A couple of years ago we had to make this same choice with the same budget and we chose CC DC. If I had to do it over again, I'd make the same choice. It's a great place to live.

[Anonymous]

I just struggled with this decision and got a very small house in Chevy Chase, MD. I hate the commute. If I had the money, I would pick walking distance of the Bethesda metro - your husband is right there; one shot on the redline for you; good schools; places to walk.

[Anonymous]

You sound like you really, really love the city, so find another place you love that's "big enough" for 4 - not suburban big, that's not $1MM - perhaps not NW DC - maybe capitol Hill - and then put the money you save towards private school if you don't like your school options down the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure I would pay a million dollars to live in crestwood: it is not at all walkable, and the schools aren't great either. I think the crime is a little worse than on the other side of the park too (though not really bad).

Sadly, I have to agree with this (other than the crime part bc I can't confirm it).

[Anonymous]

Capitol Hill makes the commute to most private schools in NW DC difficult--but love the homes, and the prices are good.

[Anonymous]

Most places that cost that here are not worth it.

[Anonymous]

ashburn

[Anonymous]

Oakton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound like you really, really love the city, so find another place you love that's "big enough" for 4 - not suburban big, that's not $1MM - perhaps not NW DC - maybe capitol Hill - and then put the money you save towards private school if you don't like your school options down the road.

I wasn't going to comment on the "need a bigger house" thing as I normally do because I didn't think OP actually said how big her family is, but is she really concerned a Wardman won't be big enough for 4? I can't think of any Woodley Park rowhouses that are actually teeny like the ones on the Hill and maybe scattered around U St. or Shaw. Those might be 2-bedrooms and less than 1000 squ. feet because they were effectively built as 19th century laborers' cottages, but the Wardmans were built to be family homes for the fairly well-off.

[Anonymous]

aw, thought this was a where in the world would you buy at house if you had $1M to spend on it thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:aw, thought this was a where in the world would you buy at house if you had $1M to spend on it thread.

instead, it's a "chevy chase" thread.

I live on the "bad" side of DC. I love it and would never ever want to live in chevy chase. If I had $1M to buy a house, I'd probably build my dream house right here....not that it would cost $1M. I'm sure I'd find some fun way to spend whatever was leftover

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you want to buy some time. Why don't you rent. There's nothing pressing on you to buy now, so why do you feel like you should?

There is an unnecessary urge to "put down roots" when in your heart you want to be flexible.

Be flexible for awhile. A year or two won't kill you.

As for Mo Co, overall, it's a great system. I grew up going to those schools. After high school at Walter Johnson, I went to a very, very good university and let me tell you, I was helping fellow students write papers. And I'm no genius. I just learned what I was taught, and what everone else around me was doing.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for all the helpful replies. It's been very interesting to read about different people's experiences.

To answer one PP, our current house is about 1300 sf, not including a 300 sf finished basement. We have a toddler and are thinking about another baby, and our current place already seems small. The main issue is that, although our house is officially a three-bedroom, the back "bedroom" is a converted sun porch -- teeny, cold in the winter, warm in the summer, not ideal for a kid. Also, we only have one bathroom for all the bedrooms to share. Now, I know many families live in apartments and make due with much less space, but we would really like something with more room, meaning 2 full baths upstairs, 3 real bedrooms, and (in a perfect world!) a powder room on the first floor. That doesn't seem so crazy for our price range, right? The thing is, most of the larger Wardmans I've seen in the Oyster school district are going for over $1M. Once you get into the Mann, Janney, Lafayette areas we are back to my original quandary -- is it worth it to live a little further out in MoCo and possibly (although not necessarily) be set for schools? Or should we just suck it up, live closer in, enjoy a better commute (for me), and be prepared for private, if need be, for MS/HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much for all the helpful replies. It's been very interesting to read about different people's experiences.

To answer one PP, our current house is about 1300 sf, not including a 300 sf finished basement. We have a toddler and are thinking about another baby, and our current place already seems small. The main issue is that, although our house is officially a three-bedroom, the back "bedroom" is a converted sun porch -- teeny, cold in the winter, warm in the summer, not ideal for a kid. Also, we only have one bathroom for all the bedrooms to share. Now, I know many families live in apartments and make due with much less space, but we would really like something with more room, meaning 2 full baths upstairs, 3 real bedrooms, and (in a perfect world!) a powder room on the first floor. That doesn't seem so crazy for our price range, right? The thing is, most of the larger Wardmans I've seen in the Oyster school district are going for over $1M. Once you get into the Mann, Janney, Lafayette areas we are back to my original quandary -- is it worth it to live a little further out in MoCo and possibly (although not necessarily) be set for schools? Or should we just suck it up, live closer in, enjoy a better commute (for me), and be prepared for private, if need be, for MS/HS?

OP, I would totally stay where you are and renovate. You essentially have 1600 sq in a perfectly lovely, perfectly situated neighborhood. I am jealous!!! You should hire an architect and see what can be done within your price range. Moving costs, and the transaction costs of selling are significant. Even if your home sells for $800K, you would lost 6% to realtor fees, but add several thousand for movers, plus whatever minor renovations you might want for your new home. I'll bet that a $75K investment with an architect and contractor would do wonders for your current home.