s/o of neighborhoods under $400,000 but MD instead of VA

[Anonymous]

If you only had 400k to spend and were looking in Maryland, where would you choose? Wanting some accessibility to metro and good public schools (Which essentially rules out Prince George's Co.)

[Anonymous]

I posted about Takoma Park in the other thread - it's possible to get in there for just under $400K. Also check out University Park in PG, as well as Greenbelt - I think Eleanor Roosevelt is well-regarded but don't know about the Greenbelt elementary schools. Also check out the Howard County part of Laurel.

[Anonymous]

I am not considering PG at all. My parents live there now and I graduated from Roosevelt. I wold never send a child there today, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

There's a part of Silver Spring that is walkable to downtown SS and downtown Takoma Park that has houses for just under 400K. Also Hyattsville and Mt Rainier in PG Co.have houses for under 400K.

[Anonymous]

The OP did say nothing in PG County, so Hyattsville and Mt Ranier are not going to work for her.

[Anonymous]

There are some nice neighborhoods near r the Forest Glen metro in Silver Spring that are around 400.

[Anonymous]

Not metro accessible, but the Whiterim area near the Canal in Potomac has townhouses under $400,000. They usually only have one bathroom, but at least 3 bedrooms. They are in the carderock, pyle, whitman district and have easy access to Clara Barton Parkway and then Canal road into the city. The closest metro is probably Grovesnor or something but I wouldn't say it is really close at all.

http://franklymls.com/MC7602829

[Anonymous]

Wow, 7:16. I'm shocked that there is something in the whitman district for that price. Not metro accessible, but still.... Good find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a part of Silver Spring that is walkable to downtown SS and downtown Takoma Park that has houses for just under 400K. Also Hyattsville and Mt Rainier in PG Co.have houses for under 400K.

We looked at this area hoping it would work for us and were a little sketched out by the neighborhood. There seemed to be lots of houses that had multiple families in one small house and things looked run down. We felt like we'd need to spend closer to $500,000 to get a decent house/neighborhood in Silver Spring or Takoma Park. You should definitely check it out yourself (do some driving through, go to open houses), but it didn't seem like the best option to us personally. I'm pretty sure you can get a townhouse or house up in Rockville, Gaithersburg, Olney for under $400,000 - but if you commute to DC the traffic's a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

You could probably find something along the Red line in Rockville in the Richard Montgomery cluster.

[Anonymous]

We loved Takoma Park and tried to find something there, but everything in our price range seemed a bit skeevy (the multiple families in one house stuff, the crumbling and overgrown yards). It definitely did seem like we needed to go up to $500,000 to get something decent. We ended up choosing something in Kensington. Really N. Kensington in the slice between Plyers Mill and University Blvd but west of Drumm (to be a tidge further from Wheaton Plaza). Still accessible to Wheaton Metro though, and zoned to Oakland Terrace ES, which is going to get a lot less overcrowded in the next year when the new ES opens. I was happier with this ES than the Takoma park and SS options in our price range. The neighbors are nice, kids play outside, there are 4 parks within a half mile walking distance. I can also walk to the Kensington Marc train station.

I didn't want to be as far north as Rockville and hate dealing with Rockville Pike. Worst road ever.

[Anonymous]

Also OP, there are a few houses on the market in this part of Kensington in the 400 range, alhtough, most houses in this part of town are smaller:

375k: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Kensington/2805-Jutland-Rd-20895/home/11010870

389k: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Kensington/3124-Homewood-Pkwy-20895/home/11014002

419k: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Kensington/10804-Pearson-St-20895/home/11010921


my fave at 439k: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Kensington/3402-Farragut-Ave-20895/home/11011271

[Anonymous]

There are parts of Four Corners that have houses in this range. Try looking just south and just north of the beltway, on both sides of colesville. i found these houses to be generally less-skeevy than the cheaper houses closer to downtown ss or in takoma park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We loved Takoma Park and tried to find something there, but everything in our price range seemed a bit skeevy (the multiple families in one house stuff, the crumbling and overgrown yards). It definitely did seem like we needed to go up to $500,000 to get something decent. We ended up choosing something in Kensington. Really N. Kensington in the slice between Plyers Mill and University Blvd but west of Drumm (to be a tidge further from Wheaton Plaza). Still accessible to Wheaton Metro though, and zoned to Oakland Terrace ES, which is going to get a lot less overcrowded in the next year when the new ES opens. I was happier with this ES than the Takoma park and SS options in our price range. The neighbors are nice, kids play outside, there are 4 parks within a half mile walking distance. I can also walk to the Kensington Marc train station.

I didn't want to be as far north as Rockville and hate dealing with Rockville Pike. Worst road ever.

You must be a neighbor! I'm just waiting for someone to jump on say we're in the wrong part of Kensington for Walter Johnson, so how could we even have thought of buying here. Wheaton Plaza or not, it's nice having a Target in the neighborhood. Also, the Forest Glen Metro stop is another option for this neighborhood because I will admit the Wheaton one scares me a bit after dark.

[Anonymous]

Concur with 6:38. I live near FG metro and ramblers (with 3-4 bedrooms) in this neighborhood are in the range of $329k-369k. There are also some small colonials that are on the market. Look for homes on both the east and west of Georgia Avenue, between the beltway and Plyers Mill road.