Help a first time parent pick a neighborhood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, being a young parent on the Hill is so pleasant. Tons of built-in community. Join MOTH, then join whatever Eaters and Sleepers group is running at the time. Those early mom friends are jewels.

Lies, lies, lies, shootings and robberies

[Anonymous]

A sfh under 1.1 million in dc with reasonable commute to Arlington is not reasonable. Your best options is to look in VA.

[Anonymous]

Check out fort hunt / waynewood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out fort hunt / waynewood

It’s a long commute to Arlington, but there are some nice mid century modern homes in Hollin Hills designed by architect Charles Goodman in the 50s. It’s a pretty area.

[Anonymous]

I think OP will have to expand on what type of neighborhood feel they are looking for before folks can be much more helpful. Alexandria is an option, but if a neighborhood where most go to local public schools is important that is usually a concern there and realistically it isn't that different that Arlington so I just can't imagine why someone would deal with school concerns in Alexandria to commute to Arlington. It would make little sense long term.

If considering Alexandira, worthwhile to read this thread: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1136350.page

[Anonymous]

There are older neighborhoods in Arlington that have a similar feel to the older single family home neighborhoods in Alexandria.

If you really like Del Ray, you can simply purchase a house in Arlington Ridge / Aurora Highlands which is a short 2-5 minute drive to Del Ray. The historic houses in Arlington Ridge are similar to those in Rosemont or other Alexandria neighborhoods but you live in Arlington closer to where you work.

Or just live in Del Ray if you don’t mind the public schools.

[Anonymous]

No specific suggestions on neighborhood that haven't already been said, but one suggestion on finances.

If you are really committed to buying this year, and $1.1m won't get you what you want, consider doing a "piggyback loan" setup where you have one conventional mortgage at 75-80% LTV and a HELOC at 15-20% LTV. This will allow you to go a ways above $1.1m without having a 15-20% downpayment yet.

You'll want to refinance out of this within a couple of years, because your interest rate on the HELOC will be a bit higher (and variable). But, with your income this will be no problem. Alternatively, with your income you could just pay the HELOC off over a couple of years on a similar schedule to which you were planning to save up to 20%. In the end, this does cost you a bit more in interest, but it's a *lot* cheaper than selling a house and moving to another one if it allows you to buy a house that you will stay in for longer.

You'll need a good mortgage broker to arrange this, sucks it usually involves working with two different banks for the primary and secondary mortgages. This is what we did to buy near H Street a few years back (our income is much lower than yours), and it has worked out extremely well. We are long since refinanced to a conventional loan with a very low interest rate.

[Anonymous]

I was a former dc snob as well and now I live in Arlington. It is such a great place when you have young kids. You can find a walkable neighborhood in your price range too in Lyon park or Westover. Or you can find someplace with tons of waking trails (since you have dogs) like Donaldson Run or the area near Bluemont Park. And in your situation you greatly eliminate your commute which has a lot of value from a lifestyle perspective.

The majority of the housing stock in dc proper is not SFH with big yards so it seems unlikely you will get what you are looking for there lol. I go to Spring Valley from Arlington once a week to have dinner with a family member who works in that area and it seems pretty quick. But 1.1M doesn’t seem possible so maybe you can stay put a few years and save money and get your budget up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, being a young parent on the Hill is so pleasant. Tons of built-in community. Join MOTH, then join whatever Eaters and Sleepers group is running at the time. Those early mom friends are jewels.

I agree with this. Do you need to move now? I'm in Wakefield (which is what they call the neighborhood between Forest Hills and AU Park, south of Chevy Chase) and it's great, but we moved here when my oldest was starting PK4. Until then I loved being on the Hill: so walkable, great playgrounds and green spaces, plenty of trendy spots that won't mind you bringing a baby in a carrier.

The bonus to waiting is that you can save up to get something in a neighborhood you love, like CCDC. $1.1 won't get you much in Upper NW but you have a big HHI so 5 years of additional savings could allow you to grow your budget and get something nice.

[Anonymous]

Honestly if I was in your situation (dogs, kid on the way, job in Arlington) I would probably buy in Arlington. Old Town and Del Ray are cute, but you are setting yourself up for a school problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also you’ll never see your friends again but it will be because of the kids, not the neighborhood. Having a kid is going to change your life so much that fussing over having a VA address will feel foolish in retrospect.

Also Arlington is closer to some DC stuff than parts of DC are. I moved to Upper NW and depending on the restaurant, the Uber ride for me to meet my friends for dinner is sometimes longer for me than for my friend who moved to Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a former dc snob as well and now I live in Arlington. It is such a great place when you have young kids. You can find a walkable neighborhood in your price range too in Lyon park or Westover. Or you can find someplace with tons of waking trails (since you have dogs) like Donaldson Run or the area near Bluemont Park. And in your situation you greatly eliminate your commute which has a lot of value from a lifestyle perspective.

The majority of the housing stock in dc proper is not SFH with big yards so it seems unlikely you will get what you are looking for there lol. I go to Spring Valley from Arlington once a week to have dinner with a family member who works in that area and it seems pretty quick. But 1.1M doesn’t seem possible so maybe you can stay put a few years and save money and get your budget up.

+1 former city snob now in Arlington (Westover). It is hard to beat in terms of community, having some walkability but a yard, close parks for your kids, bike trails, etc. We were scared too and now say it is the perfect balance. Arlington is basically full of people like you op, who were scared to leave the city so they stayed close and tried to keep some walkability. It's truly not as scary as you think over here, in fact it is quite lovely. I've never met anyone who doesn't like living in the Westover area honestly.

[Anonymous]

OP is your revulsion to Arlington a Republican thing (bc it’s in Virginia?)

Bc Arlington is one of the most liberal cities in the country. Certainly more liberal than CCDC. The more conservative people in Arlington live in places that are way out of your budget anyway.

Just offering this nugget in case politics was your concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also you’ll never see your friends again but it will be because of the kids, not the neighborhood. Having a kid is going to change your life so much that fussing over having a VA address will feel foolish in retrospect.

Also Arlington is closer to some DC stuff than parts of DC are. I moved to Upper NW and depending on the restaurant, the Uber ride for me to meet my friends for dinner is sometimes longer for me than for my friend who moved to Arlington.

+1 Capitol hill is wonderful, but if you want a yard or more space the areas of DC that have that are more like suburbs anyway so since you work in Arlington it just doesn't make a lot of sense. It depends on what part of DC you're trying to get to, but many are very easy from Arlington. When I was having my first baby OP I used to pop in for dinner with my friends in DC regularly because I was one of the first to have a kid and leave. Now everyone has left so I don't do that anymore but it was super easy when I did.

[Anonymous]

You sound annoying.