DMV Sticker Shock Advice

[ikornika]

Anonymous wrote:
Looks like you can easily afford to increase your rental budget.

/Can/ but really don't want to. We live well beneath our means now and are financially conservative. Also, don't want to sink a lot into rental and have nothing to show for it in the end and don't want to buy knowing absolutely nothing about where we're headed and want to "root."

[Anonymous]

OP,

I recognize you from the questions you asked about gifted and talented. Welcome to the DMV. This area is quite expensive and traffic is pretty bad. If your DH is commuting into DC and you prefer NOVA, I would stick with N. Arlington (closer to the McLean side) or McLean. Since your DH is coming first, you could have him try and commute in from Vienna which is more affordable then N.A. or McLean before you try to rent somewhere as a family.

DC can be fun for families but I have lived here for almost 30 years (God, I'm old) and the majority of people that do eventually end up moving to Bethesda, Chevy Chase, MD or NOVA. A co-worker of mine moved from NE DC where our office is to NW for the better elementary schools and bought the cheapest she could afford (800K for a shoe box before extensive renovations were needed) but her commute more than doubled (and she has to bring the younger one with her on public transport after dropping off the older one) and the elementary does not provide after care! Also, keep in mind that the cost of child care for younger kids can be more than $2000 a month, particularly in DC. I know they provide free preschool in DC, but that totally depends on where you live in DC and the lottery results.

I live in N. Arlington (zip code 22207) and my commute is about 20-25 minutes door to door. (FWIW, depending on where your husband works in DC, the commute for my co-workers living in DC takes them longer than it does me in nearby Arlington). My DH has a reverse commute to Alexandria and his commute is 15 minutes. Our two kids are about the same as your kids' ages. All 3 of our zoned schools (ES, MS and HS) are a 1.1 miles or less from our house. It's a big thing when dropping two kids off at two different locations. All of their activities (e.g., gymnastics, soccer, ice skating lessons) are less than 3 miles from our house. It may not sound like such a big deal, but with two working parents it has totally impacted our quality of life particularly during the work week. In Arlington, pretty much everyone who signs up in advance in guaranteed a spot in after care. [One thing to note is they are redrawing elementary school boundaries in the next few years so if you are near several of the elementary schools you may get re-zoned into another one. That said, if you are where we live the two closest elementary schools to us are extremely well regarded, so we're pretty much ambivalent about where we end up.]

In Fairfax (which includes McLean and Great Falls the two most popular cities for public schools in Fairfax), they do not have guaranteed after care spots. That said, there are plenty of outside services that provide it. Also, plenty of people like the gifted programs (AAP) (my cousins' kids have gone to Langley and Marshall HSs others attend schools out in Reston (but that's way too far for commuting into DC)), while others may be quite shocked by how intense the competition is (especially coming from out of state).

There are tons of jobs for medical technologists in the NOVA area, especially Alexandria. While Alexandria seems charming, a lot of families I know either move out or send their kids to privates. Years later these co-workers are kicking themselves that they have to sell because of dissatisfaction with the public schools.

Good luck!

[ikornika]

Only federal taxes currently in Florida. As I understand it, Virginia has state and federal income taxes and Maryland has state, federal, AND local income taxes.

Current dual HHI is mid 100s. I would guess we're at about 30%ish tax rate.

We currently pay around $1000 a month in child care between before/after school for DD and fulltime care (55 hours a week) for DS. I am aware that I'll be looking at $1000 a WEEK moving there.

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote:Only federal taxes currently in Florida. As I understand it, Virginia has state and federal income taxes and Maryland has state, federal, AND local income taxes.

Current dual HHI is mid 100s. I would guess we're at about 30%ish tax rate.

We currently pay around $1000 a month in child care between before/after school for DD and fulltime care (55 hours a week) for DS. I am aware that I'll be looking at $1000 a WEEK moving there.

The tax issue VA vs MD comes out roughly the same once you take into account income tax, car tax, real estate tax, etc. Not sure why you are so focused on this.

If you are tripling your DH's income plus you will have a salary plus all these rental properties with income then you are looking at a 400-500k HHI. I think you can afford to increase your rent budget.

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Looks like you can easily afford to increase your rental budget.

/Can/ but really don't want to. We live well beneath our means now and are financially conservative. Also, don't want to sink a lot into rental and have nothing to show for it in the end and don't want to buy knowing absolutely nothing about where we're headed and want to "root."

Not sure what this means-your monthly rental payment is buying you a place to live. "I had a place to live that month" is what you have to "show for it."

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote:Only federal taxes currently in Florida. As I understand it, Virginia has state and federal income taxes and Maryland has state, federal, AND local income taxes.

Current dual HHI is mid 100s. I would guess we're at about 30%ish tax rate.

We currently pay around $1000 a month in child care between before/after school for DD and fulltime care (55 hours a week) for DS. I am aware that I'll be looking at $1000 a WEEK moving there.

Whoa..$1000 a month for all that care! Our nanny cost us $40K annually (2 kids)[co-workers in DC pay about $1200 per preschooler in daycare], and then my oldest also had PT preschool and summer camps and other activities (e.g., gymnastics). I think we easily spent $50K in the last year before oldest entered K. Now we pay $25K for montessori that gets out before June but includes before and after care.

How much did you say you would be making by moving here? I know tons of families who make under $300K in this area and not saving much b/c of high cost of housing plus daycare/childcare for 2 kids. if you can pay $900 for housing and less than $1000 a month for child care plus your kid is in a gifted and talented program where you are at, I would seriously reconsider moving.

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say N St can you be more specific? What’s commutable to Georgetown would be a very annoying commute to the Shaw area.

Ha! Didn't know it would matter.

Near the Mexican Consulate, I believe.

rent a place along the orange line where he can walk or metrobus to the metro. you will find something liveable if you go up to $3500.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

ikornika wrote:Only federal taxes currently in Florida. As I understand it, Virginia has state and federal income taxes and Maryland has state, federal, AND local income taxes.

Current dual HHI is mid 100s. I would guess we're at about 30%ish tax rate.

We currently pay around $1000 a month in child care between before/after school for DD and fulltime care (55 hours a week) for DS. I am aware that I'll be looking at $1000 a WEEK moving there.

Whoa..$1000 a month for all that care! Our nanny cost us $40K annually (2 kids)[co-workers in DC pay about $1200 per preschooler in daycare], and then my oldest also had PT preschool and summer camps and other activities (e.g., gymnastics). I think we easily spent $50K in the last year before oldest entered K. Now we pay $25K for montessori that gets out before June but includes before and after care.

How much did you say you would be making by moving here? I know tons of families who make under $300K in this area and not saving much b/c of high cost of housing plus daycare/childcare for 2 kids. if you can pay $900 for housing and less than $1000 a month for child care plus your kid is in a gifted and talented program where you are at, I would seriously reconsider moving.

agree

[Anonymous]

I dont know the routes that people take. But I have a door to door commute of 20 minutes from Upper NW DC (20016). I drive and I am earlyish (7 am) but it is 30 min in rush hour and those times are to both Southwest DC and Chinatown. It would take longer to metro but that is true from anywhere. I think you should be aware of the bridge factor if choosing NOVA. I think Arlington is a great area with great schools but I think the areas where it is a shorter commute to areas of DC are limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

I recognize you from the questions you asked about gifted and talented. Welcome to the DMV. This area is quite expensive and traffic is pretty bad. If your DH is commuting into DC and you prefer NOVA, I would stick with N. Arlington (closer to the McLean side) or McLean. Since your DH is coming first, you could have him try and commute in from Vienna which is more affordable then N.A. or McLean before you try to rent somewhere as a family.

DC can be fun for families but I have lived here for almost 30 years (God, I'm old) and the majority of people that do eventually end up moving to Bethesda, Chevy Chase, MD or NOVA. A co-worker of mine moved from NE DC where our office is to NW for the better elementary schools and bought the cheapest she could afford (800K for a shoe box before extensive renovations were needed) but her commute more than doubled (and she has to bring the younger one with her on public transport after dropping off the older one) and the elementary does not provide after care! Also, keep in mind that the cost of child care for younger kids can be more than $2000 a month, particularly in DC. I know they provide free preschool in DC, but that totally depends on where you live in DC and the lottery results.

I live in N. Arlington (zip code 22207) and my commute is about 20-25 minutes door to door. (FWIW, depending on where your husband works in DC, the commute for my co-workers living in DC takes them longer than it does me in nearby Arlington). My DH has a reverse commute to Alexandria and his commute is 15 minutes. Our two kids are about the same as your kids' ages. All 3 of our zoned schools (ES, MS and HS) are a 1.1 miles or less from our house. It's a big thing when dropping two kids off at two different locations. All of their activities (e.g., gymnastics, soccer, ice skating lessons) are less than 3 miles from our house. It may not sound like such a big deal, but with two working parents it has totally impacted our quality of life particularly during the work week. In Arlington, pretty much everyone who signs up in advance in guaranteed a spot in after care. [One thing to note is they are redrawing elementary school boundaries in the next few years so if you are near several of the elementary schools you may get re-zoned into another one. That said, if you are where we live the two closest elementary schools to us are extremely well regarded, so we're pretty much ambivalent about where we end up.]

In Fairfax (which includes McLean and Great Falls the two most popular cities for public schools in Fairfax), they do not have guaranteed after care spots. That said, there are plenty of outside services that provide it. Also, plenty of people like the gifted programs (AAP) (my cousins' kids have gone to Langley and Marshall HSs others attend schools out in Reston (but that's way too far for commuting into DC)), while others may be quite shocked by how intense the competition is (especially coming from out of state).

There are tons of jobs for medical technologists in the NOVA area, especially Alexandria. While Alexandria seems charming, a lot of families I know either move out or send their kids to privates. Years later these co-workers are kicking themselves that they have to sell because of dissatisfaction with the public schools.

Good luck!

Horrible advice. Don’t move from Jacksonville to a suburb in Virginia that doesn’t look any different than Jacksonville and is 5x as expensive. At least enjoy living in a walkable city that looks entirely different from Jacksonville.

[Anonymous]

Wow. 3x salary. What field is he in?

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Looks like you can easily afford to increase your rental budget.

/Can/ but really don't want to. We live well beneath our means now and are financially conservative. Also, don't want to sink a lot into rental and have nothing to show for it in the end and don't want to buy knowing absolutely nothing about where we're headed and want to "root."

Keep in mind that this is great in principle, but less likely to happen in practice the DC area due to how expensive everything is here--from childcare to housing to everything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ikornika wrote:Only federal taxes currently in Florida. As I understand it, Virginia has state and federal income taxes and Maryland has state, federal, AND local income taxes.

Current dual HHI is mid 100s. I would guess we're at about 30%ish tax rate.

We currently pay around $1000 a month in child care between before/after school for DD and fulltime care (55 hours a week) for DS. I am aware that I'll be looking at $1000 a WEEK moving there.

Whoa..$1000 a month for all that care! Our nanny cost us $40K annually (2 kids)[co-workers in DC pay about $1200 per preschooler in daycare], and then my oldest also had PT preschool and summer camps and other activities (e.g., gymnastics). I think we easily spent $50K in the last year before oldest entered K. Now we pay $25K for montessori that gets out before June but includes before and after care.

How much did you say you would be making by moving here? I know tons of families who make under $300K in this area and not saving much b/c of high cost of housing plus daycare/childcare for 2 kids. if you can pay $900 for housing and less than $1000 a month for child care plus your kid is in a gifted and talented program where you are at, I would seriously reconsider moving.

agree

Cheap housing isn’t everything in life! Jacksonville is inexpensive for a reason. There is a ton of land and people have to use their car multiple times a day. There aren’t as many high paying job opportunities. There are a lot of dumb people. Many people will gladly pay a premium to live in a vibrant city around driven and smart people and not be forced to drive a car to get their fat as$ around.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious about OP's DH's career. He was making around 75k in FL but got headhunted to make 3x that up here..225k-ish? That is a huge salary jump. I think I'm in the wrong field.

[Anonymous]

OP I’m not sure this is the place for you. I mean that in the nicest way possible. It sounds like you have a great life in FL and would be giving it up solely for more money - but why, when you already live totally comfortably?

I don’t think you’re even going to be able to find the kind of budget housing you’re looking for AND be happy with the school options.