Moving to DC from Brooklyn-- where should we live? Buy/rent?

[shirirb]

Hello forum,

Sorry for the long post-- please bear with me, as we need your help!

My family and I (husband, 2 year-old, and me) are re-locating to DC from Brooklyn, NYC this summer. We don't know DC very well and would love assistance from the hive mind about housing alternatives. We're looking for the following, in order of most to least important:

- 3+ bedrooms, 1.5+ baths
- Walkable commercial area (mama needs her coffee fix)
- Under 35 minute rush-hour commute to Columbia, Maryland (where husband will be working)-- we're thinking this means easy access to highway
- Close metro access
- Other young families

We aren't sure whether we will need to rent or buy at this point. We are keeping our NYC apartment just in case the new gig doesn't work out, so our first thought was renting, but I am not seeing much in the rental market right now. Ideally, we'd like to rent for under $4500, but doing some quick, back-of-the-envelope math the other day, we realized we would likely spend less than that if we bought something in the 700K-800K range. Is it a pipe dream to find something in that price range in a neighborhood that fits the above criteria?...

Thanks in advance for any thoughts-- Moving is hard!

[Anonymous]

Are good schools important to you? When does your 2 year old turn 3? if it's before Sept 30 he or she is eligible for public school though it may be a challenge to get him or her in anywhere this late. (Charter school places are assigned on a lottery).

Anyway, I suggest Bloomingdale or Shaw. Though you'll most likely want to try a charter.

[Anonymous]

If you are unfamiliar with DC, and may not stay at least 5 years, I would rent at first. You will pay at minimum 6% transaction cost if you then want to sell here and move back to NYC. On $700k, that's 42k.

Our friends just sold their beloved house here and moved down to Richmnd, VA. Husband hates the new job, wife hates their neighborhood. They can't come back fast enough. They really regret selling here and buying there.

[Anonymous]

Downtown silver spring sounds like a great fit for you and you can rent a house for way less than your budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are unfamiliar with DC, and may not stay at least 5 years, I would rent at first. You will pay at minimum 6% transaction cost if you then want to sell here and move back to NYC. On $700k, that's 42k.

Our friends just sold their beloved house here and moved down to Richmnd, VA. Husband hates the new job, wife hates their neighborhood. They can't come back fast enough. They really regret selling here and buying there.

But their house cost $200K and comes with a pool!

[shirirb]

Thanks for the quick response! Agreed re: transaction costs, though amortized over 3 years (the length of husband's initial term), it may still be cheaper than renting! Plus, we're worried that mortgage rates may not stay this low if we waited a year... That being said, we have no clue what real estate taxes look like in DC.

Re: schools, 2 year old just turned 2, will be 29 months-ish in September. So no go on the public school option. We've been looking at JCC, Co-op Gan in Capitol Hill, and Adas Israel. Will be posting a message on that issue on another forum!

[Anonymous]

If you could find something near downtown Bethesda or Friendship Heights in your price range, that would be ideal. You may also look into the walkable parts of Chevy Chase, DC.

[Anonymous]

Consider Silver Spring, MD. Your DH's commute would be under a half-hour as it's a reverse commute straight up Route 29. If you live near downtown Silver Spring you'll have easy walkable access to coffee shops, shopping, library, Metro, and other stuff.

[Anonymous]

Bear in mind that DC to Columbia MD is 35 miles, so an under-35 minute commute might be unrealistic. Your husband would be reverse-commute, so that would help. In recent years, though, even the reverse-commute in some areas is pretty miserable. (Brace yourself of DC traffic. It really is all that.) If I were you, I'd consider Baltimore. It'd be about 25 miles, and a quicker commute. Lots of fun neighborhoods, like Hampden, for starters, and it'd be a lot cheaper than DC. Even closer to Columbia is Ellicott City, MD, and it's adjacent hamlet of Oella. Maybe ten miles from Columbia. Very cool old river/train town. Check it out. Good luck and welcome!

[Anonymous]

Definitely rent or buy in Glover Park.

[Anonymous]

Ditto the suggestion for B'more. Canton, Charles Village, Washington Village are other good nabes. Commute from DC to Columbia would be soul-crushing.

[shirirb]

OP here-- I'm worried that I won't be able to handle the transition from NYC to a suburb, so was hoping to move to a lively, busy area-- is Silver Spring city-ish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely rent or buy in Glover Park.

No, don't do this because that adds 25 minutes to the DH's commute to get out of town every morning, heading north to Columbia. And I love GP, but this is not the right place to be well-situated for a Columbia MD commute 5x a week.

[Anonymous]

Downtown Silver Spring is what I think would work best for you.

Glover Park seems like the worst suggestion-- not sure if that was meant for another thread because AFAIK it's not close to metro or to walkable commercial areas and would be terrible for a commute to Columbia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely rent or buy in Glover Park.

WTF?