Leaving DC for a lower COL area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Norfolk, VA. Great houses, lots of restaurants and things to do, we can walk to the beach. I never stop being amazed that when I go downtown I can find a parking spot in front of the restaurant/museum. There are some "red staters" and it was a bit of a culture shock but overall we're happy here and plan to stay.

I'm from the Norfolk area. To each her own, but I was happy to leave. Very small-town feel, and yes, seems more red state now than when I lived there (although I admit living near the water in Norfolk sounds nice).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dream about this too, but you can't find the jobs, schools, and doctors etc. you need for kids or when you are old in alot of those places. My parents fled to a lower COL area about 15, 20 years ago with their younger kids. They struggled to get good schooling, special services for a SN sibling, and now Dad has serious health problems and they have to commute several states to get good care.

Somewhere like Rochester has schools ranked among the top in the country, major colleges and universities, good hospital systems, and pretty good economy...but lower COL.

People who think your options are living in DC or living Hicksville are super strange.

My spouse spent several years in Rochester for grad school. Disliked the cold and heavy snow. The climate here is a lot better for many who prefer milder winters.

Then I guess you're stuck in DC!

PP. I'm glad, we love it! But we're lucky to be able to afford it with our HHI (we live in DC in a nice neighborhood zoned for Deal/Wilson).

We've lived in several other high-cost parts of the country, and don't think DC is the best, but it's a reasonably nice place to raise kids.

Why are you posting on this thread? It’s not about people like you and your effort to always make everything about higher income families is part of the reason so many want to bail on DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

What is a property ladder?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did this. Moved to Charlotte. Came right back.

I've considered Charlotte (and Richmond). Why did you return? Was it that bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

What is a property ladder?

Buying a condo/starter home to build equity over 5-7 years. Then upgrading to a more expensive home later when you need more space or better schools. It's a pretty common term among the DINK set.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

What is a property ladder?

Not the PP, but I’m guessing that it means constantly trading up houses to keep up with the Joneses and generate fees for RE agents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did this. Moved to Charlotte. Came right back.

I've considered Charlotte (and Richmond). Why did you return? Was it that bad?

I posted upthread. The lower cost city I lived in was Richmond. We lived in the city and loved it but our child was young so I didn't use the schools, which have many of the same issues as DCPS. The elementary school we were set to start was nice though. I had issues with the history of the town but really did find it a place I could have stayed. It was so easy to go everywhere, cheap, lots of grocery stores and decent restaurants. Some nice museums too. The people I met were so nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did this. Moved to Charlotte. Came right back.

I've considered Charlotte (and Richmond). Why did you return? Was it that bad?

Not pretentious enough I geuss too many suburbanites, not enough community theatre etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Norfolk, VA. Great houses, lots of restaurants and things to do, we can walk to the beach. I never stop being amazed that when I go downtown I can find a parking spot in front of the restaurant/museum. There are some "red staters" and it was a bit of a culture shock but overall we're happy here and plan to stay.

Curious, are you feds?

One of us is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

Some friends move to CO, Denver I think, and they love it.

Denver is nice, but mountains are almost inaccessible b/c of weekend traffic, and you are pretty isolated out there in the plains. And it’s no longer much cheaper. If you moved there 10 years ago, you would be golden!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

What is a property ladder?

Not the PP, but I’m guessing that it means constantly trading up houses to keep up with the Joneses and generate fees for RE agents.

. So a fun term for wasting money on a condo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

What is a property ladder?

Not the PP, but I’m guessing that it means constantly trading up houses to keep up with the Joneses and generate fees for RE agents.

. So a fun term for wasting money on a condo.

I mean, not really. It means buying property early on, gaining equity that you trade up for a larger or otherwise better property, and so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

What is a property ladder?

Not the PP, but I’m guessing that it means constantly trading up houses to keep up with the Joneses and generate fees for RE agents.

. So a fun term for wasting money on a condo.

I mean, not really. It means buying property early on, gaining equity that you trade up for a larger or otherwise better property, and so on.

In my family the ones that bought and stated have much more equity in their house and more money saved than the ones who bought and sold and bought and sold up the “ladder”. I think saving up for what works first seems to work better. You may have to move because circumstances change and jobs change, but to move for a bigger and bugger house just does not make sense to me. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

What is a property ladder?

Not the PP, but I’m guessing that it means constantly trading up houses to keep up with the Joneses and generate fees for RE agents.

. So a fun term for wasting money on a condo.

I mean, not really. It means buying property early on, gaining equity that you trade up for a larger or otherwise better property, and so on.

Buying a condo isn't always the smart way to get on the ladder. As many condo owners will tell you. Minimal appreciation, even underwater. And this is 10 years after the crash.

Real estate always involves luck if you see significant appreciation in a short period. Plenty of people who bought what was considered solid value investments in Potomac and Great Falls and other suburban areas are struggling to sell today what they paid 15 years ago..... But if you bought in a transitional DC neighborhood 15 years ago you've definitely made out like a bandit. But you had to be in the position to do that. Not just living in DC at the time, but willing to invest in a risky area with bad schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

What is a property ladder?

Not the PP, but I’m guessing that it means constantly trading up houses to keep up with the Joneses and generate fees for RE agents.

. So a fun term for wasting money on a condo.

I mean, not really. It means buying property early on, gaining equity that you trade up for a larger or otherwise better property, and so on.

In my family the ones that bought and stated have much more equity in their house and more money saved than the ones who bought and sold and bought and sold up the “ladder”. I think saving up for what works first seems to work better. You may have to move because circumstances change and jobs change, but to move for a bigger and bugger house just does not make sense to me. YMMV.

Great plan! Perhaps you can loan OP the down payment?