Brooklanders…where do you send DCs to school and how is your commute?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if I get into my dream charter, if I can also find a dream home in brookland. My current house would sell for between $1 and $1.2 mil. My wish list in brookland would be:
1) coffee shop I could walk to in under a mile
2) 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths-- which would include an inlaw suite plus a playroom
3) parking and maybe even a garage
4) a wooded lot or a lot overlooking woods
5) space and enough room left on the budget to install a nice swimming pool.

Does this kind of thing exist in brookland?

tIa.

Backyard swimming pool? In Brookland? Wrong crowd, lady. Most people in Brookland go to DPR or PG Pool to swim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if I get into my dream charter, if I can also find a dream home in brookland. My current house would sell for between $1 and $1.2 mil. My wish list in brookland would be:
1) coffee shop I could walk to in under a mile
2) 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths-- which would include an inlaw suite plus a playroom
3) parking and maybe even a garage
4) a wooded lot or a lot overlooking woods
5) space and enough room left on the budget to install a nice swimming pool.

Does this kind of thing exist in brookland?

tIa.

This seems like a joke. With all due respect to Brookland, why would anyone live there if they had one million to spend? It is mostly a low-income/middle-income neighborhood, with lots of strenths but lots of weaknesses. If you had that much money to spend why would you move to Brookland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if I get into my dream charter, if I can also find a dream home in brookland. My current house would sell for between $1 and $1.2 mil. My wish list in brookland would be:
1) coffee shop I could walk to in under a mile
2) 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths-- which would include an inlaw suite plus a playroom
3) parking and maybe even a garage
4) a wooded lot or a lot overlooking woods
5) space and enough room left on the budget to install a nice swimming pool.

Does this kind of thing exist in brookland?

tIa.

This seems like a joke. With all due respect to Brookland, why would anyone live there if they had one million to spend? It is mostly a low-income/middle-income neighborhood, with lots of strenths but lots of weaknesses. If you had that much money to spend why would you move to Brookland? [/quote
PP didn't say they had million to spend but that she could sell for a million, we don't know if/how much their payoff is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if I get into my dream charter, if I can also find a dream home in brookland. My current house would sell for between $1 and $1.2 mil. My wish list in brookland would be:
1) coffee shop I could walk to in under a mile
2) 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths-- which would include an inlaw suite plus a playroom
3) parking and maybe even a garage
4) a wooded lot or a lot overlooking woods
5) space and enough room left on the budget to install a nice swimming pool.

Does this kind of thing exist in brookland?

tIa.

This seems like a joke. With all due respect to Brookland, why would anyone live there if they had one million to spend? It is mostly a low-income/middle-income neighborhood, with lots of strenths but lots of weaknesses. If you had that much money to spend why would you move to Brookland?

I don't know, you can't really get what she wants anywhere else in the city for $1 million. Maybe in the burbs, but if her goal is to have all those things-- large house, garage, wooded lot, swimming pool in Woodley/Cleveland/Palisades/etc. you'd have to spend a lot more than a million. If she wants to live close in DC and to have a house like that, Brookland could be a reasonable option (although I don't think what she is looking for exists, she'd have to buy and tear down).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. yes, applied to Stokes, too!

to the PP who asked why Brookland. Brookland is awesome. mixed family friendly neighborhood, less expensive housing with a possible return on investment down the road (moreso than already established NW neighborhoods), more green space, super easy commute to 2 workplaces. in the end, financially we would much rather carry a lesser mortgage and have the possibility of going charter and not spending $ on private down the road than carrying a bigger mortgage that will not change for the next 30 years.

Like so many, you're trading super awesome super easy super green funtime for certainty on the schools piece. "Going charter" is not synonymous with "good." Or should I say "super awesome." Maybe for pk3 -2. Not for 6-12.

And fwiw, independent school tuition is now at the $33,000 a year mark for the top ~13 schools. A catholic parish k-8 will be much less.

Good luck to you.

Going charters is and can be synonymous with good. If I had my first choice, I'd prefer a school like IT or MV in conjunction with Latin than any WOTP/Wilson combo. Different strokes.

You won't get into any of these 3 schools though -- that's the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if I get into my dream charter, if I can also find a dream home in brookland. My current house would sell for between $1 and $1.2 mil. My wish list in brookland would be:
1) coffee shop I could walk to in under a mile
2) 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths-- which would include an inlaw suite plus a playroom
3) parking and maybe even a garage
4) a wooded lot or a lot overlooking woods
5) space and enough room left on the budget to install a nice swimming pool.

Does this kind of thing exist in brookland?

tIa.

This seems like a joke. With all due respect to Brookland, why would anyone live there if they had one million to spend? It is mostly a low-income/middle-income neighborhood, with lots of strenths but lots of weaknesses. If you had that much money to spend why would you move to Brookland?

I don't know, you can't really get what she wants anywhere else in the city for $1 million. Maybe in the burbs, but if her goal is to have all those things-- large house, garage, wooded lot, swimming pool in Woodley/Cleveland/Palisades/etc. you'd have to spend a lot more than a million. If she wants to live close in DC and to have a house like that, Brookland could be a reasonable option (although I don't think what she is looking for exists, she'd have to buy and tear down).

You can get this for sure in shepherd park and have the local school, potentially keep deal as middle school. You can get the house with garage or parking for $900k and have plenty of space and budget for a pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. yes, applied to Stokes, too!

to the PP who asked why Brookland. Brookland is awesome. mixed family friendly neighborhood, less expensive housing with a possible return on investment down the road (moreso than already established NW neighborhoods), more green space, super easy commute to 2 workplaces. in the end, financially we would much rather carry a lesser mortgage and have the possibility of going charter and not spending $ on private down the road than carrying a bigger mortgage that will not change for the next 30 years.

Like so many, you're trading super awesome super easy super green funtime for certainty on the schools piece. "Going charter" is not synonymous with "good." Or should I say "super awesome." Maybe for pk3 -2. Not for 6-12.

And fwiw, independent school tuition is now at the $33,000 a year mark for the top ~13 schools. A catholic parish k-8 will be much less.

Good luck to you.

Going charters is and can be synonymous with good. If I had my first choice, I'd prefer a school like IT or MV in conjunction with Latin than any WOTP/Wilson combo. Different strokes.

You won't get into any of these 3 schools though -- that's the point.

People do get into these schools. IT is not yet impossible (especially of you're looking at > K) and Latin is easier to get into at 5th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if I get into my dream charter, if I can also find a dream home in brookland. My current house would sell for between $1 and $1.2 mil. My wish list in brookland would be:
1) coffee shop I could walk to in under a mile
2) 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths-- which would include an inlaw suite plus a playroom
3) parking and maybe even a garage
4) a wooded lot or a lot overlooking woods
5) space and enough room left on the budget to install a nice swimming pool.

Does this kind of thing exist in brookland?

tIa.

This seems like a joke. With all due respect to Brookland, why would anyone live there if they had one million to spend? It is mostly a low-income/middle-income neighborhood, with lots of strenths but lots of weaknesses. If you had that much money to spend why would you move to Brookland?

Is this response a joke? I live in Brookland and I have that budget to spend on a home. I like the suburban-like feel, and my big house on a big lot. I love the historical nature of this neighborhood. There are new homes selling in Brookland and surrounding areas for close to $1M. Not everyone wants coffee shops and cafes at their front door. Some of the ppl on this board need to get off the computer and get in to the real world. Brookland is a great neighborhood for those who want the lifestyle it offers ($1M or not).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if I get into my dream charter, if I can also find a dream home in brookland. My current house would sell for between $1 and $1.2 mil. My wish list in brookland would be:
1) coffee shop I could walk to in under a mile
2) 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths-- which would include an inlaw suite plus a playroom
3) parking and maybe even a garage
4) a wooded lot or a lot overlooking woods
5) space and enough room left on the budget to install a nice swimming pool.

Does this kind of thing exist in brookland?

tIa.

This seems like a joke. With all due respect to Brookland, why would anyone live there if they had one million to spend? It is mostly a low-income/middle-income neighborhood, with lots of strenths but lots of weaknesses. If you had that much money to spend why would you move to Brookland?

Is this response a joke? I live in Brookland and I have that budget to spend on a home. I like the suburban-like feel, and my big house on a big lot. I love the historical nature of this neighborhood. There are new homes selling in Brookland and surrounding areas for close to $1M. Not everyone wants coffee shops and cafes at their front door. Some of the ppl on this board need to get off the computer and get in to the real world. Brookland is a great neighborhood for those who want the lifestyle it offers ($1M or not).

Please. People ready willing and able to buy a home for $1 million, who have been approved by the bank and have the down payment in cash do not choose Brookland as their top pick. Also, I've worked in Brookland for years and the prevalence of $1M home sales is microscopic, if not non-existent. There was that one grey round architect's house that was 800k, maybe one other further north ...

[Anonymous]

Home on 13th for a million last year I think. New construction.

[Anonymous]

We have our two in St. Jerome Academy in Hyattsville. We're very happy with the school, but I work from home and have flexible hours, so the reverse commute is not that inconvenient.

[Anonymous]

Live on Edgewood side of Brookland and child goes to Bethune. Commutes to PG County (down 295) and upper Connecticut Ave DC typically range 25-35 minutes, 45 on really bad traffic days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Live on Edgewood side of Brookland and child goes to Bethune. Commutes to PG County (down 295) and upper Connecticut Ave DC typically range 25-35 minutes, 45 on really bad traffic days.

Note the occasional bad traffic due to construction and/or accidents is only ever on the way home, never in the morning.

[Anonymous]

We're in Woodridge, so next to Brookland, and we love it. Our kids go to YY, which we have also been really pleased with and we are thrilled to be able to walk/bike to school when we want to. Buying a house below what we could afford means that we have the flexibility to spend money on other priorities. One spouse works part-time to allow for more time with the kids, getting things done around the house etc. No way we could do this if we bought at the top of our budget.

[Anonymous]

Also live in Brookland, kids go to YY. 5 minute commute to school. My commute downtown is 30 min. I think OP that your plan is one that has been successfully done by many families. Most people seem to get into a school they are happy with. Sure its not a lock from day one, but I'm really not that familiar with a large group of families who have been shut out or not been able to make it work.

Good luck and welcome!