DMV Sticker Shock Advice

[ikornika]

We're relocating to somewhere in the DMV in June.

Currently in Jacksonville with mortgage of just under $900/month PITI for 3100 square feet 4bd/3.5ba SFH built in 2005 on 0.25 acres with a 2 car garage in decent school district.

So, looking at our options in DMV has been quite eye opening.

We're wanting, at minimum, a 3/2, 1100 sq ft, <1 hour commute to N Street area DC, good school districts with AAP/TAG/whatever y'all call it here, and W/D in unit.

No preference on house vs condo vs whatever. Would like at least one car garage, but not mandatory. Prefer some sort of yard; if not, access to outdoor play space.

We have a 6.5 DD and 2.5 DS. No pets.

Budget is flexible, but, in my head, I thought 3k/month would suffice to meet our desires. However, on a different board, I was told it probably isn't. So now I'm thinking my searches on realtor.com and apartments.com have been misleading me.

We'd more than likely rent for the first year, possibly two. Absolute max budget for rent would be 4500. We'd like to rent where we'd eventually buy as to avoid switching school districts. Once we're ready to buy, forecasted budget is max 1.5m, preferably in the 600-800k range, though.

Where can we afford to live? Where should I be looking? We wanted to avoid Maryland because of local income taxes, but can be convinced.

There is no rush on our move as husband will precede me to DMV to start working and will Airbnb until school is over for our DD and we'll be renting out our current home once we've relocated.

[Anonymous]

Fairfax apartments - you'll get the 3/2 for $4,500 and the good schools but fair warning your door to door commute with traffic will probably be 45-75 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Long commute but in Wezt Springfield or Burke you can get a sfh on a wooded lot with a garage and excellent schools for aroun 3K/month

[ikornika]

Anonymous wrote:Long commute but in Wezt Springfield or Burke you can get a sfh on a wooded lot with a garage and excellent schools for aroun 3K/month

Could you define "long?" And via car or Metro?

[ikornika]

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax apartments - you'll get the 3/2 for $4,500 and the good schools but fair warning your door to door commute with traffic will probably be 45-75 minutes.

What determines the difference between 45 and 75? Like, if he left at 6:45 everyday to be at work at 8, would he be okay?

[Anonymous]

Look in the part of 22043 zoned for Haycock - Longfellow - McLean schools. You can find some townhouses to rent in the 3k range and houses above that. When you’re ready to buy, there are SFH in the 800+ range. Commute is good and schools are excellent (Haycock is a center school with AAP, which you said you are looking for). Good luck!

[ikornika]

Anonymous wrote:Look in the part of 22043 zoned for Haycock - Longfellow - McLean schools. You can find some townhouses to rent in the 3k range and houses above that. When you’re ready to buy, there are SFH in the 800+ range. Commute is good and schools are excellent (Haycock is a center school with AAP, which you said you are looking for). Good luck!

Oooh! Thank you. You're amazing for providing a zip code! That makes searching so much easier.

[Anonymous]

Just FYI: my kids are in DCPS at a school that a lot of people like. There’s no TAG/whatever but I’d say nearly all the kids would have been in the GATE program I attended in elementary. These are all bright kids whose parents care about their education. People’s expectations here are just SO different from where I grew up that I think you could send your kids to many schools without an explicit AAP program and expect them to be challenged.

And FWIW, your husband’s commute from here (we are on Capitol Hill) would be a breeze by Metro, car, or bus.

Since you’re willing to live in less that 2000 feet, DC might not be a bad fit at all.

[ikornika]

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI: my kids are in DCPS at a school that a lot of people like. There’s no TAG/whatever but I’d say nearly all the kids would have been in the GATE program I attended in elementary. These are all bright kids whose parents care about their education. People’s expectations here are just SO different from where I grew up that I think you could send your kids to many schools without an explicit AAP program and expect them to be challenged.

And FWIW, your husband’s commute from here (we are on Capitol Hill) would be a breeze by Metro, car, or bus.

Since you’re willing to live in less that 2000 feet, DC might not be a bad fit at all.

I honestly haven't even looked in DC as we simply did not believe we could afford to. I just automatically defaulted to elsewhere, but now I'll look in DC.

Are there areas in DC to avoid? To aim for?

Clearly, I don't even know what I don't know so asking good questions is/has been difficult.

[Anonymous]

In DC, check zip code 20003 and 20002 zoned for Brent or Maury ES. You could find a 3 bed rental for $3,000-$4,000.

Walkable communities, easy downtown commute via Metro, tons of kids.

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI: my kids are in DCPS at a school that a lot of people like. There’s no TAG/whatever but I’d say nearly all the kids would have been in the GATE program I attended in elementary. These are all bright kids whose parents care about their education. People’s expectations here are just SO different from where I grew up that I think you could send your kids to many schools without an explicit AAP program and expect them to be challenged.

And FWIW, your husband’s commute from here (we are on Capitol Hill) would be a breeze by Metro, car, or bus.

Since you’re willing to live in less that 2000 feet, DC might not be a bad fit at all.

I honestly haven't even looked in DC as we simply did not believe we could afford to. I just automatically defaulted to elsewhere, but now I'll look in DC.

Are there areas in DC to avoid? To aim for?

Clearly, I don't even know what I don't know so asking good questions is/has been difficult.

I can imagine! I really had the barest notion of DC when I moved here. I did it as an unemployed single woman so the stakes were much lower. Now that I am married with kids and a job, my experience with the area is very different. But I’m still glad we ended up in the city. It’s a very livable city; easy to get around, lots to do for kids, etc. Your budget would get you far in our neighborhood. The high end would buy you a gorgeous house inbounds for a good school. 700-800k would get you a nice, smaller row house or a larger one that needs some work. Our budget (and, I’d guess, our income) were far lower than yours when we bought years ago. Our 3-bedroom, 1500 sf row house plus basement would sell for around 800k (we bought it for half that) and we can walk to school, Whole Foods, etc.

You might want to skulk around the schools boards on here to see what people say about individual schools. Happy to answer any questions about living with kids on a budget in DC.

[Anonymous]

Why bother? I sure as hell wouldn’t if I was employed outside of this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI: my kids are in DCPS at a school that a lot of people like. There’s no TAG/whatever but I’d say nearly all the kids would have been in the GATE program I attended in elementary. These are all bright kids whose parents care about their education. People’s expectations here are just SO different from where I grew up that I think you could send your kids to many schools without an explicit AAP program and expect them to be challenged.

And FWIW, your husband’s commute from here (we are on Capitol Hill) would be a breeze by Metro, car, or bus.

Since you’re willing to live in less that 2000 feet, DC might not be a bad fit at all.

Mosr dcps are terrible so it would probably be helpful if you name your school.

[Anonymous]

There are a bunch of FCPS and charter boosters, but coming get from a nice Jax community with probably nice clean brand new schools filled with TAG programs and air conditioning, I would head to NOVA.

McLean seems like a good fit. MD taxes will be quite an adjustment coming from FL.

If only DH is commuting, then you could consider Vienna/Oakton/Reston for some newer communities and he would take the metro or pay toll. 45 min commute generally

Coming from Florida, Jax is a nice place to leave, what is the impetus.

[Anonymous]

I would avoid moving here if I had a choice, I can't emphasize that enough. Going from a $900 mortgage to $4,500 is killer unless your salary is shooting up, which I don't know, maybe it is. I wouldn't avoid Maryland because of taxes, that seems pretty dumb unless you have already done the math and it's some sort of huge difference (I wouldn't know because I have never considered VA) but it's your life and your choice. If I had 1.5 million I would choose a modest home in Bethesda or Chevy Chase or Arlington, depending on where my job was and where would get me the easiest commute. Everything is very commute-dependent here. Some parts of DC are harder to access from within DC than from suburbs. I have a friend who lives in DC and has the same commute to her job as I do, and I live in a suburb. YMMV.