Belmont Elementary - advice about house-hunting in Olney if we want DC to go to this school?

[Anonymous]

We're considering all of our options right now, but we're feeling priced out of Bethesda/Chevy-Chase, and my sense is that Olney is an affordable alternative for good schools. I don't know the first thing about Olney, the different neighborhoods, and what I should be looking for (or looking out for) when searching for a home in this area. When I've run online real estate searches for the Olney zip codes, the names of the streets and neighborhoods associated with the various listings mean nothing to me so I have no idea if the listing has promise or is conveniently located to the schools. I've run some google map searches, and that helps pin-point things geographically, but it doesn't tell me what I'm looking for, and it's time-consuming to do with every single listing.

Anyone out there have advice about where to look in Olney? If we were to take the plunge and move to Olney, we're probably in the 500K range, and we'd be looking to send DC to Belmont. Anyone out there successfully transition from D.C. or the close-in suburbs to Olney?

[Anonymous]

I've always liked Olney in general, but don't know it well enough by neighborhood to advise you. What I've done the past two times I've bought houses is go driving out in the general area and find little communities I like. Research them, and then sit and wait for something to come up for sale in those general areas.

[Anonymous]

We looked in the Olney/Brookeville area for nearly 2 years before settling in the area. We live in Brookeville Knolls (right on the border of Olney -- in fact, we stumbled upon the area while driving around Olney Mill -- which feeds into Belmont and Greenwood). Run searches with 20832 (Olney) and 20833 (Brookeville). Check out the following neighborhoods: Olney Mill, Brookeville Knolls, and Tanterra. These 2 neighborhoods are in your price range and feed into Belmont and Greenwood. Manor Oaks and other more affluent neighborhoods also feed into Greenwood. Belmont is pretty much comprised of Olney Mill (and maybe some smaller, older neighborhoods as well -- not sure exactly). You can't go wrong with either school (both feed into the same middle school and HS). The big difference will be in the housing stock in the different neighborhoods. Olney Mill has mostly brick homes built in the late 60s/early 70s (splits, ranch, colonials, split foyer). These homes have huge yards, and the neighborhood has a pool. The houses aren't all that large, but they are well built (some have been updated). The 5 level splits in the older section of Brookeville Knolls (built in the mid-70s)are really large. You walk in on the middle floor, with a LDK, then you can go downstairs into a family room, laundry room, bathroom, then there is another basement below that. The master suite is the floor above the entry level and then you have 3 large bedrooms all the way upstairs. The newer section (built in the 80s) of BK has all kinds of homes --- very large (huge master suites) --- built on walking paths/trails. Tanterra has contemporary (think: Brady Bunch) homes. They are very reasonably priced and feed into Greenwood (which is an excellent school). Tanterra also has a very nice pool -- and the area is filled with young families who are active in the school and swim team.

[Anonymous]

Just moved to Olney Mill and life is great here. We send our kids to Belmont and no issues yet ( going to the first PTA meeting soon) so I plan to learn alot more about the school.

The vibe in Olney mill ( from what I hear ) is really becoming more progressive. Younger families...tons of people who were priced out of closer in areas. All I can say is people seem great and my neighbors on ever side are wonderful and I love my yard. I really was attracted to the layout of the whole neighborhood not necessarily loving the style of house. That was until I moved in and realized the split level houses get a bum deal. They are really easy to modernize and have great windows and lovely flow.

For your price range you can get a 3-4 bedroom house that probably has several updates but might need a little work ( each house is so different.)

Take the plunge...its nice to be around all the wide open spaces and quiet mornings!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

BTW not much of the houses being referred to our on the market at the moment but they will show up. The elementary school are nicely spaced from each other which makes them convenient.

Rosa Park Middle school is reason enough to move there.

I wish they still had a movie theater.

[Anonymous]

Many of the homes in the Belmont/Greenwood districts seem to sell quickly --- most likely because of the schools and the fact that homes are priced more reasonably now. Another perk of the area: the Olney Boys and Girls Club --- great team sports, fields, and very family friendly.

[Anonymous]

Are the schools in Olney any good?

[Anonymous]

Belmont is in Olney, and Greenwood is essentially on the border of Olney (in Brookeville). The other schools are Olney elem and Brooke Grove. Both are very good, but the demographics are a bit different since apartments, condos, and townhomes with renters feed into those schools (while Belmont and Greenwood primarily have SFH neighborhoods, with Greenwood having a few very expensive neighborhoods in the district). (Bracing myself for the flames to come. FWIW, I'm just providing the info as an FYI --- and any realtor will tell you the same thing.) Having said that, I think all the schools in the area are very good. The real difference between areas like Olney, Kensington, CC, etc. and Silver Spring, Wheaton, etc. is the concentration of apartments, condos, and rentals: the expensive areas with the most desirable schools don't seem to have a high concentration of rental units. Olney does not have tons of rentals; but what they do have seems to be concentrated in primarily two areas.

[Anonymous]

The other elementary schools in Olney are very good too.

We have had a good experience at Brooke Grove Elementary. Olney Elementary and Sherwood Elementary are good too.

While Belmont and Grennwood may be tempting based on the limited number of rental units, I wouldn't just limit yourself to those neighborhoods. There are a lot of really great houses and neighborhoods in Olney.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP. But FWIW, our realtor explained that some neighborhoods located near condos or neighborhoods with many foreclosures or rentals (including SFH rentals) aren't as desirable --- and thus, you may have a tough time re-selling down the road. Drive around the neighborhoods you are interested in after work (before it gets too cold) and see what it's like in the early evening. Are kids playing outside? Drive around during the day to see if the houses and yards are well maintained. We moved off of a street in Silver Spring that had a handful of SFHs that were rented out -- and you could easily guess which ones were the rentals (tall grass, chipped paint, missing shutters or screens, etc. -- and this was a neighborhood where houses were in the $450-500k range). If you are buying into a neighborhood and plan to stick around, you'll want to be sure that it isn't on the decline. And to be perfectly honest, sometimes it all depends on the street (ie: some streets in one neighborhood may be better maintained than the street the next block over).