Would you drive 15-25 mins more for a much bigger house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way. No house is worth making the commute 15 minutes longer. You pay the price everyday, in stress. Instead, improve the home you are in...

+1

No way.

+1- No way. We live in close-in Chevy Chase, MD and spent some time looking at houses in Bethesda and Potomac that are 15 min farther out. The houses were much bigger, and in some instances, nicer, but we decided quality of life was more important to us.

Gee, good to know you didn't voluntary move in order to pursue an inferior quality of life.

Of course, that says nothing about whether moving further out might improve someone else's quality of life. Nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 15 min now but what will it be in 5 years? Have you looked at area development plans? Downtown Bethesda, White Flint will all explode. Are you commuting near there? You should probably give us an idea of the towns / neighborhoods, OP.

Damascus, MD. I am working in Silver Spring.

Damascus, MD vs. where?

Damascus has some pretty specific commuting issues, like there are basically only 2 ways in and out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok here is some math

Average size of a house 2,306 SQRFT

The average population per household now stands at 2.55
http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/topics/demographics/american-households-are-getting-smaller-and-headed-by-older-adults-24981/

So to feel comfortable you need 2306/2.55 = 904 SQRFT per person.

So for a family of 4, ~3600 SQRFT etc...

That's the formula for most of America, maybe around here it's too expensive but it will be uncomfortable.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/04/real_estate/home-size/index.html

Oh, it's YOU again.

If you need 900 square feet PER PERSON, something is wrong with you and your family.

I am using math to explain what the average american family considers to be comfortable.

I don't know what you mean "it's YOU AGAIN".

Don't play dumb. The bolded above are dead giveaways....

If you take the average home size and divide by average family I just came up with that number this morning after doing some research.

NP here. There are some issues with your reasoning. Mainly, that this is the average NEW home size. As in, homes being built right now. 2.55 people is the average household size. Included in that average are all those single people (28 percent of households) who live alone. They are not out there buying a new 2,300 square foot home. Those are being bought by families with, usually, two parents two to four children. Maybe even a grandparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 15 min now but what will it be in 5 years? Have you looked at area development plans? Downtown Bethesda, White Flint will all explode. Are you commuting near there? You should probably give us an idea of the towns / neighborhoods, OP.

Damascus, MD. I am working in Silver Spring.

Damascus, MD vs. where?

Damascus has some pretty specific commuting issues, like there are basically only 2 ways in and out.

Germantown or Gaithersburg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 15 min now but what will it be in 5 years? Have you looked at area development plans? Downtown Bethesda, White Flint will all explode. Are you commuting near there? You should probably give us an idea of the towns / neighborhoods, OP.

Damascus, MD. I am working in Silver Spring.

Damascus, MD vs. where?

Damascus has some pretty specific commuting issues, like there are basically only 2 ways in and out.

Yeah, not sure when they will expand route 27 anytime soon or if they will. ONLY SINGLE lane..........

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 15 min now but what will it be in 5 years? Have you looked at area development plans? Downtown Bethesda, White Flint will all explode. Are you commuting near there? You should probably give us an idea of the towns / neighborhoods, OP.

Damascus, MD. I am working in Silver Spring.

Damascus, MD vs. where?

Damascus has some pretty specific commuting issues, like there are basically only 2 ways in and out.

Germantown or Gaithersburg.

Based on this, I would not do it. Your commute will be longer, but you will also be that much further away from all the services that down county has to offer. I would choose Gaithersburg, no doubt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a known fact that commuting longer makes people unhappier. Don't underestimate "15 minutes" -- that's 30 minutes a day, so 2.5 hours a week extra that you'll be driving.

That's around 120 hours extra driving per year...

It's a known fact that having to take all your pots and pans out of the oven before using the oven sucks.

That made me laugh so hard because my oven is full of pots and pans! That being said, I love walking to the neighborhood restaurants and mostly eat salads and simple foods at home, so I can live with pots and pans in my oven.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I did this. No regrets at all. I don't see what the big deal is about a longer commute. Doesn't bother me or DH at all. And don't forget, that's only for 5 days a week. No commute on the weekends, and you get to enjoy your bigger house for just having the commute issue 5 days a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 15 min now but what will it be in 5 years? Have you looked at area development plans? Downtown Bethesda, White Flint will all explode. Are you commuting near there? You should probably give us an idea of the towns / neighborhoods, OP.

Damascus, MD. I am working in Silver Spring.

I have a friend who does this commute, and he says its worth it. We actually though about it (I also work in SS) but DH works in NOVA and it would be horrid for him.

Do you work downtown SS? You could always drive to Glenmont and metro from there for a change of pace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did this and it was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made.

That's interesting. I moved further out because staying in a close-in area was a big mistake for my family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a known fact that commuting longer makes people unhappier. Don't underestimate "15 minutes" -- that's 30 minutes a day, so 2.5 hours a week extra that you'll be driving.

That's around 120 hours extra driving per year...

It's a known fact that having to take all your pots and pans out of the oven before using the oven sucks.

That made me laugh so hard because my oven is full of pots and pans! That being said, I love walking to the neighborhood restaurants and mostly eat salads and simple foods at home, so I can live with pots and pans in my oven.

So you spend 15 minute commute each way to your food.

Just kidding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 15 min now but what will it be in 5 years? Have you looked at area development plans? Downtown Bethesda, White Flint will all explode. Are you commuting near there? You should probably give us an idea of the towns / neighborhoods, OP.

Damascus, MD. I am working in Silver Spring.

Damascus, MD vs. where?

Damascus has some pretty specific commuting issues, like there are basically only 2 ways in and out.

Germantown or Gaithersburg.

I decided to not move to Damascus because I don't like 27, but that is just me. I have tons of friends that love living in Damascus.

I live in Germantown. I work in Rockville.

At first I thought wow that is so far out but I liked the neighborhood. So a few times a month I would commute out to the neighborhood that I thought was too far away and each time I thought, wow, that was easy. I tried during the dead of rush hour, rainy days,etc and each time I couldn't believe how much it did not bother me.

I had lived in DC before but got a job in Rockville so I moved... Way ... Out ... To... Germantown... And I love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way. No house is worth making the commute 15 minutes longer. You pay the price everyday, in stress. Instead, improve the home you are in...

+1

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way. No house is worth making the commute 15 minutes longer. You pay the price everyday, in stress. Instead, improve the home you are in...

+1

+2

-1, having seen what passes for home "improvement" in so many close-in locations.

15 extra minutes is not a big deal if you want the additional space.

[Anonymous]

Commute is not permanent. I do not plan to work the rest of my life at my current job. But I am willing to do anything to get out of the city slums. So it will be the commute.
Guess what? There are plenty of employers outside the 495