DMV Sticker Shock Advice

[Anonymous]

OP, what about this one in 20015:

http://www.brightmlshomes.com/rentals/5424-32ND-Street-NW-Washington-DC-20015-234260293

Not fancy, but great neighborhood, good location (one block to bus and 1 mile to metro), tons of kids, and great school (Lafayette).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

ikornika wrote:Why move? One word: opportunity.

I've reached my ceiling unless I move into management which I have no desire to do. DH is in corporate banking and transitioning to corporate finance with base salary AND phenomal commission structure.

HHI will be above 350k with dual income.

I loathe Jacksonville. Hub's dislike isn't as great as mine, but he's not a fan either.

We're both 35 and subscribe to the idea that you miss 100% of the shots you don't take and this shot is definitely one we're taking; might be a long three, but we're banking on the nothing but net.

OP, maybe I’ve missed it but did you mention where his office will be located? That’s important. If it’s near Dulles Airport vs in DC the housing suggestion will be drastically different. You’re wayyy too worried about the “local” income taxes. Those are not taken out separately. It’s part of the state income taxes that are apportioned to the county (or city). It does raise the rate a little but not much. Virginia has the dreaded personal property tax (car tax) which Maryland does not have. Unless your cars are old you will be paying hundreds a year per car.

Another thing is the traffic. After living in both NoVA and MoCo, I can tell you NoVA is so much worse. You two should come visit for a couple of days. Drive on I-66 at 4:30 or 5:00. Try Braddock Rd (this is an alternate route I took to go West). Braddock is closed from light to light for 40 miles. Check out Route 28. It’s a nightmare.

Yes Maryland has bad traffic but until you’ve lived in Virginia for a few years you have no idea. It’s bad both north and south of 66.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/route-28-gets-its-moment-in-the-national-spotlight-but-theres-still-a-long-road-to-traffic-relief/2018/02/04/53d1b0e0-0131-11e8-bb03-722769454f82_story.html?utm_term=.0d1a2573f856

Maryland is also set up better for the Metro. Virginia is more traditional suburban where you drive to everything while Maryland has more places walkable to Metro and shopping. Maryland also has far more medical so there is more oprotunity for you to seek employment.

I understand you care about taxes, coming from a state with no income tax but is saving a thousand a year in taxes worth the trade off?

Figure out where his office is first. Then check out the area. Taxes matter but quality of life and seeing your family more trump all. A 2.5 hour commute home at night to Centreville means he doesn’t get home till 7:00 and all he can do at that point is crash and lay there completely burned out. Trust me, we’ve been there and so have many others.

NP yes you missed it. In the very first post she said N St in DC, and then further clarified near the Mexican Consulate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what about this one in 20015:

http://www.brightmlshomes.com/rentals/5424-32ND-Street-NW-Washington-DC-20015-234260293

Not fancy, but great neighborhood, good location (one block to bus and 1 mile to metro), tons of kids, and great school (Lafayette).

Great suggestion, and hopefully a rental rate OP can make work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems kind of crazy to leave a nice house with good schools at $900/mo to move here.

+1 I'm not sure moving here will make your life better. I'd come here, visit, research and really think about it. A giant raise is going to get eaten up by housing, daycare, aftercare etc. costs. IT is a very different lifestyle and not necessarily one I'd want to deal with if I hadn't grown up here.

Also OP, do you realize how crappy the winters are here? Not as much snow as the northeast or Midwest, but we get many months of cold temperatures. And even a small snow storm brings the area to a standstill. Check out the threads on here about weather-related school closures. They will delay or close with just a forecast of light snow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems kind of crazy to leave a nice house with good schools at $900/mo to move here.

+1 I'm not sure moving here will make your life better. I'd come here, visit, research and really think about it. A giant raise is going to get eaten up by housing, daycare, aftercare etc. costs. IT is a very different lifestyle and not necessarily one I'd want to deal with if I hadn't grown up here.

Also OP, do you realize how crappy the winters are here? Not as much snow as the northeast or Midwest, but we get many months of cold temperatures. And even a small snow storm brings the area to a standstill. Check out the threads on here about weather-related school closures. They will delay or close with just a forecast of light snow.

I'm genuinely so curious about all the people telling OP not to move. Are you all saying that if you could find jobs that pay 25% of your current income in Jacksonville, you would move there? You are staying in DC only because you don't think you could "make it" in Jacksonville? I mean WTF is going on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems kind of crazy to leave a nice house with good schools at $900/mo to move here.

+1 I'm not sure moving here will make your life better. I'd come here, visit, research and really think about it. A giant raise is going to get eaten up by housing, daycare, aftercare etc. costs. IT is a very different lifestyle and not necessarily one I'd want to deal with if I hadn't grown up here.

Also OP, do you realize how crappy the winters are here? Not as much snow as the northeast or Midwest, but we get many months of cold temperatures. And even a small snow storm brings the area to a standstill. Check out the threads on here about weather-related school closures. They will delay or close with just a forecast of light snow.

I'm genuinely so curious about all the people telling OP not to move. Are you all saying that if you could find jobs that pay 25% of your current income in Jacksonville, you would move there? You are staying in DC only because you don't think you could "make it" in Jacksonville? I mean WTF is going on here.

Sorry, correction, 33% of what you make here (since OP said it's a 3x improvement).

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote:Why move? One word: opportunity.

I've reached my ceiling unless I move into management which I have no desire to do. DH is in corporate banking and transitioning to corporate finance with base salary AND phenomal commission structure.

HHI will be above 350k with dual income.

I loathe Jacksonville. Hub's dislike isn't as great as mine, but he's not a fan either.

We're both 35 and subscribe to the idea that you miss 100% of the shots you don't take and this shot is definitely one we're taking; might be a long three, but we're banking on the nothing but net.

OP, you will be fine here!

Here's what I would suggest. Have your husband rent the AirBnb somewhere near his office. The closest metro stops from his office would be Dupont Circle (red line) and Foggy Bottom (Orange/blue/silver). Have him head out those metro lines on the weekends and explore.

I live in 22043, and commute via metro to McPherson Square from West Falls Church. I'm in FCPS schools, but Shrevewood-Kilmer- Marshall not Haycock as posted above - in a great neighborhood where houses are around $800K. It can be done. The key for you is to have your DH explore some of the areas and get a feel for what he likes based on where you've lived and enjoyed.

Good luck!

[ikornika]

Thank you all for your insight and perspectives, negative and positive.

I must admit I am feeling a bit discouraged but remain undeterred. Now, I am armed with more information and will go back to crunching numbers and figuring where our comfort lies. At worse, we've a soft place to land back in Jacksonville if it all goes awry in DC.

Hubs is preceding us to DC and will be there three months before we move so that DD can finish out the school year here so that'll give him the opportunity to "practice" commuting from different areas and we'll be up to visit him several times to check out different areas now that I have some zip codes to research.

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote:Thank you all for your insight and perspectives, negative and positive.

I must admit I am feeling a bit discouraged but remain undeterred. Now, I am armed with more information and will go back to crunching numbers and figuring where our comfort lies. At worse, we've a soft place to land back in Jacksonville if it all goes awry in DC.

Hubs is preceding us to DC and will be there three months before we move so that DD can finish out the school year here so that'll give him the opportunity to "practice" commuting from different areas and we'll be up to visit him several times to check out different areas now that I have some zip codes to research.

You're gonna love it, it has a crazy high quality of life. The worst thing that can be said of it is that it's expensive, which is true, but you can afford it.

Seriously this forum is full of the most miserable people. I honestly don't even know why I come here, but I'm having a slow afternoon at work and here we are.

Imagine an anonymous forum of people in Jacksonville with time to kill....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

ikornika wrote:Thank you all for your insight and perspectives, negative and positive.

I must admit I am feeling a bit discouraged but remain undeterred. Now, I am armed with more information and will go back to crunching numbers and figuring where our comfort lies. At worse, we've a soft place to land back in Jacksonville if it all goes awry in DC.

Hubs is preceding us to DC and will be there three months before we move so that DD can finish out the school year here so that'll give him the opportunity to "practice" commuting from different areas and we'll be up to visit him several times to check out different areas now that I have some zip codes to research.

You're gonna love it, it has a crazy high quality of life. The worst thing that can be said of it is that it's expensive, which is true, but you can afford it.

Seriously this forum is full of the most miserable people. I honestly don't even know why I come here, but I'm having a slow afternoon at work and here we are.

Imagine an anonymous forum of people in Jacksonville with time to kill....

This poster is spot on. DC is great, especially since your income is high enough to have an awesome life here. Our HHI is lower than yours and we have a nice house in the city and couldn't be happier. Don't let the negative DCUM posters make you feel bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ikornika wrote:Thank you all for your insight and perspectives, negative and positive.

I must admit I am feeling a bit discouraged but remain undeterred. Now, I am armed with more information and will go back to crunching numbers and figuring where our comfort lies. At worse, we've a soft place to land back in Jacksonville if it all goes awry in DC.

Hubs is preceding us to DC and will be there three months before we move so that DD can finish out the school year here so that'll give him the opportunity to "practice" commuting from different areas and we'll be up to visit him several times to check out different areas now that I have some zip codes to research.

You're gonna love it, it has a crazy high quality of life. The worst thing that can be said of it is that it's expensive, which is true, but you can afford it.

Seriously this forum is full of the most miserable people. I honestly don't even know why I come here, but I'm having a slow afternoon at work and here we are.

Imagine an anonymous forum of people in Jacksonville with time to kill....

+2. I can only imagine many of the PPs who hate DC either 1) have HHI far below $350K; this area is so expensive and/or 2) have very long commutes from the burbs. Most of the people I know IRL who live in my DC neighborhood like it well enough, or love it.

This poster is spot on. DC is great, especially since your income is high enough to have an awesome life here. Our HHI is lower than yours and we have a nice house in the city and couldn't be happier. Don't let the negative DCUM posters make you feel bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

ikornika wrote:Thank you all for your insight and perspectives, negative and positive.

I must admit I am feeling a bit discouraged but remain undeterred. Now, I am armed with more information and will go back to crunching numbers and figuring where our comfort lies. At worse, we've a soft place to land back in Jacksonville if it all goes awry in DC.

Hubs is preceding us to DC and will be there three months before we move so that DD can finish out the school year here so that'll give him the opportunity to "practice" commuting from different areas and we'll be up to visit him several times to check out different areas now that I have some zip codes to research.

You're gonna love it, it has a crazy high quality of life. The worst thing that can be said of it is that it's expensive, which is true, but you can afford it.

Seriously this forum is full of the most miserable people. I honestly don't even know why I come here, but I'm having a slow afternoon at work and here we are.

Imagine an anonymous forum of people in Jacksonville with time to kill....

This poster is spot on. DC is great, especially since your income is high enough to have an awesome life here. Our HHI is lower than yours and we have a nice house in the city and couldn't be happier. Don't let the negative DCUM posters make you feel bad.

+2. I can only imagine many of the PPs who hate DC either 1) have HHI far below $350K; this area is so expensive and/or 2) have very long commutes from the burbs. Most of the people I know IRL who live in my DC neighborhood like it well enough, or love it.

[Anonymous]

DCUM is exceptionally negative. Don't let it get you down. We've landed here after many moves (military), and think it's a good place to live and raise a family. You might try the forums on city-data.com for a less biased viewpoint.

[Anonymous]

ikornika wrote: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.

We moved from Miami Beach to the DC area. I feel your pain. HHI is 300K and we rent in 22046 City of Falls Church. 3K (including parking and utilities 1700 sq feet 2.5 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms). We decided to rent here while shopping for a home. Our preference is DC, since DH works in Dupont Circle. I've been posting on several threads trying to find out what I can really afford (real life experience vs. what mortgage broker said I should target). I'm not charmed by a lot of DC. I'm the person who wrote about all the garbage cans in front of people's townhouses and row houses. It looks like the low-income neighborhoods in FL to me. City of Falls Church is affordable and a reasonable 30 minute commute (non rush hour), but it's ugly. The schools are good. The taxes for real estate are stupidly high. Again, it looks like one of the run down neighborhoods you'd find in Florida. I don't know where to live. I was hoping to find a charming DC neighborhood that would suit our needs (Georgetown? Burleith?). In that thread I mentioned with my HHI (will will be similar to yours), people told me not to over-exend myself and stay around $2500-$3000 PITI. That's not even possible. I'm looking at spending at least 5K month for anything livable, and more like $6500 for something I actually *want* to live in. I understand your struggle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what about this one in 20015:

http://www.brightmlshomes.com/rentals/5424-32ND-Street-NW-Washington-DC-20015-234260293

Not fancy, but great neighborhood, good location (one block to bus and 1 mile to metro), tons of kids, and great school (Lafayette).

Great suggestion, and hopefully a rental rate OP can make work.

+1 Jump on this OP.