600k HHI - Where should we live?

[Anonymous]

DH and I currently live in Petworth in DC with a toddler, and another one on the way. 600k HHI, no debt besides the mortgage on our current place (300k in equity). We are looking for a bigger house - need at minimum 2000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms. Here are our priorities, in order:

1. Public schools that are not nearly all (talking over 85%) white
2. Good quality of education at said public schools (through high school)
3. Relatively easy and relatively short (under 45 mins) commute via public transit to Farragut Sq area
4. Walkable neighborhood

Ideas of where to look?

[Anonymous]

the fact that you state your HHI in the title and your post is a bit much. just state what your budget is and avoid the drama (i.e. it depends on your HH expenses etc).

[Anonymous]

Live wherever you want.

[Anonymous]

CHEVY Chase. Duh. Move in next to the Kavanaugh’s - who really can’t afford to live there but you can!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the fact that you state your HHI in the title and your post is a bit much. just state what your budget is and avoid the drama (i.e. it depends on your HH expenses etc).

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be showy - I should have been clearer that we're not totally sure what our budget should be relative to our HHI. To avoid said "drama," I guess let's say budget of $1.5 mil, but if people think that is unrealistic given my stated goals, I am open to that feedback.

[Anonymous]

OP, I would start by mapping out your commute time. For Farragut Square, you could get a 30 minute or less metro time (train only) from Vienna on the Orange Line, the Spring Hill Station on the Silver Line, and anywhere between Grosvenor and Silver Spring on the red line.

The farther you go from each station, the more you have to add to your commute time - walking/parking/etc.

[Anonymous]

downtown bethesda (east bethesda, near bcc, maybe some other homes near downtown bethesda) may have some options Schools are very diverse (many ethnicities, people here for a few years from other countries, etc. if you consider asians to not be white people I think it meets your diversity angle)

[Anonymous]

It entirely depends on what you want-- suburbs or city? You can easily afford both. This is a dumb question.

[Anonymous]

Diversity is important to me, and if I had your income, my first choice would be a path that included Deal and Wilson. I'd also consider TPES, Piney Branch, TPMS, Blair, and either Rock Creek Forrest, or Rosemary Hills/NCC leading to Silver Creek and BCC.

[Anonymous]

Just move to Upper NW and be done with it already. Oh, and we're sooo impressed that you make 600k. With two people working that's not so great btw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I currently live in Petworth in DC with a toddler, and another one on the way. 600k HHI, no debt besides the mortgage on our current place (300k in equity). We are looking for a bigger house - need at minimum 2000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms. Here are our priorities, in order:

1. Public schools that are not nearly all (talking over 85%) white
2. Good quality of education at said public schools (through high school)
3. Relatively easy and relatively short (under 45 mins) commute via public transit to Farragut Sq area
4. Walkable neighborhood

Ideas of where to look?

Do you want to stay in DC, or move out to the suburbs? As in, how would you feel about being zoned for Wilson? To get actual door-to-door in < 45 min, you'd have to either stay in the city or very close-in. We live IB for Wilson and total commute door-to-door to Farragut N. is around 45 min and sometimes a bit more, due to some walking on both ends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I currently live in Petworth in DC with a toddler, and another one on the way. 600k HHI, no debt besides the mortgage on our current place (300k in equity). We are looking for a bigger house - need at minimum 2000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms. Here are our priorities, in order:

[/b]1. Public schools that are not nearly all (talking over 85%) white [b]
2. Good quality of education at said public schools (through high school)
3. Relatively easy and relatively short (under 45 mins) commute via public transit to Farragut Sq area
4. Walkable neighborhood

Ideas of where to look?

[b]

Is there a HS within the beltway or just outside of it that is 85% or higher white? I don’t think there is. I think you have to go the outer suburbs.

[Anonymous]

I'd move to Woodley Park, in bounds for Oyster Adams. Or Cleveland Park, in bounds for Eaton.

[Anonymous]

Do you expect that your income will be steady in the coming years? If so, you can up your budget considerably if you want to, although I'm not sure that helps a whole lot with #1.

Agreed that you need to decide whether you want to stay in DC or not. You can afford a house that big in DC, which many people can't--but you will be at the whims of DCPS and that may not be what you're going for. I'd go visit Wilson and see what you think (though honestly with a toddler it's really challenging to look that far ahead). Staying in DC will get you better diversity, commute, and walkability than most of your other options, so if you decide against that, you need to weigh which you're more willing to be flexible about.

In your shoes I'd also be looking at staying in DC with a Deal/Wilson feeder. If not DC, then I'd probably look in Bethesda, but not sure that will have the diversity you're looking for. (Maybe it is more diverse than it used to be, though?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I currently live in Petworth in DC with a toddler, and another one on the way. 600k HHI, no debt besides the mortgage on our current place (300k in equity). We are looking for a bigger house - need at minimum 2000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms. Here are our priorities, in order:

1. Public schools that are not nearly all (talking over 85%) white
2. Good quality of education at said public schools (through high school)
3. Relatively easy and relatively short (under 45 mins) commute via public transit to Farragut Sq area
4. Walkable neighborhood

Ideas of where to look?

Do you want to stay in DC, or move out to the suburbs? As in, how would you feel about being zoned for Wilson? To get actual door-to-door in < 45 min, you'd have to either stay in the city or very close-in. We live IB for Wilson and total commute door-to-door to Farragut N. is around 45 min and sometimes a bit more, due to some walking on both ends.

Thank you. It's annoying when people say they live in Upper NW and claim they have a "15 minute" commute. They're only counting the time they're actually on the metro (not walking on both ends, waiting for a train, etc).