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[quote=Anonymous]OP here. This is all super helpful. Thank you!!

You all bring up some really useful issues. I know our list is impossible, so we've each been trying to rank our priorities and see how they might mesh. Housing decisions here are so hard and balancing the financial vs. lifestyle vs. thinking about the long term, is particularly tricky.

We drove out to Cheverly, Hyattsville, and Silver Spring yesterday, followed by Fort Hunt and south of the beltway Alexandria. (We used a lot of gas!)

We didn't like Cheverly, liked the arts district of Hyattsville--but are apprehensive about PG county--and were just sort of confused by where to look in Silver Spring, not to mention it took us an hour to get to Silver Spring from Dupont in the middle of the day on Saturday.

Fort Hunt wasn't quite right for us (except that we accidentally drove through Belle Haven or something like that, which was lovely and totally out of our price range right now).

Today we are going out to Shirlington, Falls Church, and will drive through Pimmit Hills as well. Keep the suggestions coming, I love it. We know Clarendon well. I like the "low-rise" idea. A condo would be fine with me as long as it doesn't have high fees.

We have friends who love Brookland and I think with the CUA big building project that's going to be a great area, but DH doesn't love it.

Our plan is to identify 2-3 potential neighborhoods that we like and can afford and get a reasonable sense of our needs as a couple and family, then have the baby and stay here for about a year. Then, in  6mo to a  year, as we know everything will be harder with a baby, we'll do a targeted search and be able to move quickly.

As for the driving/metro issue, he's not too good for public transportation, he just has a very high stress job and for him having the quiet time in the car seems to help him transition to and from work. We all have our differences. I find driving much more stressful. I can't believe GW charges professors $250 for parking!! They make so little! His parking is cheap and is useful to have when going into the city on weekends and such, so that's probably non-negotiable.

As for schools, I need to do a lot more research. $1500 a month doesn't sound like that much to me, factoring in that when child goes to school, I'll go back to work full-time. I'm also comfortable with the idea that this home would be for the next 5-8 years, and presumably then we could move to a better public school district. But then again, who knows what will happen with the housing market--so many variables. And surely it's easier to sell in a better school district.

Our goal is to find a home that we can afford on DH's salary alone and not have to sell our other properties. I also need to do some research on taxes. I know VA is cheaper, but wonder by how much.

Being a grown up is hard! And I know being a mom is going to be even harder!!!

thank you! [/quote]

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