I think Rockville and Gaithersburg are your best options for solid schools and not having to change trains with the former being the best commute compromise. Moving inwards, you might keep an eye on Kensington, if you can do the MARC train thing, which is very charming, although the highschool used to not be so well regarded. (Though, take it with a grain of salt - "not so well regarded" in the context of MoCo.) If you can make MARC work, you could also have a gander at further out in Howard and Anne Arundel counties. If you have to do a driving commute into town, ever, 295 to rte 50 stinks but isn't as awful at 270/495.

Anonymous wrote:A walk to metro house in Forest Glen can be done for under 4 and the drive to Gaithersburg is not bad.

Not the OP, but have looked at houses in Forest Glen, I just wouldn't want to deal with the constant traffic on Georgia Ave. It was crazy no matter what time of day we visited the area!! The proximity to the metro is fantastic though if you don't plan on driving ever.

A walk to metro house in Forest Glen can be done for under 4 and the drive to Gaithersburg is not bad.

Do you have 20% down? If not, its still possible, but you will have to pay more per month due to a PMI (insurance). I think you should start by securing pre-approval for a mortgage loan - that way you know your actual budget.

Less than 15 years or renovated? Unfortunately you probably couldn't get that even adding $200,000 to your bottom line. There is just no new inventory in that price range with respect to homes or townhomes and ones that are renovated also cost significantly more. Getting real estate agent and seeing some houses will definitely make the reality hit. You could find new condos at that price point.

I would say once you have 1) looked at your mortgage budget and 2) see some houses you may want to consider renting. For less than $2400 per month we rent in a neighborhood with $600,000 homes. We don't pay any costs associated with roof/electrical/appliance repairs. Should something happen to our jobs or we want to move, its no problem. If we want to stay its also no problem.

Areas to consider:
Renting: Tysons, Rockville (not a great commute), Silver Spring / Kensington (your commute would be bad on the beltway, but you could take 16th or the metro)
Buying: Silver Spring (metro), Rickville (not a great commute) Gaithersburg (bad commute for you unless you can take the metro which is $$$)

If you are open to buying condos in Tysons there is "Gates of McLean." They are 3 bedroom / 2 bath new and nicely finished and within your budget.

Commuting from the red line to Foggy Bottom will presumably get easier once the tunnel btwn Farraguts West and North is in use. So, somewhere close to metro on the red line.

Anonymous wrote:Rockville 20850. You can get a 4bedroom TH or 3 bedroom rambler near downtown. Great Schools, good commute.

Ditto.

I was about to suggest Rockville. On that budget, you can get a place near downtown (and walk to Metro/Foggy Bottom), easy commute to Gaithersburg, and zoned to either Rockville or Richard Montgomery.

Rockville 20850. You can get a 4bedroom TH or 3 bedroom rambler near downtown. Great Schools, good commute.

considering you may be in the house for quite a while, you may want to consider going just slightly above your cap, if the banks will let you. With interest rates as low as they are, you may be surprised what monthly payment you can get. We bought a $450K house at 4% with 10% down and are paying less than $2400/month. We could have come up with 20% if we stretched, but instead we were able to put some of that into renovations while still keeping the payments reasonable (by DC standards, of course).

http://franklymls.com/MC7679491

Anonymous wrote:

What is " monthly debt outlay"?

Amount we spend per month on long-term debt. I keep reading that in theory it's best to have that number be less than 36% of your gross monthly income...but sticking to that is difficult when the houses we really like are ~450k.

College Park
Hyattsville
Beltsville
Silver Spring
Gaithersburg
Rockville

Townhouse in N. Bethesda/Rockville if you want an easy commute to FB. You can have a gorgeous house in Gaithersburg but you won't have a fun commute to FB.

What is " monthly debt outlay"?

Anonymous wrote:Title says it all. My wife and I are looking to purchase our first home. Need at least 3/2 with 1500+ sq ft. Limited budget due to student loans. Don't want to go above 36% monthly debt outlay. I will be commuting daily to Foggy Bottom. Wife commutes 3 days a week to Gaithersburg.

Where would you live? Would love listing recommendations if feeling generous. . Challenge for me....wife would really prefer something less than 15 years old or something that has been renovated.

Thanks!

Live in Gaithersburg.

Title says it all. My wife and I are looking to purchase our first home. Need at least 3/2 with 1500+ sq ft. Limited budget due to student loans. Don't want to go above 36% monthly debt outlay. I will be commuting daily to Foggy Bottom. Wife commutes 3 days a week to Gaithersburg.

Where would you live? Would love listing recommendations if feeling generous. . Challenge for me....wife would really prefer something less than 15 years old or something that has been renovated.

Thanks!