12:01 Do you know what stage of development the school in University Park are? I posted about this on the MD Public Schools forum recently--it's on the first page of topics. Would love to hear.

Rosemary Hills in Silver Spring. BCC cluster.

Takoma Park

Woodside will probably be tough to find for under $700, Seven Oaks, Indian Springs, TP all feed into decent schools and you can get something nice for that budget. In the $500-$600 range, going just outside the Beltway to Woodmoor or North Four Corners will get you something renovated and expanded, also in good neighborhoods with good schools.

I like Olney as much as the next person, and certainly you get more house for the $ out there, but it is out there...adding 15-20 minutes to a commute each way every day adds up. But obviously a lot of people make that choice.

Colesville, Burtonsville, Columbia, Olney, and West Laurel are all good places to live and easy commutes to Greenbelt.

Check out 20833. The elem is greenwood; ms is rosa parks; and hs is Sherwood. Easy commute to pg thanks to icc or back roads.

OP here..WOW, thank you all for your input. Valuable information that I really didn't have just a few hours ago. I will take a look at all areas listed, even the Howard County suggestion which I know little about.

House hunting is way more stressful than I thought, especially when it's a few years earlier than anticipated.

Thanks again!

University Park - beautiful homes, great elementary school, and an approved new University of Maryland middle and high charter school which opens 2013

OP - if you work part time at home and hubby works in Greenbelt, then you can get a lot of house for your money, and good schools, in Howard County. Look in the Maple Lawn development, Columbia and even Clarksville (which is a little pricier). Not quite as diverse as Silver Spring but still plenty of diversity and, on the whole, better, more consistently good schools.

There are a lot of homes in 20910 and a corner of 20815 in that price range; bounded by East-West Highway, the beltway, 16th Street and Rock Creek. Almost all of the single family homes in that area are in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase school cluster.

silver spring and good schools are mutually exclusive

IMO, the best school assignment group in SS/Tak Pk is TkPk ES/PBES - Takoma Middle - Blair HS. PP recommended Olney - the schools there are better on paper (i.e., test scores), but would not be as diverse. But really, with 700K as your max, you might be able to afford something in a Bethesda school zone. Commute would still be less than 45 mins.

Welcome! We live in 20902 that goes to Oakland Terrace Elementary, and we love our neighborhood and school. The only other neighborhood I know much is the Woodside area, which is lovely and also has great access to downtown SS. I wanted to be the first to respond here to give you a heads up that many people on this board will likely tell you that no schools in Silver Spring are any good compared to those in Bethesda, Potomac, and Chevy Chase. And you should not be frightened away from an entire region by those people.

Do you work in dc? Fwiw, my dh works in Greenbelt and Laurel and has an easy commute via back roads or the icc from olney/brookeville. The schools are much better out here than in most parts of silver spring. Don't just focus on elems...be sure to check out middle and high schools.

I'm a bit overwhelmed...DH decided he wanted to up our moving timeline from the next couple of years to now.

I work part time/from home but he's in Greenbelt with the Federal Gov't, so he wants his commute to be less than 45 mins...rules out VA. Anyway, we really like Silver Spring on the surface for diversity, seemingly good schools and housing developments. DD's are too young for school, so a good ES, MS, HS is important since they'll be going through all stages in the new neighborhood.

We're looking to stay under 700K as a MAX...would love closer to 600K really. But I know like every city and county, not all zip codes and school zones are created equal. Hopefully 4bd, basement, not a lot of fixing(we're NOT handy at all!)

Any ideas or suggestions on where to look? Just getting started...

Thanks!