Wow, people in this thread have NOT been searching for a new home recently on a $350,000 budget. All the homes in 20853 currently for sale in that range feed into Wheaton Woods ES. If OP is afraid of East Gaithersburg, Wheaton Woods isn't going to cut it. Kensington has nothing but condos in that price range. Forest Glen doesn't have anything close to that, neither really does any place in Silver Spring. To get a nice school AND a home you would actually want to spend time in, you have to either go upcounty to Gaithersburg and beyond. I would have suggested Poolesville and/or Olney as possibilities, but they have nothing on the market in that range right now.

20853! In Rockville. Nice neighborhood, and houses are under $350k. Rockville HS may not be the best, but it is the smallest HS, which could have some benefits. The principal of Wood MS just won an award for something, I believe. My kids are still in ES.

Good central location, especially because of the new ICC.

Try Olney Mill or Tanterra. Both neighborhoods have excellent schools. You might be able to find a sfh in foreclosure or in need of updating around that price range.

Anonymous wrote:You can get a single family home in the Forest Glen area (elementary is Flora Singer) or in nearby Kensington (Oakland Terrace or Rock View elementaries).

A SFH in Kensington for under $350k?! Not likely!

You can get a single family home in the Forest Glen area (elementary is Flora Singer) or in nearby Kensington (Oakland Terrace or Rock View elementaries).

Anonymous wrote:I had a similar budget and we chose 20878. For that budget - we did end up in a townhouse but it has three bedrooms and a finished basement and the neighborhood seems nice. We will be at Diamond Elem and Lakelands Park Middle. Both are rated well. I'm not sure about the HS (we are slated for Northwest) but we are pretty far from that at this point (child starting K in fall) and will deal with that when we get there.

I've got several friends whose kids went to Northwest. They were all in the Ulysses S. Grant program, which is a mix of honors/AP, and loved it.

From the people I've spoken with Northwest seems to get mixed reviews but they scored quite well this past year test wise and having a very nice facility. It doesn't appear to be a bad place all things considered.

I had a similar budget and we chose 20878. For that budget - we did end up in a townhouse but it has three bedrooms and a finished basement and the neighborhood seems nice. We will be at Diamond Elem and Lakelands Park Middle. Both are rated well. I'm not sure about the HS (we are slated for Northwest) but we are pretty far from that at this point (child starting K in fall) and will deal with that when we get there.

Anonymous wrote:We can only afford housing at $350K maximum. What's the best district we can get into without having to squeeze into a condo or apartment? I see a lot of similar topics for those in a much better financial state then we are but we really want the best schools possible within our means.

You can get a single family house in Poolesville for $350K. Excellent schools, safe community. People will tell you that its a bad commute but its only 15 miles from Gaithersburg, a piece of cake. Those in the know use River Road to commute to Bethesda.

Oh, OP, you've been hanging out on DCUM too much, and reading that ridiculous Gaithersburg thread (the horrors of Gaithersburg EAST!) The "bad" zip codes are Gaithersburg are 20877 and 20879. Goshen and Laytonsville are 20882. Goshen ES, Laytonsville ES, Woodfield ES, Clearspring ES, Rockwell ES and Damascus High. I think Goshen goes to Gaithersburg High, though, but I'm assuming this is not your "forever" home. 20878 (yes, townhomes) could go to Rachel Carson, Diamond, Thurgood Marshall and then Quince Orchard.

Unless you go up to Damascus, you are looking at 3BR townhomes. A quick search for my own curiosity shows that the only SFH under 350k in these areas are rehab projects. In Damascus, there are several SFH though.

OP here, only have one child but would prefer 3 BR. Since both of us work in Montgomery country (one in Gaithersburg, one in Bethesda) we don't really want to move out of the county.

I'm not familiar with Laytonsville and I assume Goshen is in Gaithersburg East?!?! What schools/clusters are served here. I haven't heard great things about Gaithersburg EAST but I'll certainly check.

20723 part of Howard County, but avoid Whiskey Bottom. You could probably find a lot of townhouses under 350,000, particularly Leisure Village. Atholton High school, but check that. There has been some recent redistributing.

Townhouses on Ambiance Drive in North Potomac are small but nice, and under $350,000. 20878. They come up for sale pretty frequently. Quince Orchard High.

There are small brick townhouses in Rockville, in the Woodley Gardens neighborhood. Most under $350,000. College Gardens elementary and Richard Montgomery High.

Assuming OP wants 3 bedrooms, there are only two townhouses that are available in 20878 in that price range.

Where do you want to be located? In terms of Montgomery County, from one end to the other can be an hour-plus difference in commute. In your budget, you would get more for your money further north, like Laytonsville, Goshen, even Damascus. All/most of the ES there are well-regarded it seems. We live up that way and have friends with kids at several ES and everyone loves their school.

Also may want to look at parts of Gaithersburg 20878.

We can only afford housing at $350K maximum. What's the best district we can get into without having to squeeze into a condo or apartment? I see a lot of similar topics for those in a much better financial state then we are but we really want the best schools possible within our means.