Location which includes schools. We were looking for our house when we had a 2 year old and newborn, so good public schools were on our minds. If we had bought before kids, maybe we wouldn’t have considered that as much.

We prioritized house. I got a job within 2 miles so I’d have an easy commute because I knew I wanted kids. Dh got a job with a less than 15 min commute for the same reason.

While I did prioritize schools, my school was a 7 when I moved in and a 1 by the time my kids started school. It’s a title 1 school now. I’m not even sure what to do about that as we do realize that average kids get zero attention where they go. We have daily tutoring instead to make sure they get taught.

We just moved in May. We moved because the noise from the neighbors was driving us crazy. We lived in Falls Church in a single-family home that had very little space between the houses that were adjacent to it. This can become a big problem when you have neighbors that are a problem. We prioritized a house with big yards between the neighbors that would be quiet. It is quiet here, and it’s perfect. I woke up this morning with fresh air coming through an open window, and I was so happy— at the old house, I could never have the windows open at night because of the noise. Lots of roaring in and out of the driveway with music blaring in the car well after midnight just under my bedroom window. Lots of the neighbor walking around in the yard right under my bedroom window yelling at his cell phone on speaker. Just a lot of noise. So yeah, sorry for vent, but to answer the question, I prioritized not having houses that were right on top of each other.

Anonymous wrote:Schools were number one (within a defined geographic location that had a reasonable commute). Next was size/layout as we have a big family. Finally, I really wanted to care about the yard and outdoor space but that's what we had to sacrifice when our budget couldn't cover it all (and our budget was decent at the time).

+1. Our top priority was schools and home proximity to schools. I've been WFH for over a decade so commute didn't factor in much, though my DH does work in office. Our list was: schools; family friendly neighborhood; walkability to schools; yard space (ideally flat, square yard); neighborhood with mature trees; access to trails.

I will admit that not having to consider worksite location was a huge help. If we ever move again, school district and walking distance to schools would remain #1 factors, as the walking to/from has greatly alleviated my stress levels.

We approached location like a venn diagram, the intersection of school pyramids w/high schools West Springfield, Woodson, Lake Braddock, Robinson or Fairfax City AND within a few miles of a Virginia Railway Express Station.

We prioritized DH’s commute to his company’s HQ, which has since moved across town. And walkability, because we had moved from a car-only area after many years in NYC.

We didn’t have a child at the time and assumed that we could easily move to the “nicer” part of our area in 5-6 years. We moved at a time when housing had tanked and all areas were pretty accessible except for a few crazy streets and neighborhoods. We were happy to access our neighborhood and weren’t worried about having to street park or our small kitchen, because we were in the mindset that we’d grocery shop frequently and walk many places. We also thought the nearby private schools would be good because we came from an area where private schools are competitive and excellent.ying out of diverse public schools.

Joke’s on us. DH is WFH 3 days/week but we don’t have a separate office. We don’t have time to grocery shop 5x/week and I would do anything for one more cupboard, nevermind a pantry. Schools are bleh and our DD’s activities are all far away by car because no one with kids wants to live in our area. I wish we had prioritized:

-1-2 extra rooms
-a kitchen with more food storage
-A garage and/or driveway (so tired of unloading in full view of even nosy neighbor and potential thief)
-good schools
-proximity to pools, sports fields, sports facilities

Location

School was by far the top priority.

Location
Schools
Large flat yard
2 car garage
Finished basement
3 bedrooms up
No road noise
Pool
$1 million budget

After looking at 60 houses, we found it.

Our max budget was $600k. We identified areas we could afford and then looked at the schools there. I realized I really wanted a Spanish language immersion program for our kid (I am Latina) so was very focused on schools that offered that for all students. Both DH and I wanted diverse areas but not concentrated poverty nor a very homogenous school.

We found what we wanted. We are very happy with our townhome. Glad we didn't get the SFHs we bid on and lost.

I prioritized being in the specific school zone where my kid was already attending -- but ended up moving to private school during covid. So in that sense, it was a waste and we could have gotten a nicer house in a different nearby zone for the same money.

Oh well! You can't plan for everything.

School system and neighborhood.

Location and school.

Anonymous wrote:Location.

Same.

Schools were number one (within a defined geographic location that had a reasonable commute). Next was size/layout as we have a big family. Finally, I really wanted to care about the yard and outdoor space but that's what we had to sacrifice when our budget couldn't cover it all (and our budget was decent at the time).