Anonymous wrote:Op you should be remorseful and quite frankly I have no sympathy. No doubt tons of people told you what an idiotic move it was but no you were smarter than them bc you drove the route once or twice and of course you knew what you were getting into. The commute sucks. It will get worse.

Geez, calm down lady (or man). This is so mean and bitter.

Op you should be remorseful and quite frankly I have no sympathy. No doubt tons of people told you what an idiotic move it was but no you were smarter than them bc you drove the route once or twice and of course you knew what you were getting into. The commute sucks. It will get worse.

I opted for Bowie. On off hours I can be into the city in <30 mins (Capitol hill area) during traffic times it could take anywhere from 30mins- 1hr 15mins. I couldn't deal with a 1.5-2 hour long commute once a day much less twice. It's not common mine takes more than 45mins which seems bad enough.

Since you are stuck unless you sell the house I would look into telecommuting as the others have said.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hate to be a prick but you fogot the first three rules of real estate

Location
Location
Location

You know you're being a prick when your intent is to follow up with a comment like that so why even preface it with the "I hate...." Just be an ass and own it! Sheesh

Well I am a prick then, but this prick will be sitting at home 15 minutes after I walk out of my office.

To 14:43: I really don't see how you can be "out there" and still have a 30-minute commute (on a bad day). We live 6 miles from DH's job downtown, and that's a 30-minute commute (on an average day). There really aren't any no-traffic entry points into the city (are there???).

My husband has commuted into DC for years. It helps to time so you leave early enough in the morning to not get bad traffic. But he always gets caught coming back. That's why he listens to books on tape, podcasts and has a headset to talk on the phone.

I personally couldn't do it because I hate driving in that area, but some people can. He has no interest in moving closer, he likes where we are (1st Loudoun, now Fauquier).

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for telling your story. Confirms our decision to stay in our house and all the crap DC has to offer for our 15 minute walk to work. No house, yard, space, whatever is worth a 1.5-2hr commute one way, everyday. Sounds truly soul sucking.

There's a happy medium.

If I were single, I'd probably opt for a nice condo closer in. But with kids, I don't regret moving farther out. My commute is only 30 minutes - on a bad day, and we are out there, as there's only one way into our neighborhood.

So if OP likes a bigger house in a quiet area, I'm sure there are other options that don't such the life out of her b/c of a miserable commute.

I live in DC, but I grew up in CC and have friends and family who live there and do the commute (including my father). He leaves for work at 5:30 a.m. EVERY SINGLE DAY to beat the traffic. He works from around 7:00 to 3:00. I sometimes look lustfully at the huge nice houses we could buy there, but then think about my dad's commute. Could you do what he does and work an early shift? That is the only way he is able to do it every day. Other people I know telecommute 2-3 days a week and that is also doable.

I know someone who lived in Springfield, and decided to build new in Stafford Co. She had one really bad commute, and immediately sold the house, bought another house in Springfield to move back. It would kill me to spend over an hour in my car! We live close in, in a rather small home home but have easy commutes. Move back.

How flexible is your job, OP? Can you try and arrange teleworking 2 days/wk and limit commuting to 3 days/wk? That might ease the pain, if you really love the house and location otherwise. Many offices are moving toward permitting teleworking 1-2 days/wk....as you've probably read, the studies all show it increases productivity, saves costs for both employer and employee, improves job satisfaction, is environmentally friendly, family friendly, etc., etc., though it can be a hard sell depending on the type of job/employer you have....

If that's not an option, I agree, sell in the Spring.

Good luck.

Sell in the Spring.

New poster here. I'm not even going to lie. We tried to buy a house in Waldorf but were outbid. We drove the route a few times diff times, likeOP. It seemed doable. After hearing OPs story. So glad we didn't make this mistake. As we are still looking for a house this has Been helpful for me to hear.

You will get used to it.
If you have to , you can see if you can rent your home and then rent in your old neighborhood.
I still think after a while you will not think about the commute anymore, and you will find another job

Thanks for telling your story. Confirms our decision to stay in our house and all the crap DC has to offer for our 15 minute walk to work. No house, yard, space, whatever is worth a 1.5-2hr commute one way, everyday. Sounds truly soul sucking.

Had friends that made a similar "mistake." Moved from N. Arlington and put their house up for sale in Aug - Mainly because it was August, I think, they had to reduce the price to get it sold. Moved to Charles County to a big brand new house. They said that since they often worked off-hours, the commute to the Hill would not be that bad. They loved the house, Hated the commute. Never met their neighbors partly becuase they were exhaused when they got home (to their huge house). After a year or so, they bought a few blocks from their old house in N. Arlington. Unfortunately, they lost money in all the transactions. But at least they are happy now.
Good Luck