I'll just echo other posters who have recommended you look at any of the neighborhoods within walking distance of Rockville Town Center.

If you are willing to do townhouse you may come close to your budget in King Farm.

I would agree with the South Four Corners suggestion, and add Sligo Woods as well. The walk to the Metro can be 20+ minutes, but most people consider that walkable. I have several neighbors who do that walk daily. There are Ride-On bus stops every couple hundred feet if the weather is bad.

I live there and walk to Safeway, the post office, and my son's preschool. I don't eat out much, but there are a few restaurants in Four Corners, and downtown Silver Spring and Wheaton are a 5 minute car ride, 10 minute bus ride, or one Metro stop away, and there are tons of restaurants and shopping in both places. Prices in those neighborhoods are solidly in the 400-550 range, and the elementary school is excellent, middle is good, and my son is enjoying his high school.

Try the Blair neighborhood, which is called North Takoma Park on some real estate sites. The ES does poorly on Great Schools but many families, including mine, are happy with the small class sizes, strong teachers, and welcoming and diverse school community. It also feeds into TPMS, which is well regarded. You can get something with 3 BR at your price range.

OP here. Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. Appreciated!

Does it have to be a SFH? There are townhouses/Condos off the red line in your price range that are much larger than 1000sf.

I think you could land one in Takoma Park if you're patient. Here are two from a few months ago that fit your criteria.
http://frankly.com/MC8534096
http://frankly.com/MC8487433
I agree with PP that if you want the easy walkability, you might need to be willing to take a house that's on one of the main streets. If it were me, I'd look for one on Carroll rather than on Philadelphia. I think there are several along Carroll between the fire station and Pine/Park that haven't turned over in many years. Try reaching out to realtors to see if any of them are being prepped for sale. Maybe you could scoop one up before it hits the market. Good luck!

I live in the Forest Estates neighborhood, about a 12-15-min. walk from Forest Glen metro. There are a ton of young families with kids, lots of great playgrounds and Sligo Creek Park/bike path access, and you can certainly get a very nice single-family home for under $500K. However, you will not be able to walk to a lot of retail, sadly (Sniders/Montgomery Hill stores are about it). It is a trade-off. For us, walking to the Metro and parks trumped walking to retail. However, you can drive or Metro to retail very easily.

I'd suggest a condo or smaller tow home around the Grosvenor or White Flint metros, feeding to Walter Johnson HS cluster. Walkable to some things, however you'll still want a car for others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think Forest Glen is really a walkable area, except to the metro. You could probably find a condo near the Silver Spring metro at that price.

Depends on how you define walkability. Different people have different distances. South Four Cornera would be a 15 minute walk to the four corners shopping center right near Blair HS and also 15 min walk to FG Metro.

A location that is a 15 minute walk to the shops at Four Corners would actually be about a 25-30 minute walk to the Forest Glen metro. I used to live in that neighborhood and the walk to metro can be a bit of a hike, depending on where we're talking. Also, it's hilly in that neighborhood, so that adds minutes to the walk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check Takoma DC and the northern end of Brightwood.

I dont think it fits the good schools criteria ?

It doesn't. Takoma EC is "rising," but has a way to go. Brookland doesn't work either for the school criteria, unless you're considering charters (but that's not really fair). Shepherd Park fits the bill for your criteria, but would put you in tear-down condition on pricing.

We're near downtown Bethesda. Not $550K for a SFH, but maybe a condo.

Anonymous wrote:Try the historic/west end part of Rockville (west of the town center/metro, but just east of 270). Lots of variation in the houses there...some tiny ones go for as low as $400, some as high as $8-900K. You could probably find an older home (but possibly renovated) in that area and it's zoned for RM.

I'd say Rockville also - near Rockville Town Center.

Anonymous wrote:Check Takoma DC and the northern end of Brightwood.

I dont think it fits the good schools criteria ?

Try the historic/west end part of Rockville (west of the town center/metro, but just east of 270). Lots of variation in the houses there...some tiny ones go for as low as $400, some as high as $8-900K. You could probably find an older home (but possibly renovated) in that area and it's zoned for RM.