21:38 again. I live in the neighborhood. Lovely, absolutely, until you have school aged kids. Literally nobody goes. You get bused to a school two miles away that is in a completely different community. There are no older kids in the neighborhood aside from a few that went to private. It is sad but true. Everyone is always trying to figure out what other school to send their kid to, or they just up and move. Oh, and, by the way, it was the school where the music teacher recently got arrested for child porn. Parents had warned administrators but nobody listened to them.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the dislike of Silver Spring and the love of Bethesda on this board. I have lived in DC near both areas. They both have their negatives and positives. I also don't understand the logic of overpaying for a house so your child can attend an overcrowded public school (like Westbrook or Wood Acres for example).

Please explain why Silver Spring is so disliked.

People who overpaid in bethesda have to justify themselves. Don't sweat the haters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the dislike of Silver Spring and the love of Bethesda on this board. I have lived in DC near both areas. They both have their negatives and positives. I also don't understand the logic of overpaying for a house so your child can attend an overcrowded public school (like Westbrook or Wood Acres for example).

Please explain why Silver Spring is so disliked.

1. Two words: downcounty consortium

2. Some people, and let me stress I am not one of them, do not wish to live and play (movies, pools, The Gap) with black and Hispanic persons. If you look at a census overlay map from 2010, you'll see diminishing numbers of blacks and Latin Americans as you head east in MoCo, until finally you see percentages < 2% when you are right by the Potomac river in MoCo. Cabin John, brookmont, etc.

Head west, not east

Anonymous wrote:That house on Walden Rd, PP, feeds into the worst elementary school in all of Montgomery County. Everyone in that neighborhood sells before their kids hits K (or does private or lottery). It will sell to first time home buyers that don't know any better, who will then turn around and sell it once they have school aged kids.

It feeds to New Hampshire Estates, which has 4 out of 5 stars on greatschools, since that seems to be the bible of posters on this site. What gives?

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the dislike of Silver Spring and the love of Bethesda on this board. I have lived in DC near both areas. They both have their negatives and positives. I also don't understand the logic of overpaying for a house so your child can attend an overcrowded public school (like Westbrook or Wood Acres for example).

Please explain why Silver Spring is so disliked.

1. Two words: downcounty consortium

2. Some people, and let me stress I am not one of them, do not wish to live and play (movies, pools, The Gap) with black and Hispanic persons. If you look at a census overlay map from 2010, you'll see diminishing numbers of blacks and Latin Americans as you head east in MoCo, until finally you see percentages < 2% when you are right by the Potomac river in MoCo. Cabin John, brookmont, etc.

I don't understand the dislike of Silver Spring and the love of Bethesda on this board. I have lived in DC near both areas. They both have their negatives and positives. I also don't understand the logic of overpaying for a house so your child can attend an overcrowded public school (like Westbrook or Wood Acres for example).

Please explain why Silver Spring is so disliked.

21:38 is, once again, confusing Oakview Elementary in SS with another by a similar name. That is a lovely neighborhood--I almost bought a house one block over on Whitney.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have already said on here that I bought at the peak of the market, NOT before 2003, and there were still then and still are now lots of good houses for 500k or less in Silver Spring. I live in one of them and my commute to downtown is between 30 minutes and an hour (heavy traffic). I don't know what people here are talking about.

I would love to see your definition of a good house in close in silver spring...everything we have seen is at least $500 and needs work. Updated brings you in the $600-700 range.

These are some of many that came up in my search:

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2915-Wilton-Ave-20910/home/10957320

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/8910-Walden-Rd-20901/home/10959316

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/1622-Cody-Dr-20902/home/10986702

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2312-Churchill-Rd-20902/home/10990222

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/100-Sheffield-St-20910/home/10968330

And I think you've made my point. Thank you.

I am sitting right now in the living room of a lovely house in Silver Spring that costs, right now, about $500k and goes to a terrific school. I feel that this is valid evidence to refute the assertion of the OP. Oh well.

That house on Walden Rd, PP, feeds into the worst elementary school in all of Montgomery County. Everyone in that neighborhood sells before their kids hits K (or does private or lottery). It will sell to first time home buyers that don't know any better, who will then turn around and sell it once they have school aged kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have already said on here that I bought at the peak of the market, NOT before 2003, and there were still then and still are now lots of good houses for 500k or less in Silver Spring. I live in one of them and my commute to downtown is between 30 minutes and an hour (heavy traffic). I don't know what people here are talking about.

I would love to see your definition of a good house in close in silver spring...everything we have seen is at least $500 and needs work. Updated brings you in the $600-700 range.

These are some of many that came up in my search:

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2915-Wilton-Ave-20910/home/10957320

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/8910-Walden-Rd-20901/home/10959316

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/1622-Cody-Dr-20902/home/10986702

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2312-Churchill-Rd-20902/home/10990222

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/100-Sheffield-St-20910/home/10968330

Anonymous wrote:I have already said on here that I bought at the peak of the market, NOT before 2003, and there were still then and still are now lots of good houses for 500k or less in Silver Spring. I live in one of them and my commute to downtown is between 30 minutes and an hour (heavy traffic). I don't know what people here are talking about.

I would love to see your definition of a good house in close in silver spring...everything we have seen is at least $500 and needs work. Updated brings you in the $600-700 range.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:250k hhi with a mortage of 650k or so should be perfectly manageable unless you have twin 2013 Lexuses or $150k of student loan debt.

it's when you start going to mortgages that are more than 4x income that you start getting iffy.

This sounds nuts to me, though I am starting to think we're the exceptions in this area rather than the rule. We have a HHI over $250K and our house is worth more like $500K and we have two older used cars. No student loan debt and mortgage is nearly paid off. Living below our means has kept us secure and happy, with big retirement and college funds.

Great, but when did you buy your $500K house? Timing matters. If you were lucky enough to buy before 2003, you are no model of virtue' you just benefited from timing. Many would be thrilled to be in a $500K home now but they are not plentiful!

Yeah no kidding. That's what we're all looking for I guess!

My husband and I always say we should have bought a house when we were 8... In 1990, but we are buying one now and this is what it costs, depending on th neighborhood. My whole family in Atlanta think it's crazy as we could afford a mansion on acres of land there, but we live here.

On the other hand, there are areas like Burke and takoma park that are much cheaper, but they are further out/ don't have great schools, etc. (thinking about takoma park for the latter).

Anonymous wrote:Is DC gross because portions of it are basically unlivable? Oh no, that logic only applies to MoCo and PGC. DC is exempt

You forget that when people refer to DC, in their minds those gross portions don't exist.

Is DC gross because portions of it are basically unlivable? Oh no, that logic only applies to MoCo and PGC. DC is exempt