Relocation help (Baltimore, Frederick, Hagerstown: real estate, house, to buy)

[eg301]

Relocation help
We need to relocate to Maryland for my husbands work by September. We have the option of anywhere in the state. We dont know anything about the state and could use some help. We are looking to buy a single family home for 300,000 or less. We are trying to have children and want a place that has a good school district. We are 30 and 27 and would prefer a place with a younger population with or without children as well as a place that is not in the middle of no where. We don't need a big city, but something that has shopping and restaurants.


I really appreciate all the help.

[Steelers10]

Originally Posted by eg301

Relocation help
We need to relocate to Maryland for my husbands work by September. We have the option of anywhere in the state. We dont know anything about the state and could use some help. We are looking to buy a single family home for 300,000 or less. We are trying to have children and want a place that has a good school district. We are 30 and 27 and would prefer a place with a younger population with or without children as well as a place that is not in the middle of no where. We don't need a big city, but something that has shopping and restaurants.


I really appreciate all the help.

"All of Maryland" gives you a lot of latitude! Maryland is a relatively thin state from north to south but the Eastern Shore is dramatically different than Alleghany and Garrett Counties (Western Maryland). However, your price range of a single family home for under $300,000 will very much limit you to Western Maryland or the Eastern Shore. You could possibly find such a single family home in Charles County (still part of Metro DC) or maybe Harford or Cecil Counties north of Aberdeen but by and large any single family house under $300,000 in the favored corridor of Central Maryland is going to be a dump or in a pretty bad area.

The only significantly sizeable city in "Western" Maryland with a variety of shopping and restaurants is Hagerstown. It is like beating a dead horse in these forums but Frederick County is part of metropolitan DC and its home prices are reflective of that. It isn't until you reach Washington County (Hagerstown) that you escape the inflated real estate prices of metro DC or suburban Baltimore. Beyond Hagerstown the only large town is Cumberland but its lack of amenities generally stimulates its own population to come to Hagerstown for shopping and dining anyway. Note: most Maryland counties have good school districts but all of Washington County's schools made AYP and you really don't have to search around for a good school. Anywhere you move in the county the schools will be good. The schools in the much more expensive Montgomery, Howard, and Frederick Counties are for the most part good but each of those counties contain pockets of questionable development with poor performing schools.

I have traveled through Maryland's Eastern Shore but it seems as if the only town of any significant size is Salisbury and that does not have an overwhelming amount of amenities outside of the presence of Salisbury U. The Eastern Shore seems to be laid back and more suitable for a vacation or short visit to the countryside. I think this is a byproduct of the ES being kind of remote and hard to get to. It's nice in small doses or if you are truly trying to get away from the hustle and bustle of Central Maryland but once again not a chock full of shopping and dining and also some pockets of rural poverty and underdevelopment more indicative of places you would find in the Deep South. Hope this helps!

[eg301]

That was awesome! Thank you so much!!!