germantown for work - where to live? (Frederick, Gaithersburg: townhouses, neighborhood)

[mcmartian]

My husband's weighing a job opportunity in Germantown. But I don't know where to look for housing. We want to be within a 45 minute commute.

We currenly have a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath 2 car garage home with .25 acres, 2000 sq feet finished, and 500 sq feet unfinished (basement). We want to get a home that is as close to this as possible (in an ideal world we'd like more land but realize that it's unrealistic). We can afford a 350K house at the maximum. We absolutely do not want a townhouse, where do we look for housing?

recommendations?

Oh, and we have a baby so good schools would be a plus.

Valerie

[Zippy7fo]

I would check out Frederick or Gaithersburg........

[mcmartian]

yeah frederick's an option. I'm not seing anything comperable for that price range in gaithersburg. was just wondering if there were other towns to check out that i wouldn't be aware of since i'm not local.

thanks,

[smalls-md]

I live in Germantown - great family town - would love to have my job here too! However, you will not be finding a 4 bedroom single family home for under $500K -- at least not one in a desirable part of town. You won't really even find a townhouse for under $350K. A 4-bedroom townhouse in a desirable neighborhood will cost $425 and up.

Where are you relocating from? If you must have a house for under $400K, than you will need to look at Hagerstown (40 miles west in washington county) or rural parts of Frederick County. If you find a house for under $400 in Frederick or under $500K in Montgomery County than you need to be careful of safety and school systems.

Germantown is full of townhouses. I don't know if you have seen townhouses in the suburbs of DC, but they are rather nice and can be very large. I have lived in them for years and am happy enough. Some have garages, some have four bedrooms. I would love to have a single family house, but am not willing to commute 90 minutes for it, or be house poor.

[ychisholm]

Most people choose not to relocate to this area because it is so expensive for housing. You are lucky that the position is in Germantown. Frederick County or Washington County is going to be your best bet...but you will still have a difficult time finding anything that won't be a hard commute. Consider a townhouse...after all it is just a job and your family is important.

[mcmartian]

We live in upstate new york. where the housing prices are so low in comparison that when we sell our house it will basically be a down payment on on in the germantown area.

I've lived in half a double houses and we knew all the neighbor's troubles from hearing their arguements through the walls. my husband always grew up in single homes with acreage, so he won't consider a townhouse. at least he's willing to consider looking at houses without 2 car garages lol

[Smalltownmd]

Poolesville is a great place but look to spend about 450k for a single family home close to yours. Good luck.