Moving advice, please (Bethesda, Waldorf, Chevy Chase: townhouse, new construction, good schools)

[AustintoVA]

We are moving from Austin to the NOVA area (for work-by Leesburg-Ashburn VA) and wanted to know about Southern Maryland. It would be a reasonable drive for us. What kind of advice on housing? We are trying to decide on Va or Maryland... Thank you in advance. What are the best and worst reasons to move to Maryland.

[McMatt]

First, I think you may be confused about "southern maryland." When people from maryland and the DC area say "southern maryland" they refer to the three counties that are actually souteast of DC (Prince Georges, St Mary's and Charles) and would on completely the opposite side of DC from Ashburn VA. I would guesstimate that on an average day leaving you house at 8am if would take about 2 hrs each way to get from southern MD to ashburn. To me and to most people this would be a hellish commute.

I think you may be thinking of the central portions of MD that are across the state line from ashburn which is Montgomery county. I have lived in Md for my entire life mostly in Montgomery Cty but have had clients in NOVA like Ashburn, Tysons Corner, etc as well. Also, my wife lived in NOVA (burke) for 1 year. I still live in MD but just because of the commute time and resulting stress, I would recommend trying to live somewhere in NOVA.

In addition, we briefly thought about moving to Austin a few years ago and did a bunch of research on it. The biggest difference to me is the property values between DC-area and Austin. We saw ads for newer 5 br 4000sq ft houses in or around for approx $400k-$600K. A similar house in Montgomery cty would probably cost approx $700K to $1m or more depending on location etc. The dc-area is inhabited by many federal employees who receive raises regardless of the status of the economy which pushes home prices up and up. There is housing slowdown now but it not that dramatic to me.

Really look into housing before you make a decision.

[vanyali]

Why not live in Leesburg? Or the Reston/Herndon area? Leesburg would be closer to work and cheaper for you, and there was a cute little downtowney-area with a couple of shops and restaurants when I last passed through there (several years ago). Don't underestimate the DC-area traffic. It's a beast.

How about a more general discussion of VA vs MD?

Or here's another scenario:

My husband will be working around Tysons (in McLean somewhere I think) and I'll be going to school, and later probably working, in DC. We'd like to find as urban and walkable an area as we can, but with good schools. I can't really think of anywhere that I know of in VA that fits that bill, and it seems that Bethesda-Chevy Chase might have some of that on the MD side, but I have to admit, I don't know Maryland much at all. I don't even really know McLean, come to think of it. Any advice?

I'm trying to keep housing costs to $700k or below, but can go higher if needed. And I'm OK with a smaller, older home or a townhouse, or even a smaller, older townhouse at this price. Is this realistic nowadays?

[burnt]

You could probably find a passable housing arrangement for that figure in the inner suburbs of Montgomery County, which sounds like where you'd want to live anyway.

You have my deepest sympathies for having to leave Austin for DC, though. I'm working toward doing the exact opposite within a few years.

[TeamBenya]

Southern Maryland has some very large advantages. The commute to Ashburn would be long, but if that's a commute you're comfortable with making, you'll find that the cost of living in Waldorf or White Plains will be considerably cheaper than what you will find in NOVA or Montgomery County, which is why so many people choose to live here.

I have clients right now who are looking at new construction, and we're find 4+br with 3000-4000sf plus a finished basement for 500k-600k. If you're willing to look at resale homes, the prices drop significantly.

I personally love the fact that I can live on an acre or more of land here and enjoy the privacy that goes along with that and still be 5 minutes from the mall, grocery store, good dining, etc.

I would highly recommend looking into the area IF you're comfortable with the distance, the value for homes is the best bang for the buck in suburban washington I think!