Montgomery County?? (Germantown: condo, crime rates, house)

[BigWyche16]

Have always wanted to move to the DC area but have never been before..I will be visiting lots in the near future....I currently live in Tampa,FL..I want to be able enjoy everything that goes on within DC, but probably could not live right in the district because of money..I am a cop and my other half is a counselor so it's not like we are making big money..Probably around $80,000 between us...I want to be able to make it to all the sporting events, spend the day in the district shopping, eating, partying, ect...Will I be able to do that easily living in Montgomery County? I want to be as close to everything as possible...

Thank you

[DC2Tampa]

You'll be shocked how expensive MD/DC is compared to the Tampa Bay area. I moved from Montgomery Co. where I grew up about 11-12 years ago to Tampa Bay. My gf and I go back to D.C. about 15 times a year to visit friends and family. We have a good life down here(live in East Lake Woodlands in Pinellas) but I don't think we could afford to move back to D.C. even if we wanted to.

fwiw, PG(Prince George's) Co. just to the east of D.C. and MoCo is a little more affordable but the trade-off is higher crime rates and more questionable neighborhoods. Keep in mind that you also have to pay state income tax(among many other taxes) in MD.

[MichaelinMaryland]

the housing market is very down I believe

[trying2moveup]

You will be able to afford a condo or TH in Montgomery County on 80K a year. And neither will be in a great area. Forget single family housing. The housing market is down, but not out. This is still one of the wealthiest areas in the nation and you will not find housing prices like in Florida - absolutely no way. Plus you will be taxed up the ying-yang. If you want to be so close to the ammenities you mention you have to be prepared to pay for it dearly, or live in under 700 sq ft and i'm not kidding. This goes for No. Virginia and PG county as well - though rents MAY be more affordable in PG vs. MoCo. If I were you, i'd continue to visit upteen times a year and keep the homestead in florida.

[firefightermom]

Originally Posted by trying2moveup

You will be able to afford a condo or TH in Montgomery County on 80K a year. And neither will be in a great area. Forget single family housing. The housing market is down, but not out. This is still one of the wealthiest areas in the nation and you will not find housing prices like in Florida - absolutely no way. Plus you will be taxed up the ying-yang. If you want to be so close to the ammenities you mention you have to be prepared to pay for it dearly, or live in under 700 sq ft and i'm not kidding. This goes for No. Virginia and PG county as well - though rents MAY be more affordable in PG vs. MoCo. If I were you, i'd continue to visit upteen times a year and keep the homestead in florida.

Exactly right. I recently left MoCo because we were never going to have a good life there, and we made about what you make. Working to pay the bills and not much else. If you don't have kids, or they're already grown and out of the house, then it wouldn't be as difficult, but if you do have kids at home still, your quality of living will definitely decrease. Of course, when I bought my TH I paid $100,000, and sold it 9 years later for $300,00, so your housing would be significantly more than mine was.

Just curious; if you've never been to the DC area, why in the world would you think you want to live there?

[tercel95]

You are probably going to have to live a ways out of DC to afford something even halfway decent... Perhaps in PG county... Why would you want to move to DC from Tampa? Its WAY more expensive up here, the weather will kill most Floridians... DC looks nice from the outside but the first time your car gets stolen, your house gets broken into or you hear of a murder right down the street you will want to move. Don't get me wrong there are some places in/around DC where you will be relatively safe but you will pay a lot to live there... I have lived in MD my whole life and I am dying to move to Jacksonville. You might want to consider Calvert County. You will be about 1-1.5 hours away from the city, which is just far enough to escape the crime and expensive housing. The calvert county sheriffs are amazing and there are tons of jobs in the public school system. Take a look at the difference in property prices in Calvert compared to other areas...

[lscalder]

80k a yr in Montgomery county, you will be living in the bad areas with crimes and ms 13 gangs.
The nice areas of Montgomery county you will need a income of 100k after tax.

Same goes for PG county, In my community homes are selling for minimum 500k so you would need to bring home 100k after tax as well. Now PG county and Montgomery county both have crimes.gangs but if you want to avoid those things you need more money for both counties.

[lscalder]

80k a yr in Montgomery county, you will be living in the bad areas with crimes and ms 13 gangs.
The nice areas of Montgomery county you will need a income of 100k after tax.

Same goes for PG county, In my community homes are selling for minimum 500k so you would need to bring home 100k after tax as well. Now PG county and Montgomery county both have crimes.gangs but if you want to avoid those things you need more money for both counties.

[Alanboy395]

Originally Posted by BigWyche16

Have always wanted to move to the DC area but have never been before..I will be visiting lots in the near future....I currently live in Tampa,FL..I want to be able enjoy everything that goes on within DC, but probably could not live right in the district because of money..I am a cop and my other half is a counselor so it's not like we are making big money..Probably around $80,000 between us...I want to be able to make it to all the sporting events, spend the day in the district shopping, eating, partying, ect...Will I be able to do that easily living in Montgomery County? I want to be as close to everything as possible...

Thank you

Short answer, no.

You really need to visit here and get ground zero opinions before moving here. Visiting DC is one thing, living in it is another (from personal experience.)

$80k combined probably gets you into a TH or condo in an "okay" area. The way that MS-13 and other illegal aliens has been running in that county lately i want an area that is better than "okay".

[GJHJ]

One thing that you need to consider is where you will be working. Commuting during rush hour can turn a 20 minute drive to a 90 minute crawl. If you can set it up so that you do a "reverse" commute, then it's not so bad. I leave work at 0700, but I drive from Germantown to the north, so rush hour traffic doesn't affect me at all. And if you have kids, you need to research the schools for the neighborhood where you would be living. You could end up in a nice house in a nice neighborhood, but have a "not-so-good" school for the kids. I grew up in MoCo in the 70s & 80s, and returned from 1997-2008, and while most of my experiences were positive, there are lots of things that need to be changed.