Moving BACK to Md after 18 yrs... (Silver Spring, Germantown: middle-class, sales, rent)

[Cyndiv]

Hi all,

My husband and I are considering a move back to the DC area after being in upstate NY for 18 years. We are coming out of a very inexpensive housing market and compared to the DC area will have little $$ to put down. Less of a problem will be our income to qualify...I think we are restricted to FHA financing as a result...that makes Howard County and Anne Arundel county less appealing unfortunately.

I am putting my neck out here I guess when I say this...but we both grew up in those 'rich suburbs' of Potomac and Bethesda and went to Whitman and Churchill. We have one child (right now) who is very gifted but also has some learning differences (and for that reason I currently home school). MCPS have an amazing program for 2E kids like my guy, and I would like to take advantage of that.

DH will be in medical sales and territory is HUGE (for DC anyway)...all of DC, MD and VA.

Commute times, traffic, roads etc have changed so much since we lived there we often get lost when we return for visits. (Maybe it's more age related! LOL!) Neither one of us want to be in Bethesda even if we could afford it....too congested and not enough land...(We're used to having a lot of space up here!) We'd prefer to be further out, where things are a little more sparcely populated and where we can own a little more land.

His company will cover gas & tolls etc, but time is somewhat an issue for commuting.

Help! Where in MD (preferably MC unless someone knows a lot about GT and 2E programs in other counties) would you position yourself to get the best bang for your buck and still be able to get to the big hospital centers in the area?????

I know this is asking a lot...just give it your best shot!
thanks!
Cyndi

[AmericanAnomie]

If you haven’t lived in Montgomery Co. in 18 years, you should know that things have gone way the hell downhill for the rising lower middle class.

I live in the central county (northwest Silver Spring) and it is unrecognizable from what it looked like 20 years ago. Middle-class flight has been rampant. The more rural Maryland counties, in addition to Virginia and even Delaware and W. Va. have benefited from MoCo’s transplanted middle-class tax base.

Liberal west county Democrats (including many Potomac residents) have championed far-left policies that have made our county and state a magnet for poverty and overcrowding.

Do you vote centrist/independent? I hope so, because we need more Marylanders who are not drinking from the trough of far-left pandering liberal politics; the political quid pro quo that is sapping the state of jobs and innovation.

Good luck. I don’t want to give you specific advice, because I don’t want to burn you, and you don’t specify the amount of money you are willing to fork over for home-buying/renting. If you care about MoCo schools, please check out the consortia/clusters on the MCPS page.

You should know right now that the county is slashing budgets for magnet/academy/IB/AP/honors programs while simultaneously hiring Spanish-speaking teachers / social workers and spending over $2M on gang-fighting initiatives because of the influx of poor residents over the past several years.

On gangs, see this:

“Authorities: More than 1,000 gang members active in Montgomery County”
http://www.examiner.com/a-608882~Authorities:%20More%20than%201,000%20gang%2 0members%20active%20in%20Montgomery%20County.html

This social welfare / anti-poverty spending often comes at a great cost to the rising middle class.

Witness two stories related to the same high school (Einstein H.S. in Wheaton):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/23/AR2006042301243.html
http://www.gazette.net/stories/042308/kensnew195135_32357.shtml

I almost went to Einstein H.S. for the arts program way back in the day but something gave me pause (the level of hostile/aggressive energy in the school hallways). Einstein, Wheaton, and Kennedy have become havens for thugs and juvies even while they push local school-within-a-school "special" programs for accelerated students.

West county residents have their heads buried in the sand until their tax bills come due.

Good luck with your kid(s). I too have been labeled "G/T" & "LD." It can be very hard.

[Cyndiv]

Thanks so much for your reply...I appreciate the insight and candor.

A couple of areas that 'seem' interesting to us (just from an lcd viewpoint since we haven't set foot on ground to visit personally yet) are areas such as Clarksburg, Brooksville, Laytonsville, Poolesville and Darnestown. DH is an avid bicyclist, both mountain and road and there are parks nearby that would be great for that. Plus, we both want more than the typical 1/2 acre suburban lot...several acres would be great. Price range is 700k or less.

Can you offer any insight into these communities in terms of quality of local schools (and clusters...I guess is the term). I understand that MCPS also offer the opportunity to go to one of six schools for HG kids. (I hate to keep bringing that up...and I don't want to sound like I am bragging...he's adopted so he didn't get any of that big smarts stuff from me!LOL!) But he does have some amazing natural abilities that I would hate to see wasted. OTOH, if as you say, the funding is going away and there is so much difficulty in the schools now, perhaps considering another county is not such a bad idea.

Before we moved to the Syracuse area we lived in Anne Arundel County in Galesville and we loved it there. What will be a hold back in AA is the fact that in their wisdom the federal government chose to limit the FHA loans by $125,000 less than all other surrounding counties.....thus putting many of the communities we would consider out of our range (such as Davidsonville).

Thanks again!

[hedgie]

FHA has raised the limits on their loans significantly. You might want to investigate the new limits to see if they meet your needs. It might open up other areas for your consideration.

[Marilyn Emery]

FHA limits are set by field office. You can go on HUD.gov and check the limits for the county you are interested in. Currently, Montgomery, Prince Georges, Frederick and I think Calvert are at 625,500 the rest of the state is around 495,000.

I have friends who live in Poolesville they really like it. The open space, places to bike and hike and great schools. They don't have any issues with GT/LD kids but like the school system for their main stream kids.

Clarksburg has grown alot in the last few years. There has been an enormous amount of building going on out there.

Brookville still has a lot of beautiful open space, with some nice older homes and from what I have heard good schools.

Don't know much about Laytonsville or Darnestown schools.

[Skapov]

Hello Cyndiv,

I currently live in Prince Georges County, a wonderful place if you are looking for land and a more "rural" atmosphere without so much congestion. Upper Marlboro is really nice, and there's a new development by Toll Brothers called Marlboro Ridge that might appeal to you. The homes are in the $500s-700s and so well within your budget.

You didn't mention whether or not you plan to get a job, because if not then you could continue to homeschool your son (a great option), and should you desire to not do that, consider Private Schools. Having only 1 child I'm sure you guys would be able to swing that, and Good Luck!

[westsideboy]

Montgomery County a magnet for poverty? All 3.3 % of families and 4.6% of individuals living below the povetry line? While the median income for families is over 100k? I mean, maybe it ain't what it used to be when EVERYONE was rich there. No doubt there are some neighborhoods and schools there that are best avoided, but a little perspective is needed.

Also, how do you improve the problems of poverty and gang related crime if you can't communicate and teach the young people in the spanish speaking communties? You can yell "shut up and learn English" as much as you want, but if the person doesn't speak English all they will here is Blah, Blah, Blah. I am no liberal, but doesn't make more sense to spend money in the schools trying to fix the problems you mentioned than having flute lessons and honors classes for the kids of yuppies?

I would love my community to have the problems of 5% poverty, arguing over where to spend all of our money, and finding room for all the people that wanted to move there......just me two cents.

Montgomery County has the eighth highest household median income in the United States, and the second highest in the state after Howard County according to the 2006 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The median income for a household in the county for 2006 was $87,624 and the median income for a family was $103,476. Males had a median income of $66,415 versus $52,134 for females. The per capita income for the county was $43,073. About 3.3% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.

[trying2moveup]

You say that you don't want to live in Bethesda even if you could afford it b/c you want open space - and I can appreciate that. However, if your hubby has this huge terrority to cover and commuting is going to be a big part of his every day routine, you are stepping into a nightmare. You cannot possibly fathom the length of commuting from any corner of MoCo - like the way out Poolesville, Clarksburg, Darnestown, Damascus areas down to DC/PG/NoVa, etc.

I'm going to skip the school lecture because if your child is GT, then you need to get on the MCPS website and contact the gifted and talented office and they will direct you from there. however, if he was never identified in a public school program (you say you homeschool) then they may want to test him. he may or may not be "identified" as GT under MCPS testing. you will also have to contact the special ed. department if he has a code or any IEP. Again, all this plays into what school he will go to if he is identified GT so that is almost a mute issue at this point (the county will bus him if he lives out of the boundaries for his school if he is going to a magnet program).

I personally would forgo all the open space because your husband is not going to have enough time for yard work with the time he is going to spend stuck in hellaious (or however you spell it) traffic. And I'm not trying to be funny. This is the God-honest truth. You have both been gone almost 20 years and it is not as it was. I know b/c I've spent all but 4 of my 38 years here (the 4 were for college). If you come here, you NEED to be in an area like Bethesda if you can afford it b/c you are CLOSE to metro, ammenities, shopping, etc., and do NOT have to spend time driving to everything in the gridlock that is washington DC suburbia traffic (and that suburbia extends outward in every direction for 50+ plus).

I would seriously, seriously consider you both taking a week off during a non-summer month and come down here, get a hotel in a central area - like say lower Rockville - rent a car and have your hubby drive around where his routes would be during commuter hours for Tues, Weds, and Thurs (skip Mon and Friday because those are perpetual government "holidays" and the traffic is not AS bad (relative term, here) on those days - before you make a move into this area.

[GJHJ]

There is one advantage to living in the greater Poolesville area if you're DH is going to covering NoVa and that's White's Ferry. It is a wonderful way to get over to the Leesburg area (I used it when I lived in Germantown) and I think you said that your husband's employer would cover the tolls, which this is kinda sorta. The only problem with the ferry is when it isn't running because of weather conditions.

As for the advice to come down during a non-summer month and "check things out", that is probably one of the best ideas I've heard on here! Give it some serious consideration.

Good luck with your move!

[jclausen71]

You should check out the Grant programs in the Counties that you are looking in. If you haven't owned in Maryland in over 3 years then you will qualify for most- there are also programs that will consider you to be a first time buyer if you have never owned in Maryland. Try www.hcii.org for the grant progams in Montgomery County. That will take you to the Housing and Community Initiatives website. They have grants and can get you qualified for CDA loans as well as FHA- FHA has a larger loan limit then you think- and it varies from county to county.

Really hope this helps!!!!