Why I left Maryland (Baltimore: live in, dangerous, moving)

[firefightermom]

Originally Posted by 7th Direction

My husband and I moved to West Virginia to buy a home. We couldn't afford even a townhouse in good repair in Maryland, and most of the condos (that aren't 55+) are in the city.

We both work in Maryland, but we bought a new 2 car garage / 4 bedroom home on a 1/4 acre lot in WV for the same price as a condominium in MD.

The commute is sort of a hassle, but the quality of life is much better.

I understand completly! After living there 9 years, we sold our 20 year old TH in Germantown, and bought a 4 year old SFH, 2 car garage,finshed basement, almost half an acre for $100,000 less! We were amazed at the price drop once you crossed over the state line.

Now I can afford to stay home with the kids until they're both in school instead of shipping them off to daycare. Half my paycheck was spend on daycare/preschool--ridiculous! My husband commutes back to MoCo, but he works 24 hour shifts, so it's only 9 days a month. We love the change and we love PA!!

[7th Direction]

Originally Posted by firefightermom

I understand completly! After living there 9 years, we sold our 20 year old TH in Germantown, and bought a 4 year old SFH, 2 car garage,finshed basement, almost half an acre for $100,000 less! We were amazed at the price drop once you crossed over the state line.

Now I can afford to stay home with the kids until they're both in school instead of shipping them off to daycare. Half my paycheck was spend on daycare/preschool--ridiculous! My husband commutes back to MoCo, but he works 24 hour shifts, so it's only 9 days a month. We love the change and we love PA!!

Since we are first time homebuyers, we are still struggling a little. Gas prices for a while there were making us question the move!!!

But so many people in our neighborhood moved from Maryland and Northern Virginia... they made bank when they sold their houses for several $100K more than their new houses and have beautiful landscaping and improvements... I keep telling myself... one day.

[kclove]

My husband and I made the mistake of leaving Chester County, PA and moved to Chesapeake Isle (Cecil County) because we wanted to live near the water and felt we were still close to our roots. Worst mistake we ever made. Although our community was really nice, I was not used to being in a rural area. It was very expensive, ignorant people, dirty stores, no decent shopping or restaurants, horrible water. After being there for six months, we put our house on the market and were out a year to the day after we moved there. Of course the housing market tanked and we took a major hit. We moved back to Chester County. I'm still getting over it.

[Billiam]

don't you think it would have been a bit smarter to actually research an area before you move there? maybe spend a week there to see how you liked it?

please don't base your opinions of Maryland on that one place!

[terp4ever]

Originally Posted by kclove

My husband and I made the mistake of leaving Chester County, PA and moved to Chesapeake Isle (Cecil County) because we wanted to live near the water and felt we were still close to our roots. Worst mistake we ever made. Although our community was really nice, I was not used to being in a rural area. It was very expensive, ignorant people, dirty stores, no decent shopping or restaurants, horrible water. After being there for six months, we put our house on the market and were out a year to the day after we moved there. Of course the housing market tanked and we took a major hit. We moved back to Chester County. I'm still getting over it.

I guess you moved to Cecil because it's part of the Philadelphia Metro. but, there are so many better places in MD. If you wanted to llive near water Annapolis (the sailing capital of the world) is the place to live. Or maybe you should have just moved to DE, to still be close to Phillie. Cecil is rapidly expanding though, with the current population expected to double in thirty years.

[Juanvald]

The one and only reason I left MD was the cost of living. I think MD is a great place to live. Maybe I was lucky growing up in Columbia, but I've lived in other parts of MD and always enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend Columbia to everyone. If housing hadn't been so expensive in 2006, we would have bought a place in Columbia. We just didn't want to buy some rundown Townhouse and be house poor. Instead, we moved to Raleigh NC and bought a 4 br, 21 sq ft house for less than 200k. Raleigh is a great place to live, but I definitely miss MD. I miss being so close to Baltimore and DC and I especially miss my craptacular Orioles. No MLB in NC stinks! Other than that, NC is a great place to live as well and we are very happy.

[terp4ever]

Originally Posted by Juanvald

The one and only reason I left MD was the cost of living. I think MD is a great place to live. Maybe I was lucky growing up in Columbia, but I've lived in other parts of MD and always enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend Columbia to everyone. If housing hadn't been so expensive in 2006, we would have bought a place in Columbia. We just didn't want to buy some rundown Townhouse and be house poor. Instead, we moved to Raleigh NC and bought a 4 br, 21 sq ft house for less than 200k. Raleigh is a great place to live, but I definitely miss MD. I miss being so close to Baltimore and DC and I especially miss my craptacular Orioles. No MLB in NC stinks! Other than that, NC is a great place to live as well and we are very happy.

Ah, finally someone with a valid reason for leaving Maryland.

Yeah, Columbia (and Howard Co. overall) is definitely a great place to live. CNN Money periodically places it highly one its top 100 places to live in the country. If, you think the cost of living in Howard is expensive, try Montgomery, if you can get a townhouse for 500K, it's a bargain.

[kclove]

Originally Posted by Billiam

don't you think it would have been a bit smarter to actually research an area before you move there? maybe spend a week there to see how you liked it?

please don't base your opinions of Maryland on that one place!

Our friends have a summer home in the area which we visited occasionally. You know the saying, nice to visit...

[Mike Jones 1999]

Originally Posted by kclove

Our friends have a summer home in the area which we visited occasionally. You know the saying, nice to visit...

...right!!!

[Billiam]

uh...why are you even in here? lol