Honest assessment from those that live in Virginia, is it better than Maryland? Why? (Arlington: apartment, rent)

[GustavoFring]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

I agree. I remember the "Tantallon" area when I lived in PG County and I know many people who still live in that area and still love it. The difference is: none of them have school-aged children. When they did, they had to use private schools. There are some great areas in PG County but if you are facing use of the school system, it's a big decision.

This is the exact reason I skipped buying a McMansion for 400-500K over there (which I didn't need) in favor of a similarly priced Condo in Virginia. I figured that if I were buying a large house like that, I'd be buying it to stay. So I looked up the public schools... skip that, so then I looked into private schooling, which would run between 20-35K a year per child. So assuming 2 children, even if the house would be worth 1.25 million in Virginia (probably more), I'd be expending an extra 60K a year on school PLUS the tax rate was almost 3 times as high near the water (15K a year vs 5K a year on 500K house).

So instead I bought a condo in a "hot" market, because I know I'll be able to at least sell it for what I bought it for or likely rent it for what I bought it for or more. PG, even Fort Washington, is one of the few markets around here who's last decade of history could not make that same guarantee.

On top of that, if I were in Ft Washington, I'd have to drive to DC or Old Town to go out to eat or do anything fun anyways (I would NOT be going to the National Harbor) and local retail is few and far between.

As awesome as it would be to have a nice house on the water, I just felt there were too many sacrifices.

[Carlingtonian]

OK, RamblingMan has officially got me thinking about moving to MD now.

Seriously, it sounds fantastic. Glad to hear all that!

There are people who live in Annapolis and commute to DC by bus. I halfway seriously thought about that as an option for us--much lower home prices, gorgeous town, on the water, etc. But the thing is, if your boss makes you work late, and you miss your commuter bus home, you're sleeping at the office.

[NC211]

We like VA for several reasons. When we picked were we are now, in Loudoun, we liked the fact that everything is new, feels new, and new is still coming. After watching 3 years of Illinois during the teeth of the recession, and living in a rented 100 year old historic home (albeit a fully renovated 7 figure home), we've found the VA burbs of DC to be refreshing. Reminds us more of our true home base in NC. Maryland reminded us more of where we came from in Illinois. Even though Maryland isn't but what, 20 miles or so away, that 20 miles to us somehow makes it feel more of a northern state, whereas VA gives us more of the southern state feel, which is what we are, southerners.

That being said, I think one of the best kept secrets in all of Washington, DC is the Ft. Washington area! If we didn't have two small children who are just starting out in school, and if my office were in downtown DC, Ft. Washington would almost certainly be a strong contender for us to move to. As a real estate minded person who has spent most of his career focused on the investment cycles of DC, I think it's only a matter of time before Ft. Washington can't escape all of this massive redevelopment activity. I think once the ballpark area is done and stabilized, eyes and wallets will start to look to the otherside of the river. I already know two major national CRE developers who have long-term positions in that area now, just waiting for it to happen. I give it 10 years. It has the #1 component to real estate....location location location. FActor in the water setting, and it gets even better. In fact, I would be surprised if when my children are home owners someday, there's a nother bridge down there tying the area over to the other side.

[NC211]

Looks like somebody needs to check the battery in his wireless keyboard tomorrow morning..

[MrMaryland455]

Originally Posted by GustavoFring

Gazette.Net: Fairfax surpasses Montgomery as large district with best graduation rate

Should we even start throwing in things like TJ or include Loudoun or Arlington?

If you throw in Loudoun and Arlington........I'll simply just throw in Howard County (Ellicot City and Columbia, md)


Howard County Public Schools | Maryland | Best High Schools | US News

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by MrMaryland455

If you throw in Loudoun and Arlington........I'll simply just throw in Howard County (Ellicot City and Columbia, md)


Howard County Public Schools | Maryland | Best High Schools | US News

I'd be one of the first to say Howard County schools can hold its own against Fairfax and Loudoun. I think it is an underrated option for DC area families.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

I agree. I remember the "Tantallon" area when I lived in PG County and I know many people who still live in that area and still love it. The difference is: none of them have school-aged children. When they did, they had to use private schools. There are some great areas in PG County but if you are facing use of the school system, it's a big decision.

Bingo. Which is the negative side to it. I wouldn't recommend a family with young kids moving there at this juncture unless they plan on sending their kids to private school, but other than that, I can think of some scenarios where living in a place like that would be a great fit especially for the money that you pay.

[Zimar]

Originally Posted by RamblingMan

Hi Carlingtonian,

I don't usually want to get involved in these Virginia vs Maryland discussions. I grew up in Virginia and like it a lot. I strongly considered buying in Virginia (Old Town) until I found my current home in Fort Washington. I don't think there's anyplace in the Metro area that would be better for me than Fort Washington. I have a charming 1930s home made of brick, granite, oak, and slate with a substantial chunk of Potomac frontage (although I did pay considerably more than 500K). I can drive from my front door to my office garage in DC in 25 minutes outside of rush hour. Most mornings and evenings my commute is between 35 - 45 minutes.

Rather than repeat myself, I pulled the following from the post I think you were looking for:

...there's more to life than just schools, taxes, and low crime. I chose Fort Washington because it offers the area's best combination of boatable Potomac frontage with an easy commute to downtown DC. Sure, I wish the schools, taxes, and crime were better. I find it even more annoying that I can't mail order wine from most sources and that Maryland has really strict gun laws. But I can carry my little girl to the bottom of my acre+ yard, walk out on my pier, and catch a bass or see an eagle or an osprey or a box turtle or a fox. I can jump in my boat and take her for a quick sail or paddle or cruise. I can get blind rights, go offshore, and shoot a goose. Or I can just sit and watch the sun set over the Dyke Marsh preserve. And I can also drive to my office in DC in 35 minutes at 7 am. To me, this easily balances out the negatives of PG County. Most of my friends don't understand why I live in PG County until they visit me and see the view from my house.

Update:

Since writing that, I like my house and neighborhood even more. My yard still has eagles, ospreys (a few weeks ago I watched an osprey pull branches out of one of my trees to build a nest in my neighbor's yard), foxes, and turtles, but now I've also seen hummingbirds and woodpeckers and wild turkeys and owls and my two resident groundhogs. The neighbors invite my daughter to see the goslings that have just hatched in their boathouse. My daughter loves watching the deer graze on my garden (I'm less sanguine about that). I'm keeping an eye out for the neighborhood bobcat and river otters. I've just extended my pier and am about to install boat lifts. Life is good.

Even better, I have great neighbors. There is very little turnover of homes here, and many people on the street have been in their houses for decades. Even though they've known each other for many years, they've gone out of their way to be genuinely welcoming to my family. They socialize frequently and invite us. Several have offered to loan me vehicles, heavy equipment, or other help.

I'm not trying to assert to the OP (or anyone else) that Maryland is somehow "better" than Virginia. All I can say is that I live in Maryland (in Prince George's County that some others in this thread have already trashed) and I can't think of a place in the DC area in which I would rather live. I imagine others feel that way about their choice to live in Virginia. Similarly, I love my old-fashioned house and big yard and have no desire to live in a townhouse or a McMansion in the kind of developments I see springing up in the area. That doesn't make my house "better" except to me and maybe people who share my view. If a condo, a townhouse, or a McMansion on a small lot makes you happy, I have no problem with accepting that choice as "better" for you. Trying to convince me that the choice is anything other than subjective, however, is a losing cause.

I live in a different part of PG County than Ramblingman (Lanham-Seabrook, near the northern part of the county), but I echo a lot of his sentiments. I love where I live, and it's right for me and my family, and we like it more and more each day. Our neighborhood is extremely diverse and I like our neighbors a lot, we're close to a huge park and get to see a lot of wildlife, I live in my "forever" home, and we're half an hour from everything we could possibly want- work, Annapolis, Baltimore, downtown DC, National Harbor. We're 10 minutes away from basic stores like costco, wegmans, target, etc., and 10 minutes from marc, metro, and amtrak. And the public elementary school here is is very good! People are actually shocked when they see how nice our house is, and that a young family like ours could afford it. And if I ever got a job in VA, I would move to somewhere like Fort Washington without hesitation, and I would move somewhere closer in like Hyattsville without hesitation. More and more I'm beginning to believe that a lot of PG County's stigma is based on race more than anything.

[jkyj1976]

Originally Posted by NC211

We like VA for several reasons. When we picked were we are now, in Loudoun, we liked the fact that everything is new, feels new, and new is still coming. After watching 3 years of Illinois during the teeth of the recession, and living in a rented 100 year old historic home (albeit a fully renovated 7 figure home), we've found the VA burbs of DC to be refreshing. Reminds us more of our true home base in NC. Maryland reminded us more of where we came from in Illinois.

What part of Illinois did stay for 3 years NC? heh, fellow Illinois/Maryland/VA'er... so to speak.

Stayed in Morton Grove, Il for about 10 years then moved to VA for job, then moved to Maryland and then came back to VA.

[jkyj1976]

If you can stomach 2.5 hour commute on fridays for about 3-4 month out of the year, living in Kent Island, MD is definitely an option. And, with relatively low property tax, low sales tax, low cost of living (You can find a nice 2,200 sq 4 bed 2.5 bath SF for around $ 300k, or TH for around $ 250k).

Daily commute is actually not really all that bad.

Aside from aforementioned fridays for about 3-4 month of the year (when just about everyone seems to be rushing over the bay bridge, commute runs roughly 60 min to 70 min over 55 miles (I commute to Alexandria, VA). Compare that to 26 mile commute from Ashburn taking 80 minutes if not using 267, and it really is not too bad.
Another hidden secret is that yes, toll over baybridge is indeed $ 5 round trip, but if you live in Kent Island, toll is only $ 1.50.

I also like to give Kent Island a huge plus for not having mega stores like Costco, Walmart, Target, etc and instead having smaller local stores that gives personal attention. Not to mention locals supporting local small businesses which in turn promotes small town feel.

Lastly, if you lean conservative (like yours truly), I must point out Kent island and Eastern shore in general is the last bastion of the conservatism in Maryland...