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Old 01-18-2015, 03:22 PM
 
86 posts, read 107,483 times
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Hello everyone,

I've seen many posts on this forum asking for comparisons between Burke, Springfield, Alexandria, Fairfax, and Arlington. Would anyone make a comparison between Burke and Piney Orchard located in Odenton, MD? For someone relocating to a job in D.C. and looking for family-friendly and (relatively) affordable place to live with good schools and public transportation into the city, these two seem to be great options. People have suggested Alexandria, Arlington, or Silver Spring however I'm worried that those places would be difficult to afford. Here are the details:

- Married couple, 35 and 30 with two kids, 3 years old and 1 year old.

- Husband works (GS-13 federal employee) and earns $103k per year with raises coming incrementally over the years and capping out at $118k in thirteen years (probably will be more when cost of living increases are added in). Wife is a stay-at-home and will possibly begin working when the youngest starts Kindergarten.

- Job that we will be relocating for is located a little more than 1/2 a mile from Union Station making VRE and MARC good options. Metro bus to Metro rail might also work. We're going to eliminate one car to save money so we'll be a one car family which my wife will use. I'll have a folding bike to get me to/from bus stops/metro stops/train stations/etc.

- Max home price would be $400k. A nice townhouse with a small patch of grass is perfectly fine. Garage preferable but not a must. Wouldn't consider moving into a condo.

- We have slightly more than $300k liquid and are thinking about putting some of that towards a down payment on college prepaid tuition (MD or VA plans depending on which state we wind up in) to lock in today's tuition rates and have a smaller monthly payment on the remaining balance. A large chunk of the $300k would go towards a house down payment to keep the monthly mortgage payment low. A small amount would be held in reserves.

- We have about $150k in retirement however we'd reduce our contributions initially to cover current expenses and gradually increase our contributions as the years go by.

- We are not extravagant people and tend to spend money more frugally. The most important thing for us is making sure our kids grow up well. Aside from paying for college early on, we'll want to enroll them in at least one year of preschool before they start Kindergarten which probably will cost a few hundred $$ each month however part time enrollment is acceptable.

So, similar to what Suze Orman says.....can we afford it???
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Old 01-19-2015, 12:51 AM
 
86 posts, read 107,483 times
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And we have no debt of any kind.
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Old 01-19-2015, 05:57 AM
 
12,905 posts, read 15,595,284 times
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The problem is that no one here (or a rare few) is going to be able to give you a well informed opinion about Piney Orchard. I think you're going to have to post in two different forums and make some conclusions on your own.

I have lived in both Maryland and Virginia and I personally prefer Virginia.

Some differences for me were:

1. Payroll taxes are cheaper in Virginia than in Maryland so my net pay showed an noticeable increase when I moved.

2. Virginia does tax your car and it varies (the rate) by county. When I moved I had two cars and the personal property tax was still cheaper than the payroll taxes in Maryland.

3. My car insurance was about the same.

4. Homeowner insurance was about the same.

5. Settlement/closing costs were much lower in Virginia than where I came from in Maryland so I needed less cash at the table going in on a home purchase. Again, this can vary by county.

6. At this point, Virginia still funds more toward public university education than Maryland does. Although I would guess that gap continues to narrow. Compared to my coworkers who kids use University of Maryland, Towson, UMBC, etc, our tuition rates are less in Virginia for comparable schools.

7. In many of the areas, Virginia has done an excellent job with road expansive, public transportation options, etc. over parts of Maryland. PG County and Charles County, IMO, are abysmal. No carpool lane options, very little in the way of organized public transportation options from those more far flung areas. I think many areas in Virginia were more dense for so long, that it forced that issue, but development in the more rural parts of Maryland have really boomed but transportation hasn't kept up. But you are looking at an area that is well served by MARC so that shouldn't be an issue for you.

Last edited by ChristineVA; 01-19-2015 at 07:26 AM..
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Old 01-19-2015, 06:51 AM
 
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We live near the Burke VRE and live on a little more money than you have, but also have a lot of debt and a more expensive house. So I think you can easily afford a Burke townhouse and life here - you can also look at the southern part of Fairfax that borders Burke - there are several townhouse communities almost walking distance to the VRE that are technically in Fairfax.

I'm not sure about just one car - that would be an extreme inconvenience, and maybe not worth the savings.

Don't know anything about MD, sorry - except that I've heard Montgomery has better schools than VA, and based on my experience so far I believe it.
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Old 01-19-2015, 07:43 AM
 
1,527 posts, read 2,250,900 times
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I understand the feeling of wanting to prepay college tuition, but think it's a very bad idea to reduce your retirements savings to do so. Your children are very young, and as the saying goes, life happens. I would definitely contribute to a 529 plan but don't reduce your retirement contributions.
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Old 01-19-2015, 11:59 AM
 
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With a mortgage of $300-350k and no day care expenses I think you can afford it. I will defer to others regarding locations that might fit the budget and public transit
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Old 01-19-2015, 12:48 PM
 
86 posts, read 107,483 times
Reputation: 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristineVA View Post
The problem is that no one here (or a rare few) is going to be able to give you a well informed opinion about Piney Orchard. I think you're going to have to post in two different forums and make some conclusions on your own.

I have lived in both Maryland and Virginia and I personally prefer Virginia.

Some differences for me were:

1. Payroll taxes are cheaper in Virginia than in Maryland so my net pay showed an noticeable increase when I moved.

2. Virginia does tax your car and it varies (the rate) by county. When I moved I had two cars and the personal property tax was still cheaper than the payroll taxes in Maryland.

3. My car insurance was about the same.

4. Homeowner insurance was about the same.

5. Settlement/closing costs were much lower in Virginia than where I came from in Maryland so I needed less cash at the table going in on a home purchase. Again, this can vary by county.

6. At this point, Virginia still funds more toward public university education than Maryland does. Although I would guess that gap continues to narrow. Compared to my coworkers who kids use University of Maryland, Towson, UMBC, etc, our tuition rates are less in Virginia for comparable schools.

7. In many of the areas, Virginia has done an excellent job with road expansive, public transportation options, etc. over parts of Maryland. PG County and Charles County, IMO, are abysmal. No carpool lane options, very little in the way of organized public transportation options from those more far flung areas. I think many areas in Virginia were more dense for so long, that it forced that issue, but development in the more rural parts of Maryland have really boomed but transportation hasn't kept up. But you are looking at an area that is well served by MARC so that shouldn't be an issue for you.

Thanks for the reply. I took your advice and made the same post in the Maryland forum so we'll see what kind of responses I get there. I'm wondering if the cost of living in both places sort of evens out. Even though taxes are higher in MD, home prices in Burke seem to be much higher than in the Odenton area. I've seen beautiful, upgraded townhouses in Piney Orchard built within the last 10 years listed in the mid-$300k's. In Burke however, a townhome build in the 80's but very nice with the same upgrades appears to cost at least $50k-$100k more.
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Old 01-19-2015, 01:06 PM
 
9,864 posts, read 14,030,867 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Germany2DC View Post
Thanks for the reply. I took your advice and made the same post in the Maryland forum so we'll see what kind of responses I get there. I'm wondering if the cost of living in both places sort of evens out. Even though taxes are higher in MD, home prices in Burke seem to be much higher than in the Odenton area. I've seen beautiful, upgraded townhouses in Piney Orchard built within the last 10 years listed in the mid-$300k's. In Burke however, a townhome build in the 80's but very nice with the same upgrades appears to cost at least $50k-$100k more.
Odenton is much further away from DC than Burke is. The commute will be much longer, thus the lower prices.
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Old 01-19-2015, 01:43 PM
 
86 posts, read 107,483 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spencgr View Post
Odenton is much further away from DC than Burke is. The commute will be much longer, thus the lower prices.


My office will be located a little more than 1/2 mile from Union Station. The schedule for the MARC from Odenton says it will take roughly 30 mins whereas the VRE from Burke Center or Rolling Road will take 45-50 mins.
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Old 01-19-2015, 01:49 PM
 
9,864 posts, read 14,030,867 times
Reputation: 21673
Quote:
Originally Posted by Germany2DC View Post
My office will be located a little more than 1/2 mile from Union Station. The schedule for the MARC from Odenton says it will take roughly 30 mins whereas the VRE from Burke Center or Rolling Road will take 45-50 mins.
So it works for you, which is great. But for anyone commuting to DC by car, or elsewhere, Odenton is further out, which normally equals lower costs.
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