Rockville here we come, but where?

[titaniummd]

Where your husband will be working is important and whether he plans to drive or take the Metro (look at the street maps in relation to the Red metro line):

http://www.wmata.com/maps/metrorail_street_map.cfm (broken link)

Commuties along I-270 such as Rockville, Germantown, and Gaithersburg are excellent with regards to stores and schools. Kensington has older and smaller houses but is nice.

http://www.homes-montgomery-county-m...pMap-large.gif


You could even consider Derwood, MD (safe and not as expensive as Olney) or Olney, MD.

[Rylee]

Hi there I lived in Rockville all my life. I'll help answer your questions:

First of all your right, Rockville is very expensive I couldn't even offord a house myself.

What are some decent apartment complexes in Rockville area that are safe and clean?
Good preschools?
Beall Elementary has Pre-K to Fifth Grade. It is really good. A nice apartment community that is right next to a forest and has lots of conveniences around is a place called Woodmont Park. Your child will attend Beall if you live here.

For houses, we definitely cannot afford a good house in Rockville. 400 - 500 (or less) is out budget. Good school districts, safety, no rednecks and decent commuting distance to Rockville are our priorities.

This is a hard one mostly all the house are overpriced. The averagely cheapest neighborhoods like Rockcrest/Rockwood have prices from $200's-$500's. The nicest houses are from $600's.
Are there any areas in Maryland or Virginia that fit our criteria?

Poolesville, Md, Glen Echo, Md, Falls Church, Va, Germantown, Md Ooh Frederick, Md is a really nice one. Hagerstown, Md is too but you might consider it too far.

Good luck!

[trying2moveup]

I was born and raised in Silver Spring and lived in Frederick and I am now temporarily staying back in Silver Spring while we shop for a SFH.

I would rent for a mimimum of 6 months. I have 2 kids under 4 and it sucks but it is worth it for you and your family to get to know the area. It takes time and these forums are extremely helpful but the only way you will get a feel for the areas, communities, COMMUTING TIMES, etc., is by living here for a while. go to apartmentfinder.com and look up Maryland and then narrow down to the cities around Rockville and Rockville itself. It will be a crap shoot but you will most likely end up with decent housing - and remember it will be TEMPORARY! Your child is not going to Kindergarten so there is no need to panic and try to lock him into a particular elementary school

Get to know the area. Also, one thing you must keep in mind while looking around Gaithersburg, Derwood, etc., is that Montgomery county is finally - after like 50 years - building the Intercounty Connector (ICC), going east/west across the county. this will DEFINITELY be impacting houses prices and you must check out the master plan at Mont. Co. govt in Rockville if you are thinking about buying in Mont. Co. You NEED to know where this highway is going to be running relative to where you will be living.

Also, prices are falling right now. Slowly in mont. Co., as compared to Frederick County and No. Virginia, but they are falling. This area has a very strong economic base - number 1 employer for people living in this area is the federal govt and they are not going out of business anytime soon - and Mont. Co backs to DC so it always has a high demand.

I absolutely agree that you should rent before buying, ESPECIALLY since it is a buyer's market and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. There is no rush.

[oliver11]

I grew up in Rockville and the others are correct the schools are good (for the most part) The high school I attended offered so much of course I graduated in 1972 so alot has changed since then, but I took basic accounting and intro pysch courses and the advanced english class which I wasn't in studied the Bible for the whole yr., but things have changed in the effort of political correctness. As, far as real estate in Rockville, there is not much in New construction (if thats what you want) because theres not really any land left to build on in or around rockvile unless you want a condo on Rockville Pike. Depends on how far you want to drive. One of the other posters mentioned olney which is nice, if you look beyond olney down rt 108 going north you may find something its very pretty. Silver Spring is old and establish and has become dangerous and hispanic. Gaithersburg Montgomery Village is high crime. Columbia/Howard County not sure. You also have the option of looking south of Rockville on 270/495 in northern Va, not sure whats down there. But the whole area is just expensive. I moved out of Montgomery Co 7 yrs ago and moved to Carroll Co and purchased a home for fraction of the cost of a Rockville home. Its a forty-five minute drive to gaithersburg where my husband owns his business and was well worth the drive until housing fell apart at least for us. We live in a golf course community have between 5000 to 6000 sq footage of house and 2 1/2 arces of property and purchased our home new 7 yrs ago for $650000.00. In Rockville or surrounding areas would 800K to 1mil.probablymore if you add on the land for the same set up maybe more. So the the further you willing to travel/commute for rockville the further your real estate investment dollars go. Good luck and renting for a yr is the way to go, but even that expensive. The divesity question, Montgomery Co has always been ethnically diverse as long as I can remember so that not an issue.