Moving to MD (Silver Spring, Germantown, Bethesda: buying a home, safe area, buying)

[Flightdoc]

Hello everyone. My family and I will be moving to Maryland in less than 4 months. We are interested in buying a home that is not too old (no more than 10 years) in a safe area. I will be working at Bethesda Naval Hospital. These are the factors we are looking for:
- car commuting no more than 1 hour to Bethesda
- SAFETY
- Good schools, we are looking for private school first
- house price no more than $550,000

I greatly appreciate any input. I heard you guys are the best. Thanks.

Very respectfully,

Dr. Baker

[kmhbt]

Are you looking for a private school affiliated with a religion? Do you have a general area of Maryland in mind?

[Flightdoc]

Originally Posted by kmhbt

Are you looking for a private school affiliated with a religion? Do you have a general area of Maryland in mind?

Yes. We are looking for Catholic schools as first choice and then any other Christian or private schools. In terms of general area, I have no specific towns. Some people have told us to stay closer to the West side of I-270 and to stay away from Silver Spring and DC itself. I don't mind driving for 1 hour. I am going to be a 2nd year resident in psychiatry so my hours are going to be very early in the AM (before 5 AM) and late in the evenings. Thanks.

Flight Doc

[Kensington]

You haven't mentioned how big of a house you want or what kind of neighborhood feel you want, which will be a big deciding factor on how far away you are from Bethesda. I live in Kensington which would be about a 15 (or less even) minute commute from the naval hospital during non-rush hour. You could easily find a sfh for less than 550,000 especially if you look in Kensington Heights, Homewood, or Newport Hills/Kensington Knolls neighborhoods. Holy Redeemer in Kensington is a very well-regarded Catholic school. I wouldn't rule out Bethesda either. St. Jane Frances de Chantal has a wonderful reputation, is close to Bethesda Naval Hospital, and there are some smaller homes that have been selling in the 500,000 - 550,000 range slightly North of St. Jane's. You could have a 5 - 10 minute commute.

[claremarie]

If you are not currently living in a major metro area, you might be surprised to learn how difficult it can be to land a spot in a private school around here, especially if your child will be in kindergarten or first grade. Most Catholic parish schools give first dibs to siblings of current students, then to parishioners, which doesn't always leave many opening for newcomers to the area. You would need to contact schools NOW because many have already taken applications for the 2007-08 school year.
If you really want a newer house for under $550K, you probably won't find it in Bethesda, where most of the housing stock is much older, and anything under 10 years old was either a tear-down of a smaller house, or built on an infill property, and priced at well over $1 million. Most likely, you will be in "North Potomac," Gaithersburg, or Germantown. You won't find anything new in DC for $550K either. You could easily find something in Silver Spring in your price range, but it would be considerably older than 10 years.

[Kensington]

I didn't see in your original post that you want a home that is less than 10 years old. My apologies for not reading carefully. Obviously you won't find that in close-in Montgomery Co. I think you'll be hardpressed to find a new sfh home anywhere in MoCo for under 550,000. If you will always be commuting at non-rush times, you could live pretty far out and still get to Bethesda Naval in an hour. It is very close to the beltway. I'd try up (way up) the I-270 corridor and buy in a community that has quick on/off access to the interstate.

JK