Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband's job is talking about relocating him from California to DC. He would be working near Capitol Hill and is willing to commute an hour each way. Is there an area where we would be able to get a decent amount of land (.75+ acres) for under $300k, with that kind of commute?
My husband's job is talking about relocating him from California to DC. He would be working near Capitol Hill and is willing to commute an hour each way. Is there an area where we would be able to get a decent amount of land (.75+ acres) for under $300k, with that kind of commute?
No, not even remotely.
edit: To provide some clarity, the huge challenge here is that getting into DC itself from the far burbs (which we'd have to be talking about to find that kind of land at those kinds of prices) is going to be a major issue for commute times. Even from the NW MD border (where the cheapest thing you'd find is about $700K, and on 1/10th of an acre) the commute can push 40 or 50 minutes. From VA, you are stuck relying on a handful of key bridges, and anything near those bridges, as you might imagine, isn't cheap. A lot of land without a house near to a bridge would be $500K - and thats not going to touch your .75 acres anyway. To get that kind of space you have to start looking a lot further out, places like here: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/76...69219327_zpid/ . Theoretically, that might be perhaps an hour and a half utilizing public transport - assuming 10 minutes to get to the stop, 10 to wait, a good 50 or 60 to the city, and then maybe another 10 or 20 to get where you need to go... Its not impossible, but it would be pretty painful and if ANYTHING happens to throw schedules off whack, then everything is out the window. Put differently, you have to choose between a big lot and a horrible commute or a small place and a good commute. (All of this assumes you dont actually just want a lot but want a house on that lot too)... Maybe someone else has a better idea, but I cant think of any locations (outside of scary places you dont want to live) where .75 acres, 300k and 1 hour commutes are possible.
Last edited by chicagotodc; 12-05-2011 at 07:42 AM..
My husband's job is talking about relocating him from California to DC. He would be working near Capitol Hill and is willing to commute an hour each way. Is there an area where we would be able to get a decent amount of land (.75+ acres) for under $300k, with that kind of commute?
the standard suburban lot size here is .25, and to get even a SFH on a quarter acre lot here, for under 300k, will mean compromises in terms of either house age/condition, neighborhood quality or distance - more likely on two out of the three.
You need to consider why you need .75 acres or more, an amount that here is usually needed by folks with horses, or by people intending to show off wealth. You should know that around here one can be considered to live decently with far less land. Folks who work in the heart of DC and can afford only 300k, more typically live in townhouses or even apartments/condos. Living in a townhouse here is NOT considered indecent, not at all.
the standard suburban lot size here is .25, and to get even a SFH on a quarter acre lot here, for under 300k, will mean compromises in terms of either house age/condition, neighborhood quality or distance - more likely on two out of the three.
You need to consider why you need .75 acres or more, an amount that here is usually needed by folks with horses, or by people intending to show off wealth. You should know that around here one can be considered to live decently with far less land. Folks who work in the heart of DC and can afford only 300k, more typically live in townhouses or even apartments/condos. Living in a townhouse here is NOT considered indecent, not at all.
Really good point, I hadn't even considered that the poster might just be throwing out the .75 acres for reasons other than 'I like big yards'.... Another thought I had was that there are some communal gardening "lots" (think 10ftx10ft) in DC (and presumably in VA/MD too) - if the desire is to have somewhere to scratch a green thumb that might be an option too. Its no acre of land, but might be an option.
My husband's job is talking about relocating him from California to DC. He would be working near Capitol Hill and is willing to commute an hour each way. Is there an area where we would be able to get a decent amount of land (.75+ acres) for under $300k, with that kind of commute?
LOL, no.
Not to be rude, but that question is just funny. To work in Capitol, and get their in an hour, considering the traffic, you will either need to work in the district, or right outside of it. More likely you will need to live in the district, and close to work to meet the time requirements.
Maybe for 3 million you could get .75+ acres with an hour commute to capitol hill.
Not to be rude, but that question is just funny. To work in Capitol, and get their in an hour, considering the traffic, you will either need to work in the district, or right outside of it. More likely you will need to live in the district, and close to work to meet the time requirements.
Maybe for 3 million you could get .75+ acres with an hour commute to capitol hill.
Out of curiosity I took a look... you were close: in the city, the cheapest I could find was $5 million.
Surprisingly though, I found this place in Mclean for just $1.2M, which is less than I would have guessed. (Although it doesnt look like a usable acre)
Not to be rude, but that question is just funny. To work in Capitol, and get their in an hour, considering the traffic, you will either need to work in the district, or right outside of it. More likely you will need to live in the district, and close to work to meet the time requirements.
thats silly. I commute by bus and train, and it takes less than an hour from Annandale to L'enfant plaza. Single occupant vehicle, at rush hour about the same - less on a good day, more on a bad day. If you carpool, it can be quite a bit less.
now you arent going to find a house on .75 acre in annandale for 300k. But 3 million? nah, you could probably find one a really, really nice one on a lot that size for like 1.5 million, maybe less.
note, capital hill is a longer commute from most of fairfax than L'enfant is. PG county would provide shorter commutes - for an hour out, you could get pretty far out within PG (not just adjacent to the District limits) and PG is cheaper than FFX. It will involve other compromises though. And even in PG I dont think you could find a house on .75 acre for under 300k.
Last edited by brooklynborndad; 12-06-2011 at 08:55 AM..
Surprisingly though, I found this place in Mclean for just $1.2M, which is less than I would have guessed. (Although it doesnt look like a usable acre)
upper nw? Mclean? cheapest areas in DC are east of the river, in close in (inside the beltway)Virginia south arlington, west side of Alex, areas just south of Alex, and annandale. In md, PG county.
I'm surprised no one mentioned Calvert county. Dunkirk MD has really cheap housing compared to the rest of the area. Although you're talking about a 30 mile commute in some of the worst traffic in the country.
thats silly. I commute by bus and train, and it takes less than an hour from Annandale to L'enfant plaza. Single occupant vehicle, at rush hour about the same - less on a good day, more on a bad day. If you carpool, it can be quite a bit less.
now you arent going to find a house on .75 acre in annandale for 300k. But 3 million? nah, you could probably find one a really, really nice one on a lot that size for like 1.5 million, maybe less.
note, capital hill is a longer commute from most of fairfax than L'enfant is. PG county would provide shorter commutes - for an hour out, you could get pretty far out within PG (not just adjacent to the District limits) and PG is cheaper than FFX. It will involve other compromises though. And even in PG I dont think you could find a house on .75 acre for under 300k.
L'enfant plaza isn't exactly next to congress. It is not far, but you have a quarter mile walk. Wouldnt it make more sense to go to federal center or capitol south if you wanted to get to the capitol.
Also, the 3 million was just some random number I pulled out to illustrate a point. For 300k you are not going to get .75 acre within an hour of congress, not even in Anacostia, which is a bad ghetto. At the very least it will require several times that.
That question was similar to asking, I want a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2500 square foot house/apartment 1 hour from midtown Manhatten/downtown SF and want to pay 300k or less. Somewhere it some insanely good deal it might exist if you are extremely lucky, but chances are not going to happen.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
