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I am relocating to the DC area and finally got my wife on board to considering DC as a good alternative. We are both 31 with a dog, expecting a baby soon. Also my MIL will be moving with us to help with the baby, so things for someone in their 60's to do would be great (now she is really involved with her church and senior center activities).
Budget is 600k Max, my wife would prefer to stay at about ~400k since that is more in line with the value of our current house. I know the general thing is to rent for a year then buy but my current company relo package only offer assistance if you buy within the first year of your start date.
So really does not offer much room to rent first unless I do month to month (hard to find and would require moving twice) or find a furnished place that offers short term rental; leaving us with buying a house/condo/townhome sooner than later.
We have been to the area twice so far but our search has been more focused in Arlington and Alexandria. But my heart is set on DC and the reason I mostly accepted the job is because of DC. So can you help a newcomer out?
I will be moving ahead of my wife while our house is put up for sale and using temporary corporate housing (3 months) then we need to have our house sold by then and new place lined up. While I am there I will be able to visit some areas hopefully and my wife will continue flying some of the weekends to house hunt.
Basically :
- family friendly
- amenities close by : parks/restaurants/gym
- walkable (ready to give up on the surburbia lifestyle).
- close to metro (walking distance or bus) and highways (I will need to drive to Arlington/Alexandria for work).
- good area you feel safe walking at night
I am going to be honest, considering your budget you do not have many options. There will be some sacrafices, and west of the river, the safer area of DC, it will likely carry some cost.
First off, throw off the $400k amount, it is highly unlikely to happen. You will most likely have to find something which will be $500k or more, and under $600k if you get lucky. If it is less than $500k, the house likely needs significant amount of work that will push the real price above $500k. Even then you will need to make compromises.
Next is the fact your options for neighborhoods are limited west of the river. Ft. Totten (Queens Chapel/Michigan Park) and Brightwood right now I think is about it. You may get lucky and find something in Brookland or Takoma, which would be ideal for what you are looking for, but unlikely at this point considering your limited budget. Ft Totten/Queens Chapel lacks amenities and Brightwood is further from the metro (Takoma metro is the closest). Brightwood does have two solid bus lines though that run frequently. (Brightwood Park to the south of Brightwood and North of Petworth is also in your budget, but is the single worst neighborhood in NW in terms of safety and has terrible metro access.)
In terms of areas outside the District, downtown Silver Spring and Takoma Park, MD may be your best bet. But even that window is closing rapidly. You may be able to get something close to the metro in for $600k in both of those place. Both of these areas border DC, and pick up some of the character of the DC residential neighborhoods in Ward 4, which they both border. The problem here though is the same problem of much of DC. Houses under $600k are vanishing. These are high demand areas with either a high quality of life or lots of amenities.
So let me be direct. This may be too much to ask for considering your budget. The nicest areas with the most amenities close to the metro are likely going to run you over $600k in terms of a house. That is just reality.
A few years ago you had far more options. Brookland, Takoma, Petworth, etc...
That era is ending. Believe it or not in a few years that $700k will likely be $900k or a million.
Oddly enough...you can find places in Arlington and Alexandria off the metro in your budget. So I think you may have to stick with that.
Last edited by DistrictSonic; 06-11-2016 at 10:45 PM..
So if it's you and your wife, your mother-in-law and then kids on the way, I am guessing you would want at least a 3 bedroom? I don't think you can find that much space for even $600,000 in the parts of DC that match what you are looking for. For example, I live in Capitol Hill, which fits almost all your wants, except the crime here would probably make your wife uncomfortable based on what you said in your other thread. I've never had a problem but muggings are not unheard of here. Even with those crime issues, it's hard to find even a 2 bedroom for $600,000 here. 3 bedroom, forget about it. The safer parts of DC are even more expensive.
You may be able to find a 3 bedroom for around or under $600,000 in a walkable part of Arlington or Alexandria that would be more interesting than typical suburbia, but I'm not sure. Ask the Northern Virignia forum.
I don't think it's going to be as hard as PPs are making it sound. The DC market can be tough, but once we started working with a realtor we had a lot more options that we thought (similar budget within the past year). A lot of properties in the 500-600k band move very quickly, so you won't see them lingering on real estate websites, but they are out there. I'll second PPs suggestions of Takoma, Brightwood, and Fort Totten. Ward 4 has some of the highest concentration of kids in the city and the rec centers and parks reflect that--very clean, new playgrounds, lots of sports leagues, informal games, etc. If you like being outdoors, proximity to the park is great, too (Urban Turf recently had an article about the "Rock Creek Park Premium"). Where will you be commuting to? Being flexible about how you commute is the best way to find a hidden gem in DC, in my experience. Everyone is locked into the metro rail system but then complains about it constantly. There are many well-traveled, reliable commuter buses, bike trails, and other forms of transportations that might work well for you, depending on where you need to end up.
When I say off the metro, I mean not very close to it. They exist in southern Arlington and scattered about in Alexandria. They do exist, though not exactly common.
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