Brit family relocating (Washington: house prices, neighborhoods, buy)

[felix9]

Hello All. Please can anyone help. My DH and 3 kids plan to move to the DC area. will prob be working at the britsh embassy so will need a commutable journey. not sure on areas, so help n advice on family friendly area with high quality schools and amenities. like near malls, theatres, parks etc. kids ages are 5-12. our budget is $500k max. grateful for your input.

[JimGriffith]

Check the area around downtown gaithersburg i suppose.

The embassy is in a very, VERY expensive neighborhood in DC, and just north are some of the most expensive neighborhoods in the state of Maryland.

Just a little north of that are gaithersburg and rockville. the commute will be manageable by Washington standards.

[Emma_Laya]

Well, since you are British, you might want to check out the British School. We hear it's great. (We have a neighbor who attends.)

My children are in similar age ranges. (2-12) My daughter, who is twelve, isn't super happy with her current school right now, but it was the only private school we could get her into. I would suggest looking at schools as soon as possible, because most schools have application due dates THIS month. You'll need to look at a lot of different public schools. They can go anywhere from great to awful.

Lord, I have no idea how many schools we visited, but we visited a BUNCH. Most of the private schools we visited were very large, and didn't have much space. (Only a couple of spots for a rising 7th grader) the public schools came down to the fact that it largely depended on where we moved and what we could afford.

If you can, you might want to try the suburbs. They have pretty good schools out there too, and the commute isn't always bad.

[felix9]

thanks , will look at the britsh school. we dont plan to go back and will be relocation permanently but i guess if they are coming from that system already? what would be a reasonable commute? 40mins say? i would love the surburbs ideally as i really want a family friendly neighbourhood. are fees expensive for private school?

[PenguinSix]

$500k US$ does not buy much in the inner core of the city. You can probably look up the Red Line (are you driving to work at the Embassy or metro) but it's going to be pricey (and note with the £ crashing nearly every day you might consider converting sooner rather than later). You could look up in Rockville or Gaithersburg (maybe in the 'Kentlands' area which is very kid friendly) but I'm not sure you'll get much for your money. North Arlington, VA might be nice (over the Chain Bridge and back roads over to the Embassy). However, good schools, safe streets, short commute = quite expensive. $500k might need to be re-examined.

The fees for private school, for all of your kids, would take a serious dent out of your income. Private schools are around $20,000 US a year per kid.

Take a look also at:

USA : British Expat Discussion Forum

Some more Brits who can advise about a few things, including some in the DC area (like be sure to get your kids vaccinated and records uptodate with the NHS before coming here, including (probably) Hep B which is not standard jab in the UK). And some other tidbits.

[claremarie]

For $550K (asking price, anyhow), a reasonable commute and good public schools, consider a townhouse. You could live in North Arlington or parts of McLean. Not sure what $500K would buy in Montgomery County, but there might be something in Rockville. As the previous poster indicated, the commute from Arlington or McLean is very easy. In our old neighborhood in McLean, the British Embassy actually purchased a home for the military attache, so we had a succession of Brits living there. Some sent their kids to the British school, but others, especially those with younger kids, sent them to the local public schools.
In your price range, I wouldn't consider living in the District of Columbia itself, as housing is expensive and the public school system, by all objective standards, is one of the worst major-city system in the country.
The embassy should be able to give you some solid information on your relocation choices.

[felix9]

Thanks for all the tips. i am very shocked the housing costs in the North VA area but at least i know what i ma delaing with now! the job will be a local hire so doubt they will give much info on reloaction. It will be our responsibility to do our own research. I know now that house prices are quite steep. I dotn mind paying more for the home if i know the school standards are high. my kids are all in the private schhol system in the Uk so wnat to keep the high standards. i will check out the expat discussion forum also. are taxes high also?

[felix9]

What about Maryland? it is commutable to DC? Would $500k get a nice house in MD with good schhols,amenities?