Buying house in Howard/Anne Arundel county?? Work in DC. (Baltimore: real estate, renting)

[musman]

We recently relocated to DMV area and are renting AA county. We are 1 income family with 2 young kids.
I am not trying to rush into buying a house but figured, should start looking now.
So far I have narrowed down the areas(AA/Howard counties) where I might be able afford a house. The budget is 300ish. I am comfortable to commute to work for about 1 hour.
I am renting in Odenton and so far like it but its kind of further out, I cant drive to DC. I use marc for commuting. There are not many shopping places, unless I go to Gambrills/Crofton.

So my question is which are the good and commuter friendly areas in HoCo And AA counties? How's living there? Are they safe? How were these areas impacted by recession of 2008?

Thanks!

[cjmeck]

Honestly, for AACO I would've recommended Odenton for you. But it sounds like you want to be closer to shopping and don't want to mess with public transportation? What about Columbia? Years ago, I lived in Severn/Odenton area and always found myself driving to Columbia for shopping. Based on your budget and Columbia having tons of stuff for kids, I think you'd like it there. The Columbia Association is pretty fantastic; google it if you haven't already. You already spend time in Crofton/Gambrills; that's another one I'd recommend. I know you said Anne Arundel/Howard counties but your budget may go farther in Bowie (located in PG county). Its worth it to at least drive through the area and see what you think. You could get a single family for about $300k there.

[musman]

I like public transportation but don't want it to be my only option to commute. Specially if I buy a house, where i ll be staying couple years. I dont have plans to change jobs but who knows. So thats why I would want to be able to drive too if needed.
Odenton is good but Piney Orchard is the only neighborhood that I like/live. I did check Bowie (white hall elementary) houses are older but thats not the deal breaker. The problem is that its in PG county and there is only one high school. I fear I would have problems selling it.
I will definitely check Columbia, How are the areas of Savage/Jessup and north laurel. I believe they are in HoCo as well. right? I see they are closer to Dorsey/Laurel marc station camden line.
And oh how the market was impacted here in these areas during recession. I hear people saying that DC metro was barely affected by recession. Is it true about these areas as well?

[Michael21214]

Originally Posted by musman

I will definitely check Columbia, How are the areas of Savage/Jessup and north laurel. I believe they are in HoCo as well. right?

Savage is in Howard County and is pretty nice. You have to be careful with anything designated "Laurel" because while the city itself is in PG county, its suburbs could be either there, AA county, or Howard County.

[cjmeck]

Originally Posted by Michael21214

Savage is in Howard County and is pretty nice. You have to be careful with anything designated "Laurel" because while the city itself is in PG county, its suburbs could be either there, AA county, or Howard County.

Those are good options too and the above is true. Since you are looking in that area, put Elkridge on your list as well.

[Alex1484]

$300k puts you in a townhouse in the columbia area but unfortunately you will have to commute about 15-20 min to the closest MARC train station or take the commuter bus into DC. Most of columbia/elkridge is pretty safe and has good schools (the worst school in columbia is above the national average by far). Howard County does have a higher income tax rate than AA county and just about every neighborhood in howard county requires you to pay a HOA/CPRA fee which can be quite high depending on the neighborhood.

[musman]

Great suggestions.
Thanks guys!

[jniter]

There are plenty of areas in Howard County that do not have the HOA/CPRA for Columbia as that is for Columbia residents. Not even every neighborhood in Columbia is zoned for the HOA/CPRA. I believe if your address is on a street with a green street sign, you have no HOA/CPRA.

Fulton and the area near Hammond Elementary School (don't know if that is technically Laurel) are both along 216 with easy access to the Laurel MARC train station. I live in Highland and MARC is only 20min. You might be able to find a smaller house or townhouse in the $300k range.

Real estate in hot areas (Washington D.C., Bethesda, Potomac, pockets in Baltimore and Annapolis) weathered the real estate crash okay and have recovered and gained. The issue you will run into in more suburban or semi-rural areas is there is room to build. And they are building. Everyone wants new, low-maintenance, looks like Pinterest. Highland is supposedly one of the pricey neighborhoods in Howard County and well...we bought our house barely above what the sellers had bought at in 2003, before houses really took off.

Don't know too much about bus options in Howard County. Howard Community College has areas some free parking, so a cheap used car might be an option? If you lived along 216, the drive to HCC would be maybe 15-20min.

I like the Laurel/Savage area. Shopping is improving, the small, historic downtowns are quaint, and because of the proximity to HoCo, PGCo, and AACo, there is more diversity. There are some nice parks to hike around and Columbia and Elkridge are quite close with access to more shopping and restaurants. If we were to do our housing search again, I would be less concerned about school reputation and look closer to Fulton or Laurel.

I will say that if you are diligent, I do randomly see houses pop up in the $300k range. They are older, but it can be done.

I do hate the 3.2% county tax. PGCo is also 3.2%, as well as MoCo.

****

Edit: I think I had another post in mind with questions about getting to community colleges. Ignore that. By I am leaving it there because HowardCC has good options for summer camps for kids as well as classes for homeschoolers.

[jniter]

Oh, what are you thinking about in terms of school? Public? What characteristics are important to you? I have two elementary aged kids. Don't know how useful I would be as we homeschool, but one kids did two years public.