Safe areas near Fort Meade to buy a small single family home (Silver Spring: foreclosure)

[parentologist]

Daughter may eventually be living and working in this area. Young, not "street smart", Caucasian. Will drive. Looking to buy a relatively inexpensive small single family home in the area for her. We don't care about schools, but we do care very much about safety. We don't mind older construction - her father can fix anything. And we're not that concerned about future appreciation. We just want a low-crime area where she'll be safe. We're thinking not to the north of Fort Meade, but rather to the south, since she may need to go into DC at times, might want to take the metro from College Park.

[Flamingo13]

Surely you know enough about the area to know that there isn't anything in the area that is inexpensive. Unless, relatively speaking, it's "inexpensive" because it's a fixer-upper and/or in a bad area.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by parentologist

..... Looking to buy a relatively inexpensive small single family home in the area for her. We don't care about schools, but we do care very much about safety. We don't mind older construction - her father can fix anything.....

To keep the costs low, I suggest looking at townhouses. Old Town Greenbelt might work for you. Look for Garden Way, Ridge Road, and Plateau Place for old townhouses about 1000 square feet, priced in the mid $100's.

As the other poster said, if it is safe and close to DC, it is going to be expensive.

[goldenage1]

If you truly want a single family house rather than a townhouse, try Calverton, Beltsville, Fulton and Burtonsville. They have a fixer or two under $400,000, but they may have a mailing address in Laurel or Silver Spring. Check the street views and aerial views to get an idea of "safety".

[DMVItGuy]

Can't believe this isn't mentioned yet. Gambrills or Odenton is a nice area. SFH can be had for 325-375k. Sometimes you can find houses in Severn for 250-300k but be careful with the neighborhood. If you don't mind going up north a bit houses in Linthicum Heights can be found starting at around 200k. No reason to go to PG county for houses less than 400k. Here's a nice house for 325k 15 min from ft meade. [url]https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/978-Fall-Ridge-Way-Gambrills-MD-21054/36094026_zpid/[/url]. Here's a cheap fixer in linthicum heights for 170k: [url]https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/108-2nd-Ave-S-Glen-Burnie-MD-21061/36121761_zpid/[/url].

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by DMVItGuy

Here's a cheap fixer in linthicum heights for 170k: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...36121761_zpid/.

This one is in foreclosure.

BTW, I did not look north of Ft Meade as the original poster said they preferred to look south of Ft. Meade. But thanks for the suggestion of Gambrills and Odenton.

[DMVItGuy]

I noticed it was a foreclosure and thought that was ok as the OP said they were willing to fix. I provided a few options as I wasn't sure how much they were willing to spend. They are all on the low end compared to the overall cost of living for the area though. North tends to be cheaper so I gave that if they truely wanted a SFH for cheaper than say 300k.

[goldenage1]

Also, the original poster said they wanted to buy a home for their daughter. Thus I was concerned that buying a foreclosure might require owner occupancy. I also wished the OP had provided a budget, as it would give us a better idea of what they want.

[Flamingo13]

Yet- budget is important, inexpensive means different things to different people.