working in Georgetown, where to live/buy (Arlington, Merrifield: apartments, renting)

[Zootopia700]

Hi Everyone,

I have a buying/location question for you. My husband and I live near the mosaic district in Virginia and we are currently renting. I work downtown, near Farragut west and take the orange line to work every day. DH will be starting a position in Georgetown on M street in a few weeks (not Georgetown University).

We are looking to buy in the area in the next few months, but we're really not sure where to look given the location of his job. We don't want to go higher than $550,000, but want DH to have a commute of less than an hour, and less than 40 minutes would be even better. Is this possible?

I've been trying to map different options: train to Roslyn or Foggy bottom, depending where we live and walk or bus from there, drive to Georgetown, etc.

Can any suggest a good location to look for homes in our price range - in Maryland or Virginia.
Also, given traffic and the location of the job not being near a metro, do most people drive from MD or VA?

Thanks so much for your help!!

[gomason]

The easiest transit option would be Metro to Rosslyn to the Circulator Bus (comes every 10 mins) or 38B Metrobus. I think most people do transit because parking is very expensive in Georgetown. Not a lot of white collar people actually work in Georgetown though. Mostly retail employees.

How big a home are you looking for? Are you looking for a condo, TH, or SFH?

[Zootopia700]

Thanks gomason. I think this would work. I'm concerned that in our budget (550k) we won't find a home near a metro, so that would involve driving to the metro, metro to rosslyn, bus to georgetown. A SFH or TH would be ideal, the condos I see have such high HOA fees it also seems cheaper to have a townhouse.

The other thing we were thinking is if we drove, we could possibly find monthly parking somewhere between our two offices, maybe a bit north of foggy bottom. Maybe this is a horrible idea, I'm not sure. Neither of our employers cover metro expenses so parking v. metro for two is a wash. I'm more concerned about time.

[gomason]

Driving into DC sucks but if your company doesn't pay for Metro and he works in Georgetown, it's probably your best bet. I don't think you could get a TH within a 40 minute commute of Georgetown unless you were open to a condo in Arlington but you could definitely find a TH within an hour.

I would look around where you are now because I don't think you can get much closer in your price range. Falls Church and Merrifield are probably your best bet and you can drive straight down 50 into DC. Maybe something off of Columbia Pike too.

A garage north of Foggy Bottom sounds like a good half way point for you two.

[Zootopia700]

Any thoughts on if the commute would be easier from the maryland side? Maybe Takoma park or something up near silver spring? Thank you!

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Zootopia700

Any thoughts on if the commute would be easier from the maryland side? Maybe Takoma park or something up near silver spring? Thank you!

I don't think that Maryland would be a better commute, because it is still very hard to get to Georgetown. You might be able to afford a townhouse in South Arlington, such as this: http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...4_M51818-56551

[gomason]

Originally Posted by Zootopia700

Any thoughts on if the commute would be easier from the maryland side? Maybe Takoma park or something up near silver spring? Thank you!

Not really. There aren't any highway between that part of Maryland and downtown DC so you will get stuck at many lights going down 16th street or 14th street.

Areas around River Road and Bethesda would be pretty conducive to commuting (straight down Canal Road with few lights) but that's a very expensive area.

I think you're looking at a 40+ min commute no matter where you live if you get a TH with your budget.

[ACWhite]

Originally Posted by gomason

The easiest transit option would be Metro to Rosslyn to the Circulator Bus (comes every 10 mins) or 38B Metrobus. I think most people do transit because parking is very expensive in Georgetown. Not a lot of white collar people actually work in Georgetown though. Mostly retail employees.

How big a home are you looking for? Are you looking for a condo, TH, or SFH?

1) there are thousands of white collar employees at Georgetown University alone.

2) OP--traffic crossing the Key Bridge is bad during morning and evening rush hours and at dinner times etc. weekends. Given that both of you are commuting into the District, I think you would be better off to live in the District or MD. Yes, both are expensive, but so are NoVA neighborhoods at the same distance from your workplaces.

[Zootopia700]

Originally Posted by ACWhite

1) there are thousands of white collar employees at Georgetown University alone.

2) OP--traffic crossing the Key Bridge is bad during morning and evening rush hours and at dinner times etc. weekends. Given that both of you are commuting into the District, I think you would be better off to live in the District or MD. Yes, both are expensive, but so are NoVA neighborhoods at the same distance from your workplaces.

Thanks, ACWhite, we would consider living in the district, but I'm not sure we can do it with a 550k budget. We've only been living in the DC metro for 5 months and are really not familiar with the area, is there a neighborhood in DC you could suggest that is safe, within our budget, and is a reasonable commute to Georgetown and farragut west?

Thanks so much!

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Zootopia700

is there a neighborhood in DC you could suggest that is safe, within our budget, and is a reasonable commute to Georgetown and farragut west?

It depends on how much space you want. There are 2-bedroom apartments in Cleveland Park, Columbia Heights, Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, etc. There are 3 and 4 bedroom townhouses in Petworth. I could also consider The Townes at The Hampshires by Comstock at the 6000 block on New Hampshire Ave, NE. It is close to the Fort Totten Metro, and a fairly affluent area.