Moving To The Maryland Suburbs of DC? START HERE! (Silver Spring: apartment complex, rental)

[momonthemove]

We are exploring areas of Maryland within an hour of Springfield, VA for our family. The goal is to find a 3/4 bedroom home at least 2400 sq ft with a budget up to 450K but would love to keep it closer to 400K. We would prefer neighborhood over development. Having a good high school with a strong STEM program and AP classes within 15 minutes of home is a must. Any suggestions?

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by momonthemove

We are exploring areas of Maryland within an hour of Springfield, VA for our family. The goal is to find a 3/4 bedroom home at least 2400 sq ft with a budget up to 450K but would love to keep it closer to 400K. We would prefer neighborhood over development. Having a good high school with a strong STEM program and AP classes within 15 minutes of home is a must. Any suggestions?

Is there a particular reason you would consider Maryland? You can get everything you are looking for and consider Prince William/Stafford. Anywhere in Fairfax for a home that size will likely not happen, but Prince William is a good option. The schools are some of the better schools in Virginia, it's about 20-30 minutes away from Springfield and it's in your budget. My recommendation is for you to consider the Lake Ridge area which is in Woodbridge. Out of all the parts of Woodbridge, it has the best schools, safest neighborhoods and is closest to Woodbridge. As far as the STEM programs and AP, it depends on if you are in one of their specialty program, which high school you are in. The neighborhood schools without being in the program is Woodbridge and Garfield. I recommend the former over the latter. The latter is not a good school and should be avoided.

[momonthemove]

We are considering Maryland over Virginia because we seem to seeing finding more things on "our list" like sq ft of home, closer to water, etc in Maryland v. Virginia. Thank you for mentioning Woodbridge, as we noticed it may have many of those "list" items.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by momonthemove

We are considering Maryland over Virginia because we seem to seeing finding more things on "our list" like sq ft of home, closer to water, etc in Maryland v. Virginia. Thank you for mentioning Woodbridge, as we noticed it may have many of those "list" items.

Okay if those are the most important things on your list than Prince George's County is a good place to look for your money because you will get a good price for square footage (particularly Fort Washington), but if you are more concerned about schools than I wouldn't recommend Maryland, or at least Prince George's County (PG). Montgomery has pretty good schools for the most part, but it would be an awful commute. Anywhere else besides PG in MD would be a horrible commute to Springfield and out of your budget for what you are looking for. If you want to be within an hour of Springfield, you are realistically looking at Woodbridge versus Prince George's County and at that point, the preference comes down to what do you desire more size of your home (PG), or better public schools (Woodbridge/Prince William County)? Woodbridge has some houses in that price range, even some near water, but you will have more options in PG.

I grew up in PG lived there for almost my whole life and I currently live in Prince William County in Woodbridge. Please let me know if you have questions about either.

[momonthemove]

Thanks for the reply. Dunkirk, Maryland seems to be a possibility. Does anyone have an opinion or information on Dunkirk?

[bowian]

Originally Posted by momonthemove

Thanks for the reply. Dunkirk, Maryland seems to be a possibility. Does anyone have an opinion or information on Dunkirk?

Dunkirk looks really nice, and I have heard good things about the area (I lived in Lusby for a minute). But that sounds like a hellish commute to Springfield.

If you really want to live in Maryland and can afford private school, I would opt for Fort Washington. Grace Bretheren Christian school is not far away, and I've always heard good things about it.

In VA, Burke is close to Springfield, right? Have you checked out housing prices and schools in the Burke area? Sorry if you already mentioned this area, but I didn't see it.

9144 Burke Rd, Burke VA, 22015 | (MLS # FX8143075) Homes.com

[jsjjkelly]

Originally Posted by Emc33

EducatedBro82 provided really good info!!! I just have to disagree with Meade High School. I know too many kids who hated it there and their parents did everything they could to transfer them. I can't speak from personal experience.

Electric/gas rates are high here, but I don't think they're that much different from Colorado (I lived in C. Springs for quite a while). Just practice turning off lights and not using the a/c and heat excessively and you should be okay. Unfortunately, I doubt you will find a home the size you have in CO for the price you're paying in CO.

My suggestion would be to see if you can live in Piney Orchard located in Odenton. It's a safe suburban community about a 10 minute drive to Ft. Meade, and your children would attend Arundel Middle and Arundel High. Although the schools are old (the high school was founded in 1854 as a prestigious one room school...it has been updated since then, LOL) and both could use improvements, they are loved and supported by students, parents, and surrounding community.

The West County Library is in Odenton and is a great resource to the community!

Waugh Chapel is a nearby shopping center (closer to Crofton) that has had major additions in 2012 - 2013, with lots of affordable restaurants, stores, and a movie theater.

So, if you can, start with Odenton, Gambrills, and Crofton. The parts of Odenton that are west of Maryland route 32 have very nice homes (apartments, townhomes, and single family homes) at lower prices. I think the prices are lower due to the proximity to Ft. Meade...the communities are right outside the gate, and the children who live there go to Meade High. Again, it's not the worst school, probably not even bad, it just has a bad reputation in the Fort Meade area.

Good luck!!

Just wondering about this... We're pcs'ing to Bolling AFB in January. Most in my husbands shop moved to the virginia side. My daughter will be 1/2 way through 8th grade and my son 1/2 way thru 4th so schools are important. We were thinking Crofton, Gambrills, odenten, etc. But is the commute to Bolling realistic? Like under an hour? Mapquest is no help in that where we live now it's only 20 minutes to the base if it's 2 in the morning on a Wednesday. It's usually an hour.

We're also thinking this area because my daughter does all star cheerleading, and the cheer gym is in Glen Burnie. So being on the Virginia side Would mean over an hour commute to cheer practice 3 days a week.

Thanks for the help in advance!
:-)

[sickofrenting2]

I'd like information on the safer, recommended neighborhoods in Glen Burnie. (I know there are other threads about Glen Burnie on here, but I can't find any dated more recently than 2008.)

My husband and I are looking for a small starter home within 45 minutes of College Park, MD, in a decent neighborhood for less than $215,000. We only plan on living there for five years. Glen Burnie and Pasadena are the only areas that seem to fit our criteria, and Pasadena is a little too far. School ratings are only a concern for resale value, but the ratings in Glen Burnie seem fine (especially compared to PG County).

I've driven around Glen Burnie, and it seems fine for the most part with the houses well-kept. (Frankly, I don't see much of difference between Glen Burnie and the Aspen Hill section of Rockville.) Any information on specific neighborhoods would be appreciated.

[kymlaar]

Hello!

My family and I are planning on relocating to MD for my work in DC. We're hoping to find someplace where I can use the train to commute into the city, as I'll be working within walking distance of Union Station. Our hopes are as follow:

1: House rental is preferred over apartment rental
2: 2 dogs and 2 cats in the house
3: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath minimum
4: We're hoping to pay less than $1800 a month, including utilities.

Looking at zillow and other rental sites it seems like this might be a tall order, but perhaps I'm just not familiar with where to look.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice that you offer.

[EducatedBro82]

Originally Posted by jsjjkelly

Just wondering about this... We're pcs'ing to Bolling AFB in January. Most in my husbands shop moved to the virginia side. My daughter will be 1/2 way through 8th grade and my son 1/2 way thru 4th so schools are important. We were thinking Crofton, Gambrills, odenten, etc. But is the commute to Bolling realistic? Like under an hour? Mapquest is no help in that where we live now it's only 20 minutes to the base if it's 2 in the morning on a Wednesday. It's usually an hour.

We're also thinking this area because my daughter does all star cheerleading, and the cheer gym is in Glen Burnie. So being on the Virginia side Would mean over an hour commute to cheer practice 3 days a week.

Thanks for the help in advance!
:-)

Bolling is in DC.. that will be a terrible Commute in the Morning and Evening as Bolling isnt Metro Accessible nor would the traffic in Crofton, Gambrills, and Odenton. Youre best bet would be VA on this one. Or You could look into Ft Washington, it would be closer, but traffic would be the downside... Bolling AFB is not a traffic friendly area. Its off I-295 in DC which gets pretty backed up since its lcoated off 495 and the Woodrow WIlson Bridge which are headaches in both the morning and evening.