Where to live Bethesda/Silver spring? (Baltimore, Columbia: apartments, rental, how much)

[musman]

I am in the process of accepting a job offer in DC. My office is going to be near Union Station to I may have to live off of Red line. I have 2 (4 and 1.5) kids so schools are important and so is the cost of living. I did some research but for a rental budget of 2000 doesn't sound too promising. I will prefer SFH, Town house, off street parking is a must have. Please suggest me areas. If you live in these areas, how much you pay for housing and in utilities etc.

Thanks!

[DistrictSonic]

Originally Posted by musman

I am in the process of accepting a job offer in DC. My office is going to be near Union Station to I may have to live off of Red line. I have 2 (4 and 1.5) kids so schools are important and so is the cost of living. I did some research but for a rental budget of 2000 doesn't sound too promising. I will prefer SFH, Town house, off street parking is a must have. Please suggest me areas. If you live in these areas, how much you pay for housing and in utilities etc.

Thanks!

1. You are completely priced out of Silver Spring and Bethesda for a house in a good school district. One thing to note with Silver Spring, many places have a silver spring address, but they are far from the downtown area or anywhere near the metro. The address carries over into much of eastern Montgomery county.
2. You may be able to find something further north in Montgomery County (Germantown or Gaithersburg).

The cost of living here is high, and the better the location and school district the higher the price. If you wanted either of those two places, you would be starting at a $2500 and that is honestly on the low end.

Thankfully you are working near Union Station, so you may want to take advantage of the MARC or VRE to find something in your price range.

[musman]

Originally Posted by DistrictSonic

1. You are completely priced out of Silver Spring and Bethesda for a house in a good school district. One thing to note with Silver Spring, many places have a silver spring address, but they are far from the downtown area or anywhere near the metro. The address carries over into much of eastern Montgomery county.
2. You may be able to find something further north in Montgomery County (Germantown or Gaithersburg).

The cost of living here is high, and the better the location and school district the higher the price. If you wanted either of those two places, you would be starting at a $2500 and that is honestly on the low end.

Thankfully you are working near Union Station, so you may want to take advantage of the MARC or VRE to find something in your price range.

MARC and VRE. Are they reliable enough? What about the frequency? I heard they run every after 40 mins or so for example VRE.

[Chriz Brown]

Town house is out of the question if you want to live walking distance to a metro station. Not going to happen.

DC and its close by semi-urban suburbs (Downtown Silver Spring and Bethesda) are not a good place to do the family thing. If you want to do the family thing (at least on your budget) you will have to live very far from the city and commute an hour each direction (at least).

DC is not really for families.. it caters mostly to single adults or childless couples and this is increasing.

[musman]

I shall surely be looking into work from home opportunities if offered. this commute thing is gonna kill me.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by musman

MARC and VRE. Are they reliable enough? What about the frequency? I heard they run every after 40 mins or so for example VRE.

"Reliable enough" depends on the job. If you have to open the office on the dot of 8AM, and your pay will be docked if you don't, then no, the trains are not reliable enough. If you are a salaried employee with a flexible start time, the trains are fine. There are very rare events like a crash or derailment that obstructs the trains for hours.

To get the schedules Google "VRE schedule" or "MARC schedule". I believe the MARC is more frequent. You might also look into the Baltimore suburbs like Catonsville, Arbutus and Halethorpe, where you are much more likely to find a townhouse renting for under $2,000. This search reveals TH's renting between $1350 and $1800: http://www.realtor.com/apartments/Halethorpe_MD There is also a single-family house for $1895. Halethorpe is working-class, but not unsafe.

BTW, the Penn Line trains run much faster than the Camden line trains. The rush hours trains are about every 20 minutes from Halethorpe, and take about 40-45 minutes. See some of the other discussions on this board.

[musman]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

"Reliable enough" depends on the job. If you have to open the office on the dot of 8AM, and your pay will be docked if you don't, then no, the trains are not reliable enough. If you are a salaried employee with a flexible start time, the trains are fine. There are very rare events like a crash or derailment that obstructs the trains for hours.

To get the schedules Google "VRE schedule" or "MARC schedule". I believe the MARC is more frequent. You might also look into the Baltimore suburbs like Catonsville, Arbutus and Halethorpe, where you are much more likely to find a townhouse renting for under $2,000. This search reveals TH's renting between $1350 and $1800: Apartments for Rent in Halethorpe, Top 18 Apts and Homes in Halethorpe, MD - realtor.com® There is also a single-family house for $1895. Halethorpe is working-class, but not unsafe.

BTW, the Penn Line trains run much faster than the Camden line trains. The rush hours trains are about every 20 minutes from Halethorpe, and take about 40-45 minutes. See some of the other discussions on this board.

Halethorpe would be too far from washington. How about areas in Bowie, and Odenton? Are they good. They have marc stations as well.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by musman

Halethorpe would be too far from washington. How about areas in Bowie, and Odenton? Are they good. They have marc stations as well.

Locations in Bowie and Odenton would be OK. Also look into renting in Crofton, as I have seen townhouses renting from $1650 to $1950. Your spouse might have to drop you off at some of the MARC stations which have more limited parking. Check the MTAMaryland website for info on parking lot capacity.

Another alternative might be Columbia, from which you could catch the express commuter buses into Washington. That info is also at the MTAMaryland web site.

[musman]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

Locations in Bowie and Odenton would be OK. Also look into renting in Crofton, as I have seen townhouses renting from $1650 to $1950. Your spouse might have to drop you off at some of the MARC stations which have more limited parking. Check the MTAMaryland website for info on parking lot capacity.

Another alternative might be Columbia, from which you could catch the express commuter buses into Washington. That info is also at the MTAMaryland web site.

I ll look into it. Thanks for the help!

[HeckOutOfNJ]

If you are looking for family friendly areas that are in Montgomery County, and within that budget, look into Rockville/Gaithersburg/Germantown. I dunno about Townhouses, but rent for that price is doable and this area is very family friendly. You can drive to DC within the hour if you leave early enough, or MARC/Metro it, but I did that for 2 months and I just gave up...if those trains suck I'm the summer I can only imagine the winter.