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Old 09-12-2013, 09:16 AM
 
8 posts, read 9,619 times
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Greetings,

I'm sure this question has been beaten to death, but I've looked through some threads and can't seem to find a place to even start my look for housing.

Here are the facts. My wife and I both work for the Federal Government in Cincinnati OH. She is taking a position at her agency's headquarters in a few months. I will request a transfer, let the kids finish out their year at school, sell the house and move . . . hopefully this summer.

We are looking for an area around DC, a 4 bedroom home, good schools (1 kid in elementary school, the other in high school), and within a reasonable drive to public transit. If we could find such a thing, any idea how much it would cost? There is a very limited COL increase for us to relocate, but it isn't much. A house like I described here in Cincy would cost (don't laugh) somewhere between $200-$300K. I'm guessing that it would easily be double that in the DC Metro area.

Where should I concentrate my search?

I thank you in advance for any advice you all have.

Regards,

A Rube from Ohio
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Old 09-12-2013, 09:23 AM
 
2,081 posts, read 3,553,270 times
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The first thing you need to realize is that you should probably rule out living in DC itself if you are looking for good public schools. DC is known as one of the worst school districts in the entire country. Also, a 4 bedroom house in the District proper with decent schools would probably be more like TRIPLE or QUADRUPLE the 200 to 300k range.

So you might want to focus your search on the Virginia or Maryland suburbs. This is the forum for DC proper. There are separate forums for the suburbs where you will get better advice for your question:

//www.city-data.com/forum/northern-virginia/

//www.city-data.com/forum/washi...urbs-maryland/

You also need to state SPECIFICALLY where you will be commuting to. This area has some of the roughest commutes in the country so it is very important to know exactly where you are commuting to advise you on a good location.

Last edited by stateofnature; 09-12-2013 at 09:33 AM..
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Old 09-12-2013, 09:43 AM
 
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Thank you for your reply. I wasn't aware that this was only for the district proper. I am sure we would live outside the district as we are both civil servants. I will ask these other forums for help as well. We would both be commuting to Pennsylvania Ave.
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Old 09-12-2013, 09:49 AM
 
2,081 posts, read 3,553,270 times
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Pennsylvania Ave goes on for MILES. Just saying "Pennsylvania Ave" is very vague. You need to be more specific for people to be able to advise you on what would be a good commute.

Also, why would you live outside the District since you are a civil servant? Tons of civil servants live in DC proper. I agree that Virginia or Maryland seem to be best for you based on your need for good public schools and a larger house at a relatively low price point, but I am not following what being a civil servant has to do with it.
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Old 09-12-2013, 09:58 AM
 
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Ok. I'll need to be between 14th and 12th street NW, on Pennsylvania Ave.

Schools were the reason that I am looking outside the district. I would like to send the kids to public school.

I mentioned being a civil servant just to give people some idea about our income. We aren't wealthy and certainly couldn't afford a $700k house. We are comfortable here, but it is fairly cheap to live in Cincinnati.
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Old 09-12-2013, 10:03 AM
 
2,081 posts, read 3,553,270 times
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Ok, so you'll be in downtown DC near the Metro Center and Federal Triangle metro stations.

I wish I knew the suburbs well enough to advise you on where to find a house under 700k in VA or MD with not too far of a commute to downtown DC.

But if you post in the Northern Virginia or Maryland suburbs of DC forums, I can almost guarantee you many people will respond with good answers.
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Old 09-12-2013, 10:51 AM
 
Location: Hiding from Antifa!
7,783 posts, read 6,038,314 times
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Before you make the move can you approve some of the Tea Party 501c applications?
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Old 09-12-2013, 11:11 AM
 
Location: DC
2,044 posts, read 2,941,721 times
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Likely you will end up in a suburb, but that area you will be working it is not advisable to drive in, which will place you somewhere in Maryland or Virginia. Which means suburbs near a metro line or where you can park and commute.
I will be blunt, considering the size you need, even in the burbs you are looking at a likely $500-600K at least. Living here is very different than living in a rust belt area where the housing stock is very cheap.
The schools in both Montgomery County and Suburbs of Virginia are good. Rockville, Takoma, Silver Spring, Germantown, etc. in Maryland.
Maryland right now is may be better bet then Virginia which is hypercompetitive right now in terms of real estate in the area which is commutable to DC with good schools. Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church, all have horrible bidding wars.
Many people out here are civil servants, and owning a house is not unusual, but this is not Ohio. Expect to pay much more, and the better the area, the higher the costs.
Though places like Springfield, VA may work for you.
Good luck, I think this is possible, but this is not going to be cheap. Housing costs are more than double out here.
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Old 09-12-2013, 12:55 PM
 
566 posts, read 1,547,722 times
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I wouldn't rule out DC entirely. There are some excellent elementary schools in Northwest and Capital Hill. High school is where it gets tougher, but Wilson HS in NW is very good, and there are some increasingly good charter schools throughout the city, though admissions are competitive. Unfortunately DCPS has some awful, under-performing schools (sadly, most of which are in the poorest and most under served neighborhoods), but the school system has improved by leaps and bounds over the past five years. I have plenty of upwardly-mobile and affluent co-workers who have their kids in DC public schools and have been very satisfied with the education their children are receiving (though I don't know any with HS aged kids yet - many are considering private HS down the line). Ultimately it all depends on where in the District you live.

Also something to think about down the line... because DC does not have a well-regarded university, and since so few DC kids make it to a four year college, there are actually some excellent scholarships offered by the District government. I have a coworker who grew up in American University Park (affluent neighborhood in NW), and DC offered to pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at any public university in the country. He went to University of Wisconsin and all his family had to pay was the in-state rate; DC picked up the rest of the tab. This saved his family a fortune, and if the program still exists, could save you a fortune as well assuming your child(ren) wanted to go to an out-of-state college.

Don't think that suburban public schools are perfect. For years, Montgomery County was a crown jewel of the Maryland PS system, but this year the released test results were disappointing, and the dynamics of many schools are rapidly changing to do shifting demographics. Most schools in Prince George's County MD are pretty bad as far as I know. Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William Counties in VA all are well known for excellent public schools, but be prepared for astronomical housing costs and/or a terribly long commute.
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Old 09-12-2013, 01:28 PM
 
9,860 posts, read 13,979,789 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Curbed Enthusiasm View Post
I wouldn't rule out DC entirely. There are some excellent elementary schools in Northwest and Capital Hill. High school is where it gets tougher, but Wilson HS in NW is very good, and there are some increasingly good charter schools throughout the city, though admissions are competitive. Unfortunately DCPS has some awful, under-performing schools (sadly, most of which are in the poorest and most under served neighborhoods), but the school system has improved by leaps and bounds over the past five years. I have plenty of upwardly-mobile and affluent co-workers who have their kids in DC public schools and have been very satisfied with the education their children are receiving (though I don't know any with HS aged kids yet - many are considering private HS down the line). Ultimately it all depends on where in the District you live.
Yes, there certainly are some areas with decent schools for younger kids. But the OP wants 4 bedrooms at a price well below $700K. You will never find that in the neighborhoods with decent schools.
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