Might get job in Washinton DC. Need a house in Va or Md ....?????

[Vette73]

So me and wife might be moving to the near DC area. Trying to find a house that is decent size and yard near DC for $400,000 at the most. Don;t mind if it needs some minor fixing as that is not a problem for me.

What are some good areas/cities near DC for this? Went and looked at some in Woodbridge VA and 1 was ok but looks like it might be a hard drivce to get to the train station for my job with the Gov.

My wife wants to stay in VA but if we can find a nice close place in MD that would work.

 

[glenn beck]

Try Southeast or Hyattsville, cheaper homes, lovely people

 

[Aimster]

400,000 house? good luck!

If you want a 400,000 house you are going to have to drive a good hour to work every day and an hour back as well. Probably more with the traffic.
Looking at spending 3 hours in the car a day.

 

[chuckywang]

This is what $400,000 gets you in Chicago.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
So me and wife might be moving to the near DC area. Trying to find a house that is decent size and yard near DC for $400,000 at the most. Don;t mind if it needs some minor fixing as that is not a problem for me.

What are some good areas/cities near DC for this? Went and looked at some in Woodbridge VA and 1 was ok but looks like it might be a hard drivce to get to the train station for my job with the Gov.

My wife wants to stay in VA but if we can find a nice close place in MD that would work.

decent back yard for $400k?!

skip northern va then. my house is 45min away from dc, has a 20x20 backyard and is worth $450k. oh, and it;s a townhouse

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Aimster
400,000 house? good luck!

If you want a 400,000 house you are going to have to drive a good hour to work every day and an hour back as well. Probably more with the traffic.
Looking at spending 3 hours in the car a day.

what he said it's expensive here.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania are probably what you are looking for. Fawn Lake (Same place Redskins coach Joe Gibbs lived) starts at the 400,000's with huge lots.

My father commutes to DC everyday and it normally takes him about an hour to an hour and a half depending on traffic.

-Kevin

 

[shocksyde]

Montgomery County in MD is pretty much exactly like Northern Virginia. Close to DC, but really expensive. Howard County is the same way. PG County may be cheaper but the crime is much worse.

 

[Fenixgoon]

southern maryland is roughly 60-90 minutes from DC, but will offer some pretty nice places to live (parents live here) for $400

 

[shortspanishguy]

If you are white you will look mighty out of place in PG county.

 

[Ladiesnhan]

You can look at houses in Gainesville or Warrenton. You might be able to find something there with 1/2 acre or so.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: shortspanishguy
If you are white you will look mighty out of place in PG county.

I dunno, if you're closer to college park, it gets a little more diverse.

 

[dbk]

Try Prince William County.

 

[shortspanishguy]

Originally posted by: randomlinh

Originally posted by: shortspanishguy
If you are white you will look mighty out of place in PG county.

I dunno, if you're closer to college park, it gets a little more diverse.

true. I guess I should say southern PG county. I work in real estate and service all of Maryland. I have never ever had a white borrower in PG, even in the northern parts.

And stay away from SE DC.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: shocksyde
Montgomery County in MD is pretty much exactly like Northern Virginia. Close to DC, but really expensive. Howard County is the same way. PG County may be cheaper but the crime is much worse.

stay away from pg county if u value your life and your childrens.

edit:
goes double for southeast DC. ne dc is eh. nw dc is the place to be, but $$$. sw dc is all govt + meusums

 

[montanafan]

What about Charlestown, WV?

 

[Vette73]

Seems the only thing that might work is around lurel MD area. 400k seems to get half a acre and a decent house. That and I see soem trains are very near that go to DC.

But keep any other places listed as my wife has final say

 

[Aimster]

Frederick, VA
Germantown, MD

You can get a house for 400k. Beautiful place to live. Everything is new and the value of the homes will grow.

My friend lives in Woodbridge and you can get a nice townhouse for 400k. You can get one with a garage for that price in Woodbridge, VA. Frederick, VA is a little further away from Woodbridge, VA and 400k buys you a BIG house.

If you do not care about the area .. you can get nice homes in Alexandria, VA which is close to D.C. I am not talking about the nice parts of Alexandria, VA. It's an "OK" place to live, but the area is full of trailer park people which live a few miles away. It is a very high-crime area and it will remind you of the T.V show cops. The city basically allowed construction of nice homes in the middle of crapville.

 

[LegendKiller]

I live in Reston, I wouldn't buy anywhere in NoVA unless you plan to stay here for the next 5-10 years. The prices here are heading down, quickly. We love it here in Reston though, renting from an unfortunate condo owner who has already lost 50k on our place. Paying about 1600 for a 2/2. We live right in the town center. Great place.

 

[timswim78]

You can live in Baltimore County and ride the MARC train to DC. Lots of people in my neighborhood do it (about 4 minutes from the train station), and you can get a nice house here for about $350K.

 

[cavingjan]

Just check to see what the train/metro pass is going to cost a month.

What part of DC are you trying to commute to? I can tell you the Montgomery county to Pentagon commute is not a fun one.

 

[James3shin]

PG COUNTY IN THE HOUSE!!! It's not too too bad here in PG, but it's not a Montgomery County, or Howard Country, or NOVA.

 

[krunchykrome]

DuPont Circle :laugh:

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
I live in Reston, I wouldn't buy anywhere in NoVA unless you plan to stay here for the next 5-10 years. The prices here are heading down, quickly. We love it here in Reston though, renting from an unfortunate condo owner who has already lost 50k on our place. Paying about 1600 for a 2/2. We live right in the town center. Great place.

Yea I can see that a little in some areas. We might be moving from Cary NC and that area is still growing while the N-Va area is coming down. So that is why we want a place that will at least hold some value.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: shocksyde
Montgomery County in MD is pretty much exactly like Northern Virginia. Close to DC, but really expensive. Howard County is the same way. PG County may be cheaper but the crime is much worse.

stay away from pg county if u value your life and your childrens.

edit:
goes double for southeast DC. ne dc is eh. nw dc is the place to be, but $$$. sw dc is all govt + meusums

I see a lot of people around here do not know what they are talking about. There are a few places you can move in PG and get a decent house and live a good community. You can try Bowie, Ft. Washington and Upper Marlboro to name a few. Yes, there are parts of PG that you do need to avoid, but you can find a nice house in PG and live in a decent community.

Your price is rather low for a single family home though. You will not find many single family homes in that price range (depending on what you are looking for, you may be able to find something smaller). If you are looking for a new home, you can forget about that with 400K.

Originally posted by: shortspanishguy

If you are white you will look mighty out of place in PG county.

While PG county is a predominately African American community, the affordability of the housing has caused an influx of Caucasian into the community, particularly into the towns that I have listed.

The schools aren't that great either. However, in the towns that I listed, you should be able to find a pretty good schools. Private schools are also an option.

I hope this helps!