Moving to DC

mommyfied · January 2012

Hey, my husband and I are considering moving to the DC area in 2016 (Yeah, I know its a while ahead, but we are moving over seas so it takes a whole lot of planning and stuff to see it through). As mentioned we will be moving over seas, more precisely, from Norway. We will at this point be 26 years old and done with the university in Norway.

What I am wonderng about is;

* Where to move with two children, (hopefully 3 and) 5 1/2 YO?

* Are there any jobs for a educated preschool teacher and a construction engineer?

* Is it easy to blend in to a society or are people just minding their own business?

* And anything else noteworthy

lilmisssunshine84 · January 2012

Hiii!

Early welcome to the area!! I currently live in Fairfax, Virginia (Fair lakes area) and I find its a really nice area to live (lots of shopping extremely close and together so you don't have to run all over the place), and heard the school systems are great. I find in Fairfax, its a lot of families so everyone seems to be relatively friendly. I used to live in Arlington and it was more so college students, and interns. So the further out you are seems to be more families. I find its easy to blend in and meet other families/couples/people. Not sure about the jobs but it's a big area DC/VA/MD so I am sure there will be jobs for you all. Good luck!

Jitterbug2668 · January 2012

Welcome!

Where to move depends on so many factors (housing budget, rent or own, job proximity, public transportation, schools, daycare). I live in southern MD and commute to DC where I work for a federal police dept. Its a long drive but I make almost twice as much working in DC than I would down home. Its about a 120 round trip commute. My DH works for a large corporation on a local Navy base much closer to home and has a shorter commute, but he's contract work. Thankfully his corporation and the government have a solid foundation.

DC is one of the areas in the country with the lowest jobless rate. I'm sure you could find jobs easily.

I like to think we're very welcoming people in the area. Sitting in traffic on a Friday afternoon you may think otherwise, but I'm constantly being amazed by the good people in our society (just the other day, I was loading my car at Walmart and a gentleman asked to return my cart for me).

Good luck in whatever you two choose to do. You're welcome here anytime.

Mrs.Handy · January 2012

There are a ton of options as far as moving goes. Where you want to move depends on what you prefer. Do you prefer more space in a home? a short commute? a square foot home or a townhome? a walkable neighborhood? What's your budget? Where will you be working? Do you want to drive to work? or take public transportation?

You probably don't know the answers to these questions. But they are important to consider when looking for a home. Most people recommend renting for a year in the area before buying so you can get an idea of where you want to live.

The DC area is one of the best in the country for jobs at this point. But you would have to do research on your specific areas to find out more info.

Also, we have a very diverse, transient population so people are moving in and moving out a lot. Most people are very welcoming and friendly, not so much during commutes (it can get very stressful).

I hope this helps!

mommyfied · January 2012

Mrs.Handy:
There are a ton of options as far as moving goes. Where you want to move depends on what you prefer. Do you prefer more space in a home? a short commute? a square foot home or a townhome? a walkable neighborhood? What's your budget? Where will you be working? Do you want to drive to work? or take public transportation?

You probably don't know the answers to these questions. But they are important to consider when looking for a home. Most people recommend renting for a year in the area before buying so you can get an idea of where you want to live.

The DC area is one of the best in the country for jobs at this point. But you would have to do research on your specific areas to find out more info.

Also, we have a very diverse, transient population so people are moving in and moving out a lot. Most people are very welcoming and friendly, not so much during commutes (it can get very stressful).

I hope this helps!

We would live in DC for a periode of what I belive will be 5 years. May be more, may be less. We would have no problem buying a home for that time. We could afford a home between $50.000-100.000 (maybe twice as much if the home is "the one") House/apartment in the suburban would be great. I would prefer to take public transportation, but my spouse would probably drive to work.

victoria1212 · January 2012

mommyfied:
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We would have no problem buying a home for that time. We could afford a home between $50.000-100.000 (maybe twice as much if the home is "the one")

you have 50-100K to spend on a house here? hate to break the news but this is the 3rd priciest real estate in the country and that budget or even double your high end is not going to get you much of anything (or anything).

It is a great area but housing is crazy expensive.

QueSrah · January 2012

mommyfied:
Mrs.Handy:

There are a ton of options as far as moving goes. Where you want to move depends on what you prefer. Do you prefer more space in a home? a short commute? a square foot home or a townhome? a walkable neighborhood? What's your budget? Where will you be working? Do you want to drive to work? or take public transportation?

You probably don't know the answers to these questions. But they are important to consider when looking for a home. Most people recommend renting for a year in the area before buying so you can get an idea of where you want to live.

The DC area is one of the best in the country for jobs at this point. But you would have to do research on your specific areas to find out more info.

Also, we have a very diverse, transient population so people are moving in and moving out a lot. Most people are very welcoming and friendly, not so much during commutes (it can get very stressful).

I hope this helps!

We would live in DC for a periode of what I belive will be 5 years. May be more, may be less. We would have no problem buying a home for that time. We could afford a home between $50.000-100.000 (maybe twice as much if the home is "the one") House/apartment in the suburban would be great. I would prefer to take public transportation, but my spouse would probably drive to work.

I'm not sure it's possible to find much real estate close to DC for $50-100,000 that's anywhere you would want to live. For reference, I paid over $200k for a 2 BR condo in Arlington about 8 years ago, and it would probably cost even more now. If you end up living far enough out into the suburbs that you can find a place in your price range, you would probably need to figure out your job situation first before settling on a town (or even which state) so that you don't end up with a miserable commute.

mommyfied · January 2012

Okey, I take it as "good" news. This sort of thing is why I thought it might be smart to start soon with checking out what we need. That number was for me what we would be able to save up on our own, with no loans. So that gives us time to check where and how to get loan in Norway for another country, or for us as foreigners to get a loan in US

I guess $75.000 "cash" will get us somewhere in the bank

Mrs.Handy · January 2012

mommyfied:

Okey, I take it as "good" news. This sort of thing is why I thought it might be smart to start soon with checking out what we need. That number was for me what we would be able to save up on our own, with no loans. So that gives us time to check where and how to get loan in Norway for another country, or for us as foreigners to get a loan in US

I guess $75.000 "cash" will get us somewhere in the bank

$75K would be a great down payment for a home in our area. But if you are going to be here for only 5 years or so. It would probably be better to rent.

mommyfied · January 2012

Where would it be good to rent? My spouse like the outdoors and "farms" and I like a "short" or at least not too long way to the city (read union station, so close to a metrostation of some sort would do). I would like a mixture of this for our child(ren), with caring, local teachers

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