Potential Relocation to DC/Baltimore Area
 

To any locals:

There is a good chance that we will be relocating to the DC/Baltimore area in a few months. I have an interview in a couple of weeks for my dream job. Hopefully it will work out. I am being optimistic and looking for recomendations of real estate agents.

If you are one or have one to reccomend please let me know. We will be looking for preferable a condo but maybe a townhouse. The location I am looking at is around the Greenbelt area but am somewhat flexible. The office is located in Laural but I would like to be near the metro for access to airports and DC.

That area is not his specialty, but I can very highly recommend Bob Graham (http://www.bobgrahamvarelo.com/), who helped me get settled here a few years ago. He was extremely professional and helpful!

before you buy, drive the route between prospective and necessary during runs hours.

the direction you mention is not bad the other direction is hell. ie am laural to greenbelt, pm greenbelt to laural.

there are no socially redeeming features in greenbelt. to get to decent restaurants, you must to to montgomery county, or dc. for a few activities, UMD in college park has started with the smith thing. UMD does of course have athelitic events.

laurel is not a bad residential place (last I have been to that specific
place was over 6 years back)

little north and you are in Baltimore
and little bit south and you are in the DC zone.
and very close to BWI.

I'm going to take exception with that statement.

While there may be no gourmet restaurants in Greenbelt, there is a great deal of social history.

Greenbelt, Maryland is a National Historic Landmark planned community built in 1937 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Greenbelt was designed as a cooperative garden suburb that would be a model of modern town planning in America. There is a real sense of community there: (many) residents work very hard to keep the original spirit of Greenbelt alive.

I don't live there, but have friends who spent more than 20 years there before relocating out of state. It's also convenient to metro and Marc rail and amtrak stations. The city also operates a fee based van shuttle for seniors and physically challenged residents.

It's not slick and modern, but worth considering if you're the type who enjoys being involved in their local community.

for history buffs:
greenbelt oral history project
greenbelt website

I just have a few minutes, or I would attach a couple of links for you (sorry!). I would look at the MARC Train and Metro websites and note where the lines run and where the stations are located. That would help you narrow your housing unit search to locations near a station or two.

On the Metro website, you can do a trip planner and have it tell you how difficult or easy it would be to get from a station to your work location. Beltway traffic in the morning tends to be bad between I-95 and around US 50 (NE quadrant on a map of DC). Usually, at least one of the major north-south routes: I-95, Balt-Wash Pwy, US 1, US 29 has some sort of issue every morning and evening.

Having said this, I've found that the Balt-Wash corridor has some pretty decent roads, when there's not wrecks on them, with several alternate routes. Also, at times this area is surprisingly rural, especially in Anne Arundel and Howard Counties.

While Prince George's County has had some unfair treatment in the media, I can't say the police are undeserving of the bad press. And the county schools are dreadful. While it would mean a longer commute, I'd consider nearby communities in Anne Arundel County like Odenton or Crofton, which are still convenient to BWI, Annapolis, and the MARC train to Baltimore/DC

I'm in the DC area and we actually drove up to Laurel last weekend. Here are my observations / experiances - Laurel itself isn't bad. Just down the highway south on 295 it gets "yucky". We have some friends who live up near there and commute down into DC and it's about a 20 minute commute on the train. Whenever they want to go out to dinner and out afterwards they have to make the 40+ minute drive down here.

It would be easier to give advice if we knew more of what your priorities are. You have said you want to be near metro, and that you are looking at a condo or townhouse. So I can infer you don't need the 6 BR, half acre McMansion. However, it would be helpful to know if you care about:

schools (any kids in public schools?)
commuting distance
taxes
being within walking distance of anything
what sort of environment (urban vs suburban vs rural, trendy vs laid back) you prefer

The answers to those questions will help me give better advice about where to look.

As far as agents go, http://www.buyersagent.com helped me buy a house several years ago and they were great.

I assume that you would be working primarily out of the office in Laurel.If so,I'd concentrate on housing in Anne Arundel county or southern Howard county.Laurel is split between Prince George and Howard-for many reasons I'd stay away from PG county.If children are involved,the school situation may make your commuting decisions for you.

BWI is easily accessible from Laurel via the BW Parkway or even 95,depending on your location.It's easier than IAD or Reagan,although we do use IAD for most international trips.MARC and Amtrak both have stations at BWI.

As for DC-if you will be going in often,Metro access is helpful.Otherwise for the occasional trip,you can drive to any Metro station and park for the day.

Good luck- the Baltimore-DC area is a wonderful location.

Thanks For the replies so far.

More info,

kids grown and out of the house so no worry about schools. They do visit a couple of times a year from the UK for a couple of weeks at a time.

I'll be working in Laurel and MrMMP will continue traveling weekly. Most likely from BWI but possibly utilizing other airports as contracts change.

Prefer a maintanence free lifestyle. I only want to worry about how to decorate my walls. Do not want a house with yard and twelve acres. Want condo with monthly fee that takes care of everything. I am open to the possiblility of a townhouse.

We prefer an urban location but again are flexible. HimThatFlies is rarely home except weekends. So most of the day-to-day living is at my choice. I will be the one commuting to work. I would rather commute to work and come home at night and on the weekends to be near everything I want. We lived in Boston for a couple of years, usedf public transport and loved it. I am looking for more that type lifestyle.

Hope this helps.

OK, that helps a lot to clarify what you are looking for.

This may result in what some would consider radical suggestions, but if you prefer an urban location, my advice is, go with an urban location. I do not think of Greenbelt as an urban location - it has a small historical village center, but with sprawling suburbs all around it. I would suggest you visit it, but be prepared to be underwhelmed. If you are hoping for Boston, Greenbelt is NOT the place you want to be. Also, the Greenbelt metro station is not within walking distance of the Greenbelt village center (in fact, I think it's technically in College Park) so if you did live in the village center, you would not have direct metro access - a bus or car would be necessary.

Because Laurel has little to no public transit accessibility, I believe you are (more than likely) going to have to drive to work no matter where you live. So pick somewhere you want to live, and has the lifestyle you want, and drive from there, rather than driving from somewhere that might be a little closer but is not the place you really want to be.

So, if I had to drive to Laurel, and wanted an urban, close-to-metro life style, with a small townhouse or condo, where would I look?

1. downtown Silver Spring - plenty of condos, easy (walking) metro access, lots of restaurants, and it's near the Beltway so it's a fairly easy drive to Laurel
2. Capitol Hill - ditto - you can get on 295 and go straight up to Laurel.
3. downtown Baltimore - a slightly less comfy commute because you're going with traffic instead of against it, and worse for access to DC. On the other hand, you have much better access to Baltimore (an interesting city in its own right), it's easier to get to BWI, and it may be less expensive.

Thank you for the info. This does really help!

I agree with crhptic
For living in an Urban area, I'd suggest the DC area. Something NW
around tenlytown or closer, but this will add significant commute
to your office in Laurel.

If you stay in/around Laurel, your daily commute is short, you have an
easy access to BWI and almost midway between
Baltimore and DC.

It all depends on your preference whether you want to live in a City
or be close to it for the weekends.

I've lived in the Greenbelt area (College Park) area for a long time, ntil 2 months ago. I can't think of many areas of Greenbelt where I would reccomend someone to live. The north end of College Park could work better than Greenbelt. Probably only locals know it, but there is a walkway to the Greenbelt Metro to the College Park side of the station. On the Greenbelt side it doesn't look safe to walk on the road there to get to the station. Also the apartments nearby get a lot of police calls. College Park is right on 95/495 and pretty close to both 95 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. This mornings paper had a story on a home invasion in that area. The story was surprising because it is pretty rare there.

Another nearby place that beats Greenbelt is Beltsvile. It is betweeen Laurel and College Park and right next to Greenbelt. With the big USDA farms there it kinda feels more small town than urban though.

If it were me, I would go for the Columbia area. Based on your description, I would say somewhere in DC, that is safe, would fit better.