Where to move to be near Walter Reed Medical [Washington DC area]?

You don't say where you are moving from but be prepared for sticker shock over housing prices in the D.C. area. Desirable single-family, detached houses a few blocks from Walter Reed can easily hit over $500K in the District.

In the District, you can consider the Takoma, Brightwood or Shepherd Park neighborhoods (20012 Zip Code) and practically walk to Walter Reed. Just over the D.C. line from Walter Reed, you have Silver Spring and Takoma Park in Montgomery County, Maryland, for a short commute.

If you do end up living further out in Montgomery County, note that Walter Reed offers an employee circulator between the Takoma Metro station on the Red Line and its Georgia Avenue NW campus.

Not sure how to answer this one

Takoma Park or Brookland

The general rule with the DC real estate market, similar to other metropolitan areas, is that the further away you go the cheaper the house, or the more house you will get for a given amount of money. Based on the location of Walter Reed, you would probably do well to stay away from the Virginia suburbs. That leaves you with the Maryland suburbs or DC proper.

By all means get yourself a map of the Washington metropolitan area. If you're a member of AAA, your local club will give you one for free. If not, go to any large bookstore and they should have one for sale. That will help you identify where Rockville is, for instance, in relation to Walter Reed.

And as for the length of commute--well that's a fact of life in this area, where we spend large amounts of time on the road. Sometimes it can't be helped.

You may wish to contact a real estate agent who specializes in the DC or Maryland market rather than struggling yourself. The folks at Walter Reed, being a military installation, may have some resources to help you begin your search.

The Takoma Park area is pretty good but the Shepherd Park area is better for a choice of the two. Single family homes will be at least $500K even in the "downturned" market.

Bethesda is higher priced by quite a bit. You will pay around $700K for a decent house.

By all means, stay away from having to commute on the Beltway or from Virginia. The "Mixing Bowl" area will tie you up for a long time each morning and evening.

Walter Reed Medical Center will be moving in the future to Bethesda Naval Medical Center but that is off in future.

Contact some national Realtors such as Century 21 or REMAX for listings in the Shepherd Park area. Also get weekend copies of the Washington Post for comparisons.

/ Fortunately, Walter Reed Medical Center is located on the Montgomery County side of the city... safe with top schools.

Perhaps unfortunately, Montgomery County is the 6th wealthiest county (of over 1 million counties in America).

Some of the townhouses in the area can go over $1 Million, so until you get here, you may not understand the prestige of a townhouse in many of the areas here.

I would say, most townhouses cost between $300,000 and $500,000 and most single family homes cost between $450,000 and $700,000, but that's just a personal estimate.

To live in D.C., you wouldn't want to live anywhere other than N.W., but rowhouses there can run over a Million Dollars, so you may want a condo in the Upper Northwest area.

Here is a great website, with listings... You can do a neighborhood check. Might I suggest, Silver Spring for closeness, and it is a wonderful hub...

Think of it this way...

If you take the I-295 (the beltway around DC) to get to work in the morning it'll take you one hour+ depending on the time work starts. Bethesda is really nice but very expensive.

I would suggest NW DC. Avoid SE and NE at all costs.

If you want to live close to your husband's work then stay in DC.

A good place to live in in Maryland would be Columbia in Howard County. It wouldn't be too far away but a little further than Bethesda. Also, the price is right.

I hope that helps. It's not much but it's the best I can think of.