BWI or OAK question

[JPB]

Visited BWI 2 months ago. Not crazy about the town . What area would you recommend?
2) How about OAK, is there anything affordable within 30-40 minutes from the airport?
Thanks for your help

 

[ATA75Pilot]

Don't know what areas you were looking in at BWI but I can tell you from what I hear about OAK you should probably lean towards BWI.

Having been a resident of the BWI area for 11 years I can tell you there are great places to live around there.

Columbia, Ellicott City, Annapolis, Catonsville, Owings Mills.

I live inColumbia..15 minutes from the airport parking lot. Nice suburban community with great shopping and dining choices.

l8r,

-ed

 

[T1bubba]

1. I live in Baltimore now. What are you looking for? Downtown? Surburbia? The country? Which town did you visit?

2. No.

T1bubba

 

[PTinbound]

Sometimes I dream about a day when we'll all have to make choices like that, when the pool drains. I've been to realtor.com, and searched properties of what I think I might be able to afford on second or third year pay. From OAK, I looked in Stockton, CA.
I'm guessing it's about 1 hour to 1:15 in good traffic, and you can get a basic 4 bedroom house there for around 225 or so. Same house close in costs 800. In general, you'd be much better off in BWI if those are your 2 choices. Heck, go 1:15 away and you can get a mansion in the corner of West Virginia, or even some acreage in the country. Plenty of suburbia closer in, too.

 

[StarrBuck]

T1Bubba,

What area do you live in? My wife and I recently purchased a townhouse in Owings Mills.. I grew up in the area (Ellicott City).. My advice to anyone is to spend a few days out there.. There is LOTS to do, and its a beautiful part of the country..

From the research that we did, we came to a few conclusions.. 1. Anything within reasonable driving distance of Baltimore and D.C. was selling for some serious duckets. 2. If you have kids, and can afford it, Howard County has fantastic schools, but you really pay for it.. We decided on Owings Mills/New Town area because the cost was much less, and we won't need the school system for a few years..

If anyone has any questions about the Baltimore area, let me know..

S.B.

 

[JPB]

Thanks for the replies
We are looking for a nice country place, 1 or 2 acres at 30 minutes from the airport. I guess North and West are the best options.

 

[ATA75Pilot]

Country place within 30 minutes.

Doesn't exsist unless you concentrate on the area between Annapolis and BWI but it can be pretty pricey.

Lot's of pilots go north up Rt. 83 just across the state line into York county.

From the state line to airport parking will run about 50 - 60 minutes.

Good Luck.

 

[mar]

Say WHAT?

Hold the presses!

PTinbound. Did you say you could get "a basic 4 bedroom house there for around 225 or so."

???

You mean, $225 dollars.

American?

Per month?

Holy cow. I've gotta get outta Alaska.

I'm looking at a 3 bedroom duplex in Fairbanks for $1200/mo.

And it's pretty nice.

 

[T1bubba]

JPB,

Around here DC is the center of all things expensive. Any community that is within an hour or so of DC is going to be more pricey than those that aren't. Maryland is trying to fight urban sprawl around DC also, which basically means they're building less than what the demand would normally require... so the prices keep going up.

With that in mind you'll get the most bang for your buck in Harford county NE of Baltimore, or just over the state line in PA up I-83. All the towns ATA75 mentioned are nice if you can afford the type of place you want there.

Starrbuck,

I live in an apartment downtown, walking distance from the harbor, stadiums, Federal Hill, etc. I love being in the middle of everything and I'm having a blast- but then again I don't have to worry about kids or schools. I'm going to wait until I'm past that first year FO pay before I buy anything, but in the meantime I'm trying to stay up on the real estate market around here.

T1bubba

 

[PTinbound]

Mar, no, that's buying a house for $225,000.
Gotta be the cheapest anywhere in California.
I'm still leaning toward God's country in Texas, though.

 

[SLOTH]

Stockton... kidding right?!

Living in California has it's price, but 225K in Stockton just isn't worth it. Personally I think that Stockton is a dump, but that's my opinion... and I hope I don't offend anyone by saying that. If you're looking for a place close to OAK, you might want to consider just renting a crashpad or something and live somewhere more affordable than CA. Personally I live in CA, but I'm really thinking about getting out, even though I've done well real estate wise. I'm tired of the excessive prices, taxes, and overal BS like power issues. No other area in the union has a better climate, but is it worth it?

S.

 

[tredding@swa]

Punt CA

NOTHING within 1.5 hrs from OAK is worth owning... I lived in the area while based out of SFO and we could not get out of the area fast enough!!!

Overpriced houses stacked on top of each other, assh**les on every freeway, endless commutes in the am & pm, HIGH income and property taxes, earthquakes, no-speakie-english service workers.... CA is just not what it once was. Since 1985 I lived in the greater "Bay Area" for 13 years. I'll never go back except to visit.

If you can stand the summers, PHX is pretty nice. We bought a place in Mesa in June, paid less than 1/2 of what we sold the CA house for, got a really nice place in a gated, country club community... brand new home on a huge lot with actual neighbors who came over and introduced themselves!?!? (Never happen in CA, your neighbors could care less that you moved in to the 'hood, sad). Property taxes are 1/3 of what we paid in CA, income taxes are 25% less.... however, if you want to live in CA - please go there - and ENJOY yourself!!!!

Have fun swimming everyone! Tredding

 

[Bake]

You guys must make alot of money. I bought a house outside of Houston, in a small country town, 1 hour from Hobby, 138,000. There are HUGE homes around here for less than 200. Heck, I could by 5 acres with a house on it for less than you guys are paying for a home.

I guess it all depends on where you want to live. One thing about it though it is HOT and HUMID.

Bake.

 

[tredding@swa]

Bake...

The fact that I have made WAY too much money & become jaded to "sticker price" of CA homes is part of the problem.... things will change for you when you upgrade, what a YEAR or so before me ( I would HOPE not but looks that way at the current training rate!?!?) You will have a GReAT big home on 5 ac. in The Springs or out in The Woodlands (what's with the "The' in Houston anyhow!?!?)

Sure wish I was #1.... I guess I am suffering from Poolie Envy?????

Have a great weekeind - Tredding

 

[SLOTH]

Bake,

Making too much money? Homes were affordable once, but like anywhere else, the positive economic tide raises all values within a certain geographic area. Sooo, while your home value increases, so do others and in the end you become blind or jaded as Tredding said to the astronomical values of the properties around you.

Tredding,

Not to get PC on ya, but the "no speakie english" service workers that you referred to are anywhere along the US/Mexican border... not just CA. Americans just won't have those jobs, so guess what? On a different note, the cheaper homes, lower income and property taxes are getting to be more and more attractive. However, the temps in PHX are waaay too hot for me... even if it's dry!

S.

 

[mar]

A zero here and a zero there

I see.

Thanks PTinbound, that's $225,000.

Do me a favor and keep your day job--don't go into real estate.

Maybe it's just me but I think some people might get a little upset with your habit of abbreviating house prices like flight levels.

 

[checkessential]

Anyone over the age of 15 should understand what '225' in that post means.

 

[atldc9]

Living in BWI is very pricey. I grew up here, so never realised how expensive it is. I figure, doesn't everyone pay $350,000 for a 4 bedroom house in a cookie cutter neighborhood? West of the city, that is in Howard and Carroll counties, you will pay big money. Townhouses for 150 -200, single families no less than 250. NIce schools and 2500 sq feet, you are talking 300 +. Don't forget that is less then a 1/3 acre lot size typically. South west in Montgomrery and PG counties, forget it. Too close to DC, so the price is huge. East towards Annapolis, well watch where you go. Annapolis is great, but near the water, forget about it, but there are some rotten areas down that way. Schools in Anne Arundel county can be dicey. North towards Baltimore City and County same thing. Some very nice areas, but they come with big price tags, and watch the schools, the city is rough.

Downtown Baltimore has one of the highest murder rates in the counrty, like 300 + the last 6 years running. It has a huge heroin problem, and the highest rate of STD's and teen pregnancy in the counrty. The army sends its' trauma Doc's to intern here because it is so close to combat conditions, no lie.

I live out west in Carroll county and love it. We don't have any water, but the schools are good and most people are educated professionals. The neighvorhood next to mine just broke ground on 2 acre lots, with 2500 sq foot homes starting from the 480's.

 

[FastCargo]

TX for me...

About CA,

My last active duty assignment was out in CA, just north of Sacramento in fact (separated about a year ago). I can tell you that a new house in Sacramento (2 hrs away on a good day) was over $100 per square feet with no options, not to mention high taxes, politics, power problems, etc, etc. The prices would go up geometrically the closer you got to the Bay Area...I honestly can't figure out how workin' dudes can live in a decent place there. Of course, the 'things to do' meter and WX were very good...but I couldn't afford it!

That's why we ended up moving to San Antonio. But, of course that means you gotta commute for just about every major airline... I'm a FedEx guy, but I find it pretty easy to commute.

My .02

FastCargo

 

[TriStar_drvr]

I live in CA, and have managed to make it work. I live in Hesperia, about 45 minutes north of Ontario. Houses are dirt cheap (paid less than 90k for 3 bedroom 2 bath on 1/2 acre), the air is much cleaner than in the LA basin, and there are only a few summer nights that require air conditioning. I can be at 7000' elevation in the pines in less than an hour for trout fishing and skiing in the winter.

I'm based at LAX an although it's a 95 mile drive to the airport parking lot, it's not too bad since I only do it 3-4 times a month. Also Las Vegas is only three hours away. Of course all you SWA guys know you have a bunch of flights to PHX and OAK from ONT. I used to commute to MDW from ONT. Thanks SWA!

It's not for everybody, but desert living works for me.