Relocating to the Washington, DC Metro Area? What to Know Before You Buy, Keep the Commute in Mind!

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Relocating and Buying a Home in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC?
Factor in Tons of Traffic!

Buyer's Edge - BuyersAgent.com | Exclusive Buyers Agents Washington, DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia | Traffic all around the Capitol on a gray day
Washington, DC Rush Hour Traffic Jam Buy a Home in the DMV Think Commute

Consider Your Commute

Relocating to the Nation’s Capital?
BuyersAgent.com and Buyer’s Edge

Relocation is a big part of real estate in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Established in 1991, Buyer’s Edge - BuyersAgent.com is the real estate agency of choice among relocating homebuyers. Our Realtors can help you search for homes in all three jurisdictions. One real estate agent. One point of contact. We specialize in houses in Montgomery, Anne Arundel, Howard, Frederick, Baltimore, and Prince George’s counties in Maryland and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia, as well as in all of Washington, DC.

There are countless benefits to living in the greater Washington DC area. However, this blog is not about the lovely museums, restaurants, and chic neighborhoods. It’s about the commute you may face after buying your new home. So if you are relocating to the area with the federal government or private businesses, consider the traffic patterns. Your daily commute is as important as the neighborhood and the home you plan to relocate and purchase in the Washington, DC area.

I66, I95, 395, and I 270 are major roadways feeding into the Capital Beltway and eventually downtown Washington DC. Secondary roads splinter off these highways, with neighborhoods sprawling for several miles. Drivers sit in their cars several hours a day during the morning and afternoon rush hours. According to a survey done by insurance company Allstate, the U.S. city with the worst drivers in Washington D.C. This is Washington's third consecutive year with this record.

Other cities joining Washington on the worst list include Baltimore and Los Angeles. Another survey, released by Texas A&M University finds commuters in the D.C. area waste the second most amount of time sitting in their cars. Los Angeles has the longest commute in the country. So now you know what you are up against, here’s what you can do to make it work for you.

Let’s start with your daily commute. Will you be driving I66 or I95 and 395 in Virginia? Note that the rush hour begins before 6 am, and barring any unusual accidents, it should be winding down by 9:15 to 9:30 am. Go to WAZE to see how the roadways look before you head out the door. Traffic Land App also has cameras positioned at most major intersections in the greater Washington DC area, with live updates every few seconds.

Buyer's Edge - BuyersAgent.com | Exclusive Buyers Agents Washington, DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia | Traffic Circle in DMV at night glowing lights from cars of commuters

Rush Hour Nightmare

Understand your commute when relocating to
Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia

If you are already in the car, remember the phrase, “traffic on the eights.” This is the slogan the radio news station WTOP uses, which is 103.5 on your FM dial. The WTOP website also offers live camera coverage of area roads. There is also information about route and speed information. This is where you will find out how fast people are driving on area roads.

In Maryland, I270 stretches from historic Frederick to Germantown, Gaithersburg, and Rockville before ending at the Capital Beltway. The traffic on I270 can get heavy and slow as early as 5:45 am, starting in Germantown, MD and again as you approach Rockville.

In short, if you drive in rush hour traffic in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area (DMV), get familiar with the roads and find out if you can telecommute (“remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from home, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of working from one's home or another space rather than from an office.” Yikes!) or go during off-peak times. This will help to balance your day and create balance in your life, at work, and at home.

As Exclusive Buyer Agents in the DMV, we are a referral source for buyer agents throughout the United States. Whether looking for single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses, or estate and luxury homes, Buyer’s Edge is the real estate broker homebuyers in the Nation’s Capital Region have returned to with confidence and satisfaction. Referrals from satisfied homebuyers are a major part of our real estate sales.

If you are relocating or looking to buy a home in Washington D.C., Maryland, or Northern Virginia, don’t be sold on a property; be sold on the service of a NAEBA.org Exclusive Buyer’s Agent. Experienced EBAs with a single-focused business model put the homebuyer first.