STUDY WEIGHS CHEAPER HOUSE IN 'BURBS VS GAS COSTS

According to an Oct. 12th Washington Post article, "One of the lures
of the outer suburbs is more house -- maybe even one with a big yard --
for less money. But a new study shows that the savings are illusory:
The costs of longer commutes are so high that they can outweigh the
cheaper mortgage payments. A study of Washington and 27 other
metropolitan areas by the Center for Housing Policy found that the
costs of one-way commutes of as little as 12 to 15 miles -- roughly the
distance between Gaithersburg and Bethesda -- cancel any savings on
lower-priced outer-suburban homes.

"'If you save $40,000 to $50,000 by not buying that house in Montgomery
County but expand your commute by an extra 30 miles a day, you can
certainly see how that new house could not end up being the deal you
thought it was, especially if gas is at $3 a gallon,' said Lon
Anderson, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. 'But because of the
exorbitant cost of housing closer in to [the District], they don't have
a choice if they want to live with their families in a home they can
afford.'

"Barbara J. Lipman, an author of the study, said that people tend to
focus on all the zeroes that differentiate the price of a closer-in
house from one in the outer suburbs, but they don't realize how much
they're spending on commuting costs, such as gas, tires and insurance.
'Even if you save a couple of hundred dollars a month on your mortgage,
it doesn't nearly outweigh the costs of the cars you are driving,' she
said..."