How rich do you have to be to live in McLean, Great Falls or Vienna?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is between 250k-400k+
We are both well educated at good schools and have lived abroad. We aren’t too showy and do not come from wealthy families. We are looking for a nice single family home in a nice neighborhood with good schools. McLean has the best schools but I’m worried about being the “poor” family in an otherwise very rich area. What about Vienna?

Which would be a good fit for us?

Live wherever you want, everyone is paying their own bills. You don't need to care who is living it up but has 10% home equity and car payments and who is driving Toyota but has a paid off house and cars.

THIS. You can drive around Bethesda, for example, and see beautiful houses built in the last decade where there is a beater car in the driveway (e.g., a 15 year old Corolla). I always imagine that those are the folks who DGAF what others think and are good with their money.

1) I also love to drive around looking at houses and considering the cars in the driveways and thinking about what the people think about what I think about them
2) sometimes people let employees park in the driveway, which can throw me off
3) you can just ring the doorbell, explain what you’re doing and ask if the car belongs to the owner

Lol I would tell you to get the hell off my property and slam my door in your face. Anyway it could be a number of things, folks DGAF, service folks, kids cars, or the house takes up so much of their income they can’t afford anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is between 250k-400k+
We are both well educated at good schools and have lived abroad. We aren’t too showy and do not come from wealthy families. We are looking for a nice single family home in a nice neighborhood with good schools. McLean has the best schools but I’m worried about being the “poor” family in an otherwise very rich area. What about Vienna?

Which would be a good fit for us?

Live wherever you want, everyone is paying their own bills. You don't need to care who is living it up but has 10% home equity and car payments and who is driving Toyota but has a paid off house and cars.

THIS. You can drive around Bethesda, for example, and see beautiful houses built in the last decade where there is a beater car in the driveway (e.g., a 15 year old Corolla). I always imagine that those are the folks who DGAF what others think and are good with their money.

Or it is the nanny's car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is between 250k-400k+
We are both well educated at good schools and have lived abroad. We aren’t too showy and do not come from wealthy families. We are looking for a nice single family home in a nice neighborhood with good schools. McLean has the best schools but I’m worried about being the “poor” family in an otherwise very rich area. What about Vienna?

Which would be a good fit for us?

Live wherever you want, everyone is paying their own bills. You don't need to care who is living it up but has 10% home equity and car payments and who is driving Toyota but has a paid off house and cars.

THIS. You can drive around Bethesda, for example, and see beautiful houses built in the last decade where there is a beater car in the driveway (e.g., a 15 year old Corolla). I always imagine that those are the folks who DGAF what others think and are good with their money.

Thank you PP! This is 100% us. House in Bethesda just a couple blocks from the metro is completely paid off. No mortgage so we can easily replace our cars but we just do not care and prefer to use our resources in different ways.

[Anonymous]

Vienna is a fine area but not considered same SES as McLean or Great Falls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:250-400k? Do kids at Langley or McLean really think that’s poor? OP in this area, there will always be people are more well off but geez

It’s just relative.

$400,000 still puts you in one of the older neighborhoods in a house with original 1979 bathrooms. This is pretty sad compared to the $3 million newer homes that are just as common there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $250k and we live comfortably in Vienna. Not a new build but a nice colonial that is ample space for our family of 4.

+1 to all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vienna is way overrated. Fairfax County runs the school system - TOV has zero say in it. No one cares about the parades, Viva Vienna, etc...just compounds an already huge traffic problem. Hate the high taxes. There is no small town feel - just a bunch of strip shopping centers along RT 123 - with many car repair shops, mattress stores, etc. BTW, I used to live in the TOV for 10 years, now in Faquier County.

Not true at all. I live in Vienna and everyone I know here absolutely loves it--loves all of the festivals on Church St., etc. OP, a month from now, go walk around near Vienna ES, the Vienna Community Center, and Waters and Caffi fields on a Saturday morning and see what you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vienna is way overrated. Fairfax County runs the school system - TOV has zero say in it. No one cares about the parades, Viva Vienna, etc...just compounds an already huge traffic problem. Hate the high taxes. There is no small town feel - just a bunch of strip shopping centers along RT 123 - with many car repair shops, mattress stores, etc. BTW, I used to live in the TOV for 10 years, now in Faquier County.

Not true at all. I live in Vienna and everyone I know here absolutely loves it--loves all of the festivals on Church St., etc. OP, a month from now, go walk around near Vienna ES, the Vienna Community Center, and Waters and Caffi fields on a Saturday morning and see what you think.

I also disagree that no one in Vienna cares about the TOV events, which isn't to say that they aren't overrated and not that different from parades all over the area.

But if you're paying the extra taxes, you have to pump up the idea that you're getting something in return besides the TOV police that make Maple Avenue the best known speed trap in NoVa. As PP noted, Vienna schools are just FCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:our HHI is 450K to 500k and we live very comfortably in Vienna. We chose a newer house with big lot and enjoy the freedom here.

When did you buy? Because as first time buyers with this income, it’s super disappointing to have to settle for a $1.2 1981 fixer upper.

[Anonymous]

You have to actually live in the TOV to understand how it feels. A lot of people looking at it from the outside dont understand it. I have lived in other parts of vienna and the town of vienna suites us just fine and we are happy. HHI 600k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't Vienna schools significantly lower rated?

Yes, My friend's Vienna elementary school was SO BAD that it drove them to leave.

Dare I ask which school?

I’ve noticed that parents at lower rated Freedom Hill and Cunningham Park actually seem happy. As do parents at Vienna ES. I’ve heard mixed things about the AAP centers (Louise Archer and Westbriar but I think they are AAP issues not school issues). Wolf trap is highly rated but many parents complain about the class sizes. Never heard anything bad about Stenwood or Colvin Run. I think people forget that school ratings are more a reflection of SES vs the actual school.

Freedom Hill parent here. We really like the school, new principal, and AAP teachers. It's a welcoming community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to actually live in the TOV to understand how it feels. A lot of people looking at it from the outside dont understand it. I have lived in other parts of vienna and the town of vienna suites us just fine and we are happy. HHI 600k

Cringe, but that's actually how some TOV folks talk to people living in 22181 and 22182 (Vienna outside the TOV).

They have no filter and don't even seem to realize how middle-brow TOV is compared to McLean and Great Falls.

[Anonymous]

Our income is about $270 and we live in McLean. Our house is an older one from the 1960s but our neighborhood is still mostly originals, with younger families moving in, which is nice. I feel pretty comfortable with everyone I meet - some less well off and some better off. The people I meet are pretty down to earth and not talking about fancy jobs or vacations. Our house was $750 when we bought 7 years ago but now is in the $1M range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. We moved to McLean 5 years when our HHI was $350K and the home we bought was $1.1M. The house is now worth around $1.5M based on comps on our street, so its been a good investment like many homes in Northern Virginia. Based on our personal experience there are a number of people in the area that work for the CIA, State Department, some lawyers, doctors, and the occasional lobbyist - but also a good number of people that work for Fed Gov agencies, consultants, accountants, and such.

Primary reasons we moved were: 1) the schools as we have two ES age children, 2) a larger house, and 3) a relatively short commute to work downtown. We have no regrets.

We considered homes in Falls Church, Vienna and we have friends and family that live in both. Each area has its own pros/cons but it really boils down to personal preferences/priorities, we think they are all great options. We've made a lot of great friends in our neighborhood, families from our sons baseball team, girl scouts, the pool/swim team. The HHI among our group of friends definitely ranges from probably $300K to $1M, though I think only a few of them are north of $600K.

We all enjoy each others company and get together often. I think you have to know yourself, and decide if it will really bother YOU to be around some people that make more. But again, in our experience, their HHI doesn't dictate what type of people they are.

How do you know so much about what your friends make? I was always taught not to talk about money. It’s like asking a woman’s weight. OP, who cares about “HHI” if you can comfortably afford the house and like the neighborhood. Unless it’s like, the worst house in the neighborhood and that makes you resentful.

PP checking back. I work in financial planning and a few of our friends have sought my advice on their retirement expectations and shared such details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to actually live in the TOV to understand how it feels. A lot of people looking at it from the outside dont understand it. I have lived in other parts of vienna and the town of vienna suites us just fine and we are happy. HHI 600k

Cringe, but that's actually how some TOV folks talk to people living in 22181 and 22182 (Vienna outside the TOV).

They have no filter and don't even seem to realize how middle-brow TOV is compared to McLean and Great Falls.

If you have never lived in TOV, how do you know what people feel about the place? You seem to think highly of Mclean and Great falls, so you have lived there. Great. See everyone has an opinion about where they have lived. Move on buddy.