Hybla Valley is a no-go, correct?

[Anonymous]

full of all the other people who can’t afford a nicer neighborhood. You aspire to not live there but seems like that’s the only place you can afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:full of all the other people who can’t afford a nicer neighborhood. You aspire to not live there but seems like that’s the only place you can afford.

With a $600-$700K budget they could easily afford a condo in any school pyramid they want.

Jackson-Reed: https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/3315-Wisconsin-Ave-20016/unit-206/home/192783441

Yorktown: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1724-Queens-Ln-22201/unit-176/home/167005059

Walter Johnson: https://www.redfin.com/MD/North-Bethesda/5804-Inman-Park-Cir-20852/unit-330/home/167055430

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you mentioned your budget - check out this $599K house further up in Bucknell Manor if you haven't already. We toured it a few weekends ago - tons and tons of cosmetic issues due to it being a sh*tty flip - but I did pull the permits and they looked good for the major stuff. $599K gives you room for cosmetic updates like replacing the interior window trim etc if your max was $700K.

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/6916-Columbia-Dr-22307/home/9792550

Wow, it went from $799,000 to $599,000 in just 3 months. 😯

A poorly renovated flip, and a museum for builder's quality materials and workmanship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have school aged kids it’s fine. If your kids are on the older side, you’re fine. I’d avoid Bucknell elementary. We live in old town and go to a great swim club in Bucknell, and a lot of members love walking distance and like it.

We don't have children yet...but the schools are a concern.

St. Louis is a good Catholic school. As all public schools continue to deteriorate, most people will do private, catholic, or charter. Should not worry about schools so much.

St Louis may be better than Hybla Valley, but in the same pyramid, I'd send my kid to Belle View, Ft. Hunt, Waynewood or Stratford Landing's center over St. Louis

Hell No. Clearly you have no experience with St. Louis which is a gem of a school.

-parent in the area with kids at a different Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

22310 continues to be undervalued considering convenience, and house and lot sizes. Clermont is a decent elementary. Houses in this zip range from newer family homes, to flips, to 1950s construction that needs updating, but has better bones than the new stock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22310 continues to be undervalued considering convenience, and house and lot sizes. Clermont is a decent elementary. Houses in this zip range from newer family homes, to flips, to 1950s construction that needs updating, but has better bones than the new stock.

It is not undervalued. The schools are terrible so this dramatically reduces the value. Sending kids to private school is expensive, so people are considering that when they determine how much they are willing to pay for the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have school aged kids it’s fine. If your kids are on the older side, you’re fine. I’d avoid Bucknell elementary. We live in old town and go to a great swim club in Bucknell, and a lot of members love walking distance and like it.

We don't have children yet...but the schools are a concern.

St. Louis is a good Catholic school. As all public schools continue to deteriorate, most people will do private, catholic, or charter. Should not worry about schools so much.

St Louis may be better than Hybla Valley, but in the same pyramid, I'd send my kid to Belle View, Ft. Hunt, Waynewood or Stratford Landing's center over St. Louis

Waynewood sure -- but the other schools are only slightly better than Alexandria City schools.

[Anonymous]

If you’re going to spend money on private school why not just spend a bit more on a house. At least you can write the interest off on your taxes and get some appreciation out of a mortgage unlike private school.

But you mention not having kids yet so I guess you could gamble that income will go up enough to afford private or move later.

That said personally I’d get a TH in the Hayfield Elementary zone over a SFH in Hybla.

https://redf.in/I5pvtd
https://redf.in/vsqnbw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have school aged kids it’s fine. If your kids are on the older side, you’re fine. I’d avoid Bucknell elementary. We live in old town and go to a great swim club in Bucknell, and a lot of members love walking distance and like it.

We don't have children yet...but the schools are a concern.

St. Louis is a good Catholic school. As all public schools continue to deteriorate, most people will do private, catholic, or charter. Should not worry about schools so much.

St Louis may be better than Hybla Valley, but in the same pyramid, I'd send my kid to Belle View, Ft. Hunt, Waynewood or Stratford Landing's center over St. Louis

Waynewood sure -- but the other schools are only slightly better than Alexandria City schools.

We love Belle View!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have school aged kids it’s fine. If your kids are on the older side, you’re fine. I’d avoid Bucknell elementary. We live in old town and go to a great swim club in Bucknell, and a lot of members love walking distance and like it.

We don't have children yet...but the schools are a concern.

We lived in the general area before kids, then moved after having kids. Your dollar will go much farther there because the schools aren't considered very good. Whether they are or aren't is another question. It's been many years, but as I recall, something like 80-90% of the kids for our zoned elementary were english as a second language. It makes sense that the teachers in those early years of K-2 would need to spend a lot of time getting that population up to speed, which didn't seem like a great situation for our kids. The other thing that's commonly mentioned is that the language barriers and possibly cultural barriers make for a more uninvolved parent population at these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have school aged kids it’s fine. If your kids are on the older side, you’re fine. I’d avoid Bucknell elementary. We live in old town and go to a great swim club in Bucknell, and a lot of members love walking distance and like it.

We don't have children yet...but the schools are a concern.

Just get into an area for Belle view or hollin meadows, not Bucknell landing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have school aged kids it’s fine. If your kids are on the older side, you’re fine. I’d avoid Bucknell elementary. We live in old town and go to a great swim club in Bucknell, and a lot of members love walking distance and like it.

We don't have children yet...but the schools are a concern.

We lived in the general area before kids, then moved after having kids. Your dollar will go much farther there because the schools aren't considered very good. Whether they are or aren't is another question. It's been many years, but as I recall, something like 80-90% of the kids for our zoned elementary were english as a second language. It makes sense that the teachers in those early years of K-2 would need to spend a lot of time getting that population up to speed, which didn't seem like a great situation for our kids. The other thing that's commonly mentioned is that the language barriers and possibly cultural barriers make for a more uninvolved parent population at these schools.

I almost did a double take and thought I wrote this! We were facing elementary at Rose Hill, after having been rezoned almost immediately after purchase. Which was still years before we had kids. We bailed. At the time, it was something like 90% ESL and I toured and asked questions and just couldn’t understand how they would deal with my non-ESL child. Over a decade later and while I is our space and yard, and garage, I made the right decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22310 continues to be undervalued considering convenience, and house and lot sizes. Clermont is a decent elementary. Houses in this zip range from newer family homes, to flips, to 1950s construction that needs updating, but has better bones than the new stock.

+1 Clermont area and Wilton Woods are nice. And Bush Hill area. Older kids can walk or bike to all the schools, pool, recreation, library.
Short driving to some private schools too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22310 continues to be undervalued considering convenience, and house and lot sizes. Clermont is a decent elementary. Houses in this zip range from newer family homes, to flips, to 1950s construction that needs updating, but has better bones than the new stock.

It is not undervalued. The schools are terrible so this dramatically reduces the value. Sending kids to private school is expensive, so people are considering that when they determine how much they are willing to pay for the house.

PP is incorrect. The schools are NOT all terrible in 22310 - several very good elementary schools - just pay attention to the boundaries. Middle school and High School are average. They aren't considered top of FCPS. but they are not "terrible".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have school aged kids it’s fine. If your kids are on the older side, you’re fine. I’d avoid Bucknell elementary. We live in old town and go to a great swim club in Bucknell, and a lot of members love walking distance and like it.

We don't have children yet...but the schools are a concern.

We lived in the general area before kids, then moved after having kids. Your dollar will go much farther there because the schools aren't considered very good. Whether they are or aren't is another question. It's been many years, but as I recall, something like 80-90% of the kids for our zoned elementary were english as a second language. It makes sense that the teachers in those early years of K-2 would need to spend a lot of time getting that population up to speed, which didn't seem like a great situation for our kids. The other thing that's commonly mentioned is that the language barriers and possibly cultural barriers make for a more uninvolved parent population at these schools.

THIS IS NOT TRUE OF ALL SCHOOLS IN 22310. Its a great area and lots of value in the housing compared to the rest of Fairfax County. There are nicer areas and not as nice parts of 22310. Cannot beat the location sandwiched between Old Town, Fort Hunt/Potomac Pkwy, and Kingstowne. Plus great transportation access.