Would you move or renovate? NOVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I have one DC and are expecting a second. We currently own a home in Lyon Village, Arlington, which we love for its walkability and its convenience to downtown (where I work, although DH works further out along the Dulles Toll Road, so it's really not that convenient for him). But our house is definitely on the small side, and while probably doable with 2 kids, it would probably end up feeling cramped (also the bedrooms are in a weird layout that really isn't conducive to a family of 4). We probably can't afford a bigger house in our neighborhood, where there seems to be almost nothing in the 1 million range. So our options seem to be renovating (which I understand can be a huge PITA) or finding a house in a different neighborhood. Given our budget (probably around 1 mil), are there any neighborhoods in northern va with some of the same benefits of Clarendon (walkability, good public schools, relatively close to DC), but where the home prices are a little cheaper? Or, given that we love the neighborhood, should we just plan on renovating at some point? Any thoughts appreciated!

Here are some thoughts:

Lyon Village is a great neighborhood. It sounds like you know you won't be able to afford a larger home in that same neighborhood, and even if you could, it probably wouldn't be that much of an improvement on what you've got now.

You don't even sound sure that you will need more space - why don't you wait until you have 2 before you make that call? Our small 3BR/2BA in Arlington was fine with 2 kids until my youngest started walking....that's when we realized we needed a bit more living space and an extra BR (3rd was really small).

There are tons of neighborhoods in N Arlington where you could find a good size house for 1m. The issue is the "walkability" so if you need to have walking access to Metro and/or really like walking access to shops, you might want to consider staying put.

My first thought was Ashton Heights - still walking distance to Metro (Va Square and/or Ballston) and while it's not as much of a "scene" you can walk to some shopping/dining/etc.

If you only want/need to be able to walk to some shopping/dining, you might consider Cherrydale, Maywood, Waverly Hills, or one of the neighborhoods near the Lee-Harrison shopping center.

I agree with all of this. There are definitley houses for $1 million that are still in walkable areas of Arlington. Maybe not quite as "hip and happening" as Clarendon/Lyon Village, but they are there. I live in Waverly Hills and we can walk to the Lee Heights shops (5 minutes) as well as Ballston (15-20 minutes). Clarendon is also walkable on a nice day (about 35 minutes). Very family friendly and great schools. Another area to look at is Lee Heights on the other side of Lee Highway from Waverly Hills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-thanks for all the thoughtful replies! One of our considerations is having kids on a different floor of the house from us-we have 2 bedrooms upstairs, ours and DC's, but DC's is really small, and while it might eventually fit a bunkbed, it would not fit a crib and a twin. We also have two bedrooms (one currently an office) and a full bath on the main level. So once the second arrives, we will need to either have one or both kids downstairs, while we stay upstairs, or have them upstairs while we move downstairs. I understand this kind of setup is not ideal, but does anyone have any experience with it working (or not)? If the kids are going to be a different level from us, does it work better if they are at least together in a room?

I am the Waverly Hills poster. We live in a traditional Arlington Cape (3 bedrooms, 2 baths). Our boys (now 5 and 3) are on the main level and we are upstairs in the finished attic. We have lived in the house since my oldest was 1.5 and he/they have always been on a separate level from us. They did not always share a room, but they do now. It has not really been a big deal to have them on another level. They always come to the bottom of our stairs in the morning to wake us up and I never have any problem hearing them if they wake up in the night. The only bad thing with having them on the main level is that it makes it difficult to entertain since their room is right off the dining room. We have thought about moving them upstairs when they are older, but for now they will stay where they are. So, it is definitely doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-thanks for all the thoughtful replies! One of our considerations is having kids on a different floor of the house from us-we have 2 bedrooms upstairs, ours and DC's, but DC's is really small, and while it might eventually fit a bunkbed, it would not fit a crib and a twin. We also have two bedrooms (one currently an office) and a full bath on the main level. So once the second arrives, we will need to either have one or both kids downstairs, while we stay upstairs, or have them upstairs while we move downstairs. I understand this kind of setup is not ideal, but does anyone have any experience with it working (or not)? If the kids are going to be a different level from us, does it work better if they are at least together in a room?

I love this house in Lyon Village for $849000:
http://www.mcenearney.com/realestate/listing/key/90192594515

3 bedrooms up plus an extra bonus room that seems to be over the garage.

Lots are tight so it would be hard to build out. Perhaps you could do a dormer in the rear to get more square footage upstairs. Is one upstairs bedroom huge and the other tiny?