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alternative for fairfax/fairlakes to buy a house
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Anonymous
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Cont from last post.
We are close to I-66, Rt.50, Rt.29. Rt-28, FFX county Parkway, several churches, lots of shopping. I really think you could get a nice house in Greenbriar for less than $450K. When DH and I were looking, we also weighed getting a nicer house farther out. We're glad we went the way we did, because it allowed DH a reasonable commute, and allowed me to stay home with the kids after they were born. |
Anonymous
Is there an active mom's group there - or do you at least have some good mom neighborhood friends even if not in a formal group? And did you say the library was within walking distance? How about parks and playgrounds? |
Anonymous
| You also might want to look into the Franklin Farm area. The homes are similar in size to Greenbrier, but it is a very different feel. Most homes are very well taken care of, so your husband would probably like it better. There are many in your price range and they feed into schools like Crossfield and Oak Hill. |
Anonymous
We like those neighborhoods, but those schools still have half-day K. But maybe we'll sell our house and rent somewhere for a year before buying while my kid is in K. That MIGHT allow us to save a little more money, too. Who knows? |
Anonymous
Louise Archer has about 790 students this year. But that's because of the AAP Center. |
Anonymous
Vienna-area elementary enrollments as of September 2010 (Waples Mill had 856 students): Archer - 788 Colvin Run - 881 Cunningham Park - 467 Flint Hill - 700 Freedom Hill - 653 Marshall Road - 605 Oakton - 694 Stenwood - 494 Vienna - 386 Westbriar - 525 Wolftrap - 587 |
Anonymous
Yes, I have plenty of mom friends. This neighborhood is full of kids. Some mom's work so we see their kids on the weekends. Some kids have SAHM's like me, so we see them more often. We also have kids close by who don't go to dc's school. They go to Catholic school or are home-schooled. There are parks close by, and Little Rocky Run walking trail. |
Anonymous
If I were OP I would focus on the Vienna Elementary area. The other numbers are crazy. |
Anonymous
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If you're open to a townhome, there are several that are approx 2500 sq ft in my development, Fair Woods. We are off of Rugby and 7100, zoned for Navy Elementary. There is one that was recently renovated as a flip but has yet to sell - most everything inside has been completely renovated including new windows. We do not have a neighborhood pool but the Fair Lakes (or Fair Oaks?) community behind Fair Oaks hospital has a pool and we can buy a voting membership to get on their board and get a pool access.
Homes in Greenbriar are definitely under 500k but the maintenance isn't as diligent as some would like, that said lots of them have been renovated before being put up for sale. The trees in the neighborhood are beautiful and the pool is a nice attraction but I'm not sure about the schools in Greenbriar. I also used to rent in Franklin Farm and loved it. The neighborhood is very well maintained, the HOA fees are relatively low and there are 2 pools, community center, etc. |
Anonymous
| People, when they say "Vienna rambler" it means complete and utter dump sans garage. Think ca. 1953 with 1970s updates (if at all). |
Anonymous
Not true at all; many in the poster's price range have more recent updates and are in good condition. But they won't necessarily have a garage or a lot of space (@ 1100-1500 SF is typical). |
Anonymous
| Unfortunately you cannot have everything in this area. New home/old home (totally updated), 2,500+ square ft, walking distance to drug/gocery/drycleaner/restauants, great neighbors, manageable commute...for $450,000 .or less for a SFH. When you make peace with certain facts about this area (DC metro) it makes life easier/ |
Anonymous
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If you live in Fair Lakes, what school are your kids going to right now? We live in Fair Lakes and have kids in both GBE and GBW. I find them both to be good schools. We started at GBW then got re-districted to GBE and now will be moved back to GBW. GBE scores look different b/c a lot of apt.s feed into the school and a lot of kids move in and out.
Greenbrier is a bit older, but it has a ton of kids. I wish we lived there. Our TH neighborhood has few kids to play with. You can also try Cabel's Mill. A nice older neighborhood just down Northbourne, across Stringfellow. They are in Poplar Tree/Rocky Run/Chantilly pyramid. An important thing to look for in the area is the HS pyramid. Not all of the homes feed to Chantilly. We are in GBE/Lanier/Fairfax. We don't have a problem with the schools, but the busing is crazy when we could walk to Rocky Run. Brookfield is another affordable area close by, but it is more of a transitional neighborhood. Not sure if that is what you are looking for. |
Anonymous
| Last week my realtor showed me some homes in the Woodson boundary of Fairfax. Single family for under $500K and a few of them were NICE. One had 4BR, a beautiful kitchen, a beautifully landscaped yard and was around $480K. Woodson is one of the best high schools in Fairfax County, and I think it's closer in than Fair Oaks/Fair Lakes. The homes I saw were North of Braddock Road and South of Little River Turnpike, and you could get to Vienna metro from there. |