Moving to Arlington

[Anonymous]

We are looking to move to Arlington this summer. We have a house budget of $600k. I know the high schools are good but don't know how to find a good elementary school.

Could you recommend neighborhoods that are friendly to preschool and school aged children?
Are there any neighborhoods that we should avoid?

[Anonymous]

With a max of $600k, you'll get a lot more bang for your buck south of Rt. 50. There are parts of Glen Carlin that feed into Washington-Lee HS instead of Wakefield.

$600k in North Arlington may -- MAY -- get you a fixer-upper or a 2BR/1BA SFH. If you're interested in a townhouse or condo, however, your options expand a bit more.

How old/how many are your kids? How long are you looking to stay in this new place?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With a max of $600k, you'll get a lot more bang for your buck south of Rt. 50. There are parts of Glen Carlin that feed into Washington-Lee HS instead of Wakefield.

$600k in North Arlington may -- MAY -- get you a fixer-upper or a 2BR/1BA SFH. If you're interested in a townhouse or condo, however, your options expand a bit more.

How old/how many are your kids? How long are you looking to stay in this new place?

We have a toddler and a preschooler. Looking to buy before the older child starts kindergarten.

Townhouses are fine. We do not need a single family home.

[Anonymous]

I would probably look at these:
http://franklymls.com/AR7579304
http://franklymls.com/AR7587568
http://franklymls.com/AR7590003
http://franklymls.com/AR7510239

Close-in, good schools, under the $600K threshold, and big enough for your family.

Townhouses are great if you don't want maintenance, but a lot of the developments have $300+ month condo fees on top of the mortgage, and the single family homes are generally subject to smaller HOA fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to move to Arlington this summer. We have a house budget of $600k. I know the high schools are good but don't know how to find a good elementary school.

Could you recommend neighborhoods that are friendly to preschool and school aged children?
Are there any neighborhoods that we should avoid?

define good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would probably look at these:
http://franklymls.com/AR7579304
http://franklymls.com/AR7587568
http://franklymls.com/AR7590003
http://franklymls.com/AR7510239

Close-in, good schools, under the $600K threshold, and big enough for your family.

Townhouses are great if you don't want maintenance, but a lot of the developments have $300+ month condo fees on top of the mortgage, and the single family homes are generally subject to smaller HOA fees.

The last three are all on very busy roads and I would not want to live in them. OP, it will be really hard to find a SFH in N. Arlington in that price range that is not either in bad shape or a less than desirable location. I would look at townhouses, but even they are usually over $600,000. Most of N. Arlington is FULL of kids so anywhere you go would probably be fine. For specific neighborhoods that generally have smaller houses (i.e. lower price tags), I might look at Arlington Forest, Dominion Hills, Westover, and Bluemont.

[Anonymous]

Ashlawn is a good elementary school and the houses are lower priced in the neighborhoods that feed into it. Not sure of the names of those neighborhoods. Also Tuckahoe is a good school and there are some lower price houses around there.

[Anonymous]

Most THs in Arlington will not be condo but simple fee ownership, e.g. you own the plot of land under your TH just as you would in a home. So you would have HOA fees for your TH, which can be higher than SFH given common spaces that need to be maintained...we don't pay much though, $100/month for an $900k TH

Also, assuming you don't need to be walking distance to metro, all THs or SFHs that fit that bill in N Arlington are north of $650k...there are some small (1200-1600 sq feet) THs on the market near Ballston for around $675k right now which are walkable to metro and amenities....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of N. Arlington is FULL of kids so anywhere you go would probably be fine. For specific neighborhoods that generally have smaller houses (i.e. lower price tags), I might look at Arlington Forest, Dominion Hills, Westover, and Bluemont.

You might have better luck in Arlington Forest or Bluemont in that price range. Unless you're looking at a really basic, un-updated house, just about everything in Dominion Hills and Westover is over $600 as well. You can easily find low 600s, but in the 500s would be tough.