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Home for $500k in Nova, small yard, near metro--possible?
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Anonymous
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We have been renting in Alexandria (10 minuted drive to Huntington metro) and it is a little far out for me as it takes me an hour to get to work in DC. DH works all over, but mostly Nova. We have family in Alexandria, so don't want to be too far out.
I would like to continue taking the metro to work (work pays for it). We have 2 under 2, but very low cost child care, decent retirement savings, little other money in the bank, one car payment, small student loan payment, but basically make about $150k take home, and feel we could comfortably buy for about $500k. We would love a yard for the kids and our dog. Single family would be great, only because our current townhouse neighbors are loud. Does this exist? Thanks for any thoughts. |
Anonymous
| Yes, but probably not anywhere that you could commute in much less than an hour. |
Anonymous
| You could find this in West Springfield or Burke. However, you'd have to drive to Metro (Springfield station) or take the bus (which is actually faster than drive/park/Metro) or even slug (which is what I do and it is actually a great way to commute). On the plus side, schools and neighborhoods are great - very kid friendly. $500K will likely get you a 3 or 4 bedroom with a yard that may need updates. |
Anonymous
| I think where you live now, near Huntington, is one of the least expensive areas of No. VA that is metro-accessible. You might want to look and see what you find within walking distance of the metro there before you look in other areas. I would think you could find a TH where you are, near Braddock Road, or at the Vienna metro. Maybe even a small/older SF home. |
Anonymous
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As long as you don't also believe you're going to get modern updates (and by "modern" I mean things as basic as "more than one bathroom") for the price, there are things that come up occasionally.
These two are in our Falls Church City neighborhood. http://franklymls.com/FA7623997 http://franklymls.com/FA7623997 |
Anonymous
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Oops, that second one should be:
http://franklymls.com/FA7607757 |
Anonymous
| Falls Church, the Fairfax County part (Falls Church City is great but you won't find anything for $500K there). You can find what you are looking for there; the downside is that the schools are in the lower range of Fairfax County schools. |
Anonymous
| Have you looked near Vienna/Fairfax Metro? |
Anonymous
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Will work pay for metro parking too, or garage parking at a non-metro garage? If so, you can look at homes in South Arlington that are easily accessible to Ballston Commons mall. A parking pass there is $77/month, and metro is about $2.50/trip. I saw some nice homes in the Barcroft/Alcova Heights area (south of 50, between Glebe and George Mason) and some were under $500K. That's probably your closest-in option.
You could also try to find something feeding into Woodson HS off of Little River Turnpike (the western part) or Fairfax HS and drive to Vienna or Dunn Loring metro. It can be tough to find something SFH aroudn there for under $500K, but it can be done. You might also luck into something that needs a little work that's in the fairfax part of 22046 feeding into McLean HS. We saw a few houses around the $500K mark that had nice yards and weren't too far from West Falls Church metro. (ended up spending a bit more to buy in north arl.) Springfield might work, too - there's a big metro garage there. |
Anonymous
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West Springfield, Vienna, Falls Church City (surprised to see places for under $550k unless they are complete and utter teardowns) or the McLean/Marshall parts of unincorporated Falls Church would cover your bases and be in good school districts. I don't think
South Arlington, south Falls Church, and Alexandria City are not for school snobs -- check the ESOL and FRL percentages at the school to which you're zoned (and CHECK THE FCPS WEBSITE, realtors have been known to fudge things.) IMO, you'd be okay safety-wise in a SFH in most of those areas (the crime in those areas congregates among older TH and garden apartment/condo areas, the worst you'd deal with in a SFH would be maybe 12 people to a house type situations.) |
Anonymous
I am not sure about Alexandria City but South Arlington, south Falls Church have very nice areas and other areas. Cases where there are five families living together are clustered. There are some very nice areas. |
Anonymous
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Believe it or not, you can still get a SFH in Del Ray/Rosemont for 500k. Small, but cute little yards. We love this neighborhood and there is no better place for a family with young kids.
This is one block from Braddock metro: 901 Ramsey Street 22301 also walkable to metro: 2210 Randolph |
Anonymous
Yes, but are you going to do public school past elementary? That's a big budget consideration. |
Anonymous
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what is your low cost childcare situation? Because I wouldn't want to go too far if I had something fabulous for cheap. We all know how expensive childcare is!
Could you take VRE? You might want to consider either in Burke or Lorton where you could walk or have a super short drive to VRE. We are househunting out in Western Fairfax for $450K and under. We have found some decent sized homes with yards out here, but it would be a bus ride to Metro. Reston will have Metro in a couple years, so you might want to think about that. There are some areas down your way where we could afford a home, but it just doesn't make sense since my husband works in Ashburn. Good luck in your decision! |