Only 400k to spend: don't mind small but want nice

[Anonymous]

http://franklymls.com/FX7976533

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://franklymls.com/FX7976533

thats not a detached house

[Anonymous]

well, that is what you get for the money in vienna. It is on option if OP is willing to buy a TH.

[Anonymous]

Op, this house in Falls Church, not in Falls Church City, but in the county, sold a few days ago for under $400,000. It's a very chill neighborhood near the Loehman's Plaza and the new Mosaic District. Easy access to 50, 66, 495 and the orange line.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/3156-Kenney-Dr-22042/home/9555117

And this one is nearby and now on the market:
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/3225-Dye-Dr-22042/home/9633403#property-details

This one sold in December for a $444,000. It is a flip, though, which I am not a fan of, but to each their own, for sure!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/7100-Kenfig-Pl-22042/home/9633798#agent-insights

The nearby Willow Point condos are nice, and they all have their own entrances to the outside, not hallways, but they are listed as condos. The Chrisland Cove condos/townhouses are also nice.

I think these are in the West Lawn elementary school, which I see as being a five out of ten on that rating in the listing. But I know a sub teacher who works all over the district and she really likes that particular school, fwiw.

Good luck! Let us know what you found.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to add-- Another little neighborhood also in Falls-Church-the-County is Fenwick Park. Yes, that's the name! Smalll houses, but nicely kept and cute streets. This one sold recently.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2857-Rogers-Dr-22042/home/9557521

Also, Greenway Downs in another neighborhood to check out. I like this house, but it only has one bath and no dining room. Love the yard!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2820-Woodlawn-Ave-22042/home/9553699#property-history

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, this house in Falls Church, not in Falls Church City, but in the county, sold a few days ago for under $400,000. It's a very chill neighborhood near the Loehman's Plaza and the new Mosaic District. Easy access to 50, 66, 495 and the orange line.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/3156-Kenney-Dr-22042/home/9555117

And this one is nearby and now on the market:
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/3225-Dye-Dr-22042/home/9633403#property-details

This one sold in December for a $444,000. It is a flip, though, which I am not a fan of, but to each their own, for sure!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/7100-Kenfig-Pl-22042/home/9633798#agent-insights

The nearby Willow Point condos are nice, and they all have their own entrances to the outside, not hallways, but they are listed as condos. The Chrisland Cove condos/townhouses are also nice.

I think these are in the West Lawn elementary school, which I see as being a five out of ten on that rating in the listing. But I know a sub teacher who works all over the district and she really likes that particular school, fwiw.

Good luck! Let us know what you found.

OP here. Many thanks for this! Question: I've been noticing that people are careful to distinguish between FC city and Falls Church. What's the difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to add-- Another little neighborhood also in Falls-Church-the-County is Fenwick Park. Yes, that's the name! Smalll houses, but nicely kept and cute streets. This one sold recently.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2857-Rogers-Dr-22042/home/9557521

Also, Greenway Downs in another neighborhood to check out. I like this house, but it only has one bath and no dining room. Love the yard!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2820-Woodlawn-Ave-22042/home/9553699#property-history

Wow, something like 2857 ROGERS Dr would be my dream come true. There's nothing like it on the market now, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. Hopefully the market hasn't changed too much in the past year and a similar home for a similar price is still possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to add-- Another little neighborhood also in Falls-Church-the-County is Fenwick Park. Yes, that's the name! Smalll houses, but nicely kept and cute streets. This one sold recently.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2857-Rogers-Dr-22042/home/9557521

Also, Greenway Downs in another neighborhood to check out. I like this house, but it only has one bath and no dining room. Love the yard!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2820-Woodlawn-Ave-22042/home/9553699#property-history

Wow, something like 2857 ROGERS Dr would be my dream come true. There's nothing like it on the market now, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. Hopefully the market hasn't changed too much in the past year and a similar home for a similar price is still possible.

OP, that's my neighborhood and it really is a terrific place for families. The people are friendly and there are tons of little kids right now. We also have a very active (in a good way) neighborhood association.

On the down side, prices have risen substantially over the past year or two. I think anything that sells in Fenwick for the low 400s at this point is going to be a real fixer-upper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to add-- Another little neighborhood also in Falls-Church-the-County is Fenwick Park. Yes, that's the name! Smalll houses, but nicely kept and cute streets. This one sold recently.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2857-Rogers-Dr-22042/home/9557521

Also, Greenway Downs in another neighborhood to check out. I like this house, but it only has one bath and no dining room. Love the yard!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2820-Woodlawn-Ave-22042/home/9553699#property-history

Wow, something like 2857 ROGERS Dr would be my dream come true. There's nothing like it on the market now, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. Hopefully the market hasn't changed too much in the past year and a similar home for a similar price is still possible.

The only issue I can think of are the public schools. They aren't as good as 22043, 22046 or 22182

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to add-- Another little neighborhood also in Falls-Church-the-County is Fenwick Park. Yes, that's the name! Smalll houses, but nicely kept and cute streets. This one sold recently.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2857-Rogers-Dr-22042/home/9557521

Also, Greenway Downs in another neighborhood to check out. I like this house, but it only has one bath and no dining room. Love the yard!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2820-Woodlawn-Ave-22042/home/9553699#property-history

Wow, something like 2857 ROGERS Dr would be my dream come true. There's nothing like it on the market now, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. Hopefully the market hasn't changed too much in the past year and a similar home for a similar price is still possible.

The only issue I can think of are the public schools. They aren't as good as 22043, 22046 or 22182

That's true but even the less desirable Fairfax county schools are still pretty good, comparatively speaking. And she'll never find a SFH in 22043, 22046 or 22182 for <$400,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:01:35, what school pyramid or are you going private? Schools are what give me pause in PGC.

1:35 here. And I missed the part where OP said that she was commuting to Arlington/Foggy Bottom amidst all the humble-bragging about buying a house without your parents' help.

What led us to PG County was that DH works there, and a commute from anywhere we could afford in Virginia would have been terrible. Of course, we could have bought in certain parts of Alexandria, but I began to realize that the schools there weren't even very good, so why was I looking at these old ugly houses? Then we started looking at the Bowie/Glenn Dale area. I realized that for 400k we could buy a house that would cost at least 800k on any other part of the beltway. So I did a calculation in my mind- what would that 400k difference mean? For our financial situation, it meant we would be paying taxes on a 400k house instead of a 800k house, have an easy commute for dh, be paying a mortgage on 400k instead of 800k, etc., and put our 1 dc in private school. It meant that I could stay home if I want to at any point. For health reasons it is unlikely that I will have another dc, so that was another factor to consider. The elementary school where we bought is a 6, last year was a 7, which is fairly impressive for the # of FARMS kids in the school. I also will apply for the lottery for the French and Montessori schools near the house. I also researched the crime in the area we bought, mostly petty, theft, and theft from vehicle. We went to the neighborhood at all hours of the day. I knocked on a bunch of neighbors' doors and introduced myself and chatted with them. DH asked people he worked with about living in that part of the county. I asked questions on city-data. It took a long time, and it was sort of an absurd amount of research that I didn't feel I needed to do when looking in VA.

Hear hear. PG County is a great place to live. We love our local elem school but are even happier that we won the lottery for the Montessori program. Our kids will go to that program through 8th grade and then hopefully get into the science/tech program at Eleanor Roosevelt, which is a great school. No compromises for us, just more diversity and lower cost of living. Our hundred year old 2200 sq ft house cost under 300K in 2009.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, this house in Falls Church, not in Falls Church City, but in the county, sold a few days ago for under $400,000. It's a very chill neighborhood near the Loehman's Plaza and the new Mosaic District. Easy access to 50, 66, 495 and the orange line.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/3156-Kenney-Dr-22042/home/9555117

And this one is nearby and now on the market:
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/3225-Dye-Dr-22042/home/9633403#property-details

This one sold in December for a $444,000. It is a flip, though, which I am not a fan of, but to each their own, for sure!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/7100-Kenfig-Pl-22042/home/9633798#agent-insights

The nearby Willow Point condos are nice, and they all have their own entrances to the outside, not hallways, but they are listed as condos. The Chrisland Cove condos/townhouses are also nice.

I think these are in the West Lawn elementary school, which I see as being a five out of ten on that rating in the listing. But I know a sub teacher who works all over the district and she really likes that particular school, fwiw.

Good luck! Let us know what you found.

OP here. Many thanks for this! Question: I've been noticing that people are careful to distinguish between FC city and Falls Church. What's the difference?

Falls Church City (FCC) is a small neighborhood in the 22046 zip code near West Falls Church Metro. It is oddly formed into its own township and has its own, small but very highly rated school system (two elementaries, one middle, one high). Housing stock is cute and expensive. There is a walkable part of it that's cute and has lots of neat stores, some restaurants, toy store, coffee shop etc. Real estate listings in that part of Virginia will start with FA.

Falls Church is spread around several zip codes - 22043 (the fabled Pimmit Hills), 22042 (somewhat less fabled neighborhoods) etc. The latter zip code is less desirable because schools are less attractive. On the plus side, it's close to the city and you get to FB straight down route 50. Real estate listings in that part of Virginia will start with FX.

Falls Church is a lot cheaper *generally* than Falls Church City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, this house in Falls Church, not in Falls Church City, but in the county, sold a few days ago for under $400,000. It's a very chill neighborhood near the Loehman's Plaza and the new Mosaic District. Easy access to 50, 66, 495 and the orange line.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/3156-Kenney-Dr-22042/home/9555117

And this one is nearby and now on the market:
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/3225-Dye-Dr-22042/home/9633403#property-details

This one sold in December for a $444,000. It is a flip, though, which I am not a fan of, but to each their own, for sure!
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/7100-Kenfig-Pl-22042/home/9633798#agent-insights

The nearby Willow Point condos are nice, and they all have their own entrances to the outside, not hallways, but they are listed as condos. The Chrisland Cove condos/townhouses are also nice.

I think these are in the West Lawn elementary school, which I see as being a five out of ten on that rating in the listing. But I know a sub teacher who works all over the district and she really likes that particular school, fwiw.

Good luck! Let us know what you found.

OP here. Many thanks for this! Question: I've been noticing that people are careful to distinguish between FC city and Falls Church. What's the difference?

Falls Church City (FCC) is a small neighborhood in the 22046 zip code near West Falls Church Metro. It is oddly formed into its own township and has its own, small but very highly rated school system (two elementaries, one middle, one high). Housing stock is cute and expensive. There is a walkable part of it that's cute and has lots of neat stores, some restaurants, toy store, coffee shop etc. Real estate listings in that part of Virginia will start with FA.

Falls Church is spread around several zip codes - 22043 (the fabled Pimmit Hills), 22042 (somewhat less fabled neighborhoods) etc. The latter zip code is less desirable because schools are less attractive. On the plus side, it's close to the city and you get to FB straight down route 50. Real estate listings in that part of Virginia will start with FX.

Falls Church is a lot cheaper *generally* than Falls Church City.

What's FB?

[Anonymous]

Here is another option:

http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2903-Cherry-St-22042/home/9560080

[Anonymous]

FB is Foggy Bottom. OP works in both Arlington and Foggy Bottom.