Reply to Tempted to move to great falls from McLean as prices seem to be falling

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Seems like GF is good if you work in Reston or Tysons.

I do expect prices to continue to slide, however, as places need to capture a decent share of high-paid DC workers to maintain price levels as high as GF's historical levels.  It doesn't matter if a handful of GF residents live close enough to catch a bus on Route 7 to a Metro station. For the most part, GF is the epitome of a car-dependent suburb with limited access to public transportation.

The distance to the middle and high schools is a negative, too. Imagine how much more convenient it would be if Langley were near 193 and River Bend Road, rather than near the Arlington County border.  Unfortunately, there is only one high school in FCPS west of the Beltway and north of the Toll Road - Herndon.
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But GF also works for those of us who cannot afford the $1 million + homes in Arlington/Falls Church/McLean/Vienna.  I looked in all those areas last year and could afford hardly any of them; the few homes that were in my budget were old, old teardowns or homes that needed major renovations -- and these were still at the top of my budget.  Great Falls was the only place relatively close that offered homes with the features I wanted, good schools, and under $800k.  Personally, I don't really care what the market is doing right now; we have the home we want, and do not regret it in the least.[/quote]

Great that you found a house you like.  But people would not be talking about houses in GF below $800K as a less expensive alternative to Arlington, etc., unless prices there were coming down, and that's what OP was asking about in the first place.[/quote]

I will bet GF will eventually go the way of Mclean, Vienna and the like: as the older folks sell their homes and the available open land becomes less available, new builds will go up in place of these old homes, prices will increase, etc.[/quote]

Except...due to your limited knowledge of RE development, you cannot just tear down and rebuild in GF as you can elsewhere (Arl, vienna, FC) because GF DOES NOT have public utilities (sewer, water, particularly) which greatly inhibit redeveloping old homes due to environmental requirements.  For example, for new homes an old septic drainfield cannot be reused and the state new requires 100% reserve area for new drainfields.   new wells must also be drilled and they must be a minumum of 100 ft from the new drainfield.  Even with 2-acre lots, this is a challenge - believe me.   You will never see the tear down and redo activity in GF that you see in Vienna, Arl, and FC now.   This will limit growth as GF runs out of virgin land and with no new construction, prices will not be heading up...

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About 1/2 of GF south of 193 is on city water/sewer.  [/quote]

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