WE just bought for 455K in S. Arlington (in Nauck). We can walk to Shirlington and the restaurants on Columbia Pike. There is a lot of bus options to take.

House is 4 bed, 2 bath, 2K square feet, good size yard.

but we had to do work (paint, new floors). And well I live near minorities and poor people which according to this board is not acceptable

.

NE DC!

If you don't mind smaller. older rowhouses, check out the area east of the Ft. Totten Metro (20011 and 20017)--most are listed in the $300,000s. They're semi-detached, which means you only share one wall with a neighbor. There are some detached homes in 20017 closer to Brookland on Redfin.com that looked pretty nice.

We'll see how we fair in the OOB and charter lotteries, though--I don't have a lot of confidence in our in-bounds school.

http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/4860-Queens-Chapel-Ter-NE-20017/home/10100752
http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/5020-14th-St-NE-20017/home/10093160
http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1427-Monroe-St-NE-20017/home/10093547

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought for $440k in W Springfield last year. Nice 4 bedroom, good schools, walkable. The commute is long, though.

Is it? Ugh, how long is long? We are FT buyers and have fallen in love with W. Springfield (budget is <400k. We would be commuting downtown.

When DH was carpooling with his co-workers, it was 45 minutes door-to-door. Now he drives to the metro and takes that in. Its between 60-90 minutes. Pretty long.

PG poster again - this one's a bit more, but a lot of house for $575 -

http://www.homesnap.com/MD/College-Park/4601-Amherst-Road

Anonymous wrote:I'm not homebuying anymore, but was not too long ago. Come join us regular folk in 20002. (Trinidad/Carver-Langston/Kingman Park/Rosedale)

Agree! We bought for waaay under 6 a few years ago in 20002 and are in love with our neighborhood. We are actually Atlas District but right next to Rosedale.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought for $440k in W Springfield last year. Nice 4 bedroom, good schools, walkable. The commute is long, though.

Is it? Ugh, how long is long? We are FT buyers and have fallen in love with W. Springfield (budget is <400k. We would be commuting downtown.

Check out the slug lines and the express buses! Lots of options if you're open to using them.

http://www.slug-lines.com/

I live just up the street from WSHS, and really like the area We bought for $460ish a couple years ago.

OP, were do you work? How long are you willing to commute? Those factors really impact how much house you can buy.

We bought in Western Fairfax in 2012 for $550k. But, we work in Western Fairfax, so for us, it makes sense to live there.

Anonymous wrote:We bought for $440k in W Springfield last year. Nice 4 bedroom, good schools, walkable. The commute is long, though.

Is it? Ugh, how long is long? We are FT buyers and have fallen in love with W. Springfield (budget is <400k. We would be commuting downtown.

Hi, everyone! 15:18-- SFH can be a rowhouse, too! --OP.

Come out to PG, OP!

This one could be super cute with a little TLC, in-bounds to a great elementary and walkable to green line -

http://www.homesnap.com/MD/University-Park/4003-Tennyson-Road

Anonymous wrote:I'm not homebuying anymore, but was not too long ago. Come join us regular folk in 20002. (Trinidad/Carver-Langston/Kingman Park/Rosedale)

Sorry - didn't see that you were interested in a SFH. If you change your mind, NE DC awaits

We bought for $440k in W Springfield last year. Nice 4 bedroom, good schools, walkable. The commute is long, though.

in the same boat- first time buyer. i was the poster looking previously at the comstock townhomes at the hampshires.

I'm not homebuying anymore, but was not too long ago. Come join us regular folk in 20002. (Trinidad/Carver-Langston/Kingman Park/Rosedale)

I know you are out there, even on DCUM. (Aren't you?)
I read this forum often, but a lot of the discussion is among people of an entirely different strata, home-buying wise, than us.
I thought it'd be useful to have a thread where those of us who are buying at the below-6 amount could compare notes.
We're looking to buy our first SFH. We're bummed by all the brick rectangles and are trying to imagine grooving them up.
Also, anyplace we can afford seems to be not-walkable to anything, and we're going to be using the car a lot. And not near metro.
Even 6 is challenging to us. We can do it, but it's a stretch. Any comrades out there?