I live in the Oakton pyramid in a SFH on .75 acre wooded lot. Paid $518k in 2010. I'm 10 mins from the toll road or Vienna metro. I can get to Alexandria via 66/495 easily.

I would say rent and get a feel for your commute and take your time finding the right home. Burke is nice in that it also has the VRE that goes into downtown DC.

You really need to redirect your neighborhood search to the West Springfield/Burke area. Focus on West Springfield HS and Lake Braddock HS pyramids. Anything off Old Keene Mill Rd, starting at Greeley and working your way out towards Burke.

Wonderful neighborhoods. Fabulous elementary schools. Easy access to where you need to be (by DC standards).

I'm not the Pimmit Hills lady -- but I would say Falls Church, in and around Shreve Rd, you may be able to get something.

here's something I found
http://franklymls.com/FX7968700

http://franklymls.com/FX7963103

Anonymous wrote:Oakton is next to Vienna OP. Not really easily accessible to Alexandria. Be sure to look in the nice areas of each town. Fairfax county is big (which is why they have money) - but compared to better places, it is too big and does not allocate its money properly. You do need to define diversity. Is parental involvement important to you?

Your post makes no sense at all. Want to try again?

Oakton is next to Vienna OP. Not really easily accessible to Alexandria. Be sure to look in the nice areas of each town. Fairfax county is big (which is why they have money) - but compared to better places, it is too big and does not allocate its money properly. You do need to define diversity. Is parental involvement important to you?

I know of a house that just sold for 530,000 in Collingwood Estates. South of Alexandria

Anonymous wrote:The top HS are: Langley, McLean, Marshall, Madison, Woodson by test scores. (not in that order) This is pretty well known and housing prices reflect this.

By test score order it would usually be Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison, Oakton, Marshall. For a SFH near $500K, the Woodson district would probably be your best bet, as it's further out. But it's arbitrary to limit oneself to homes in just those HS districts, when there are many good schools and nice neighborhoods in the county.

Anonymous wrote:The top HS are: Langley, McLean, Marshall, Madison, Woodson by test scores. (not in that order) This is pretty well known and housing prices reflect this.

where is Oakton?

And it is pretty damn hard to find a decent SFH in any of the "top 5" school districts for under $500K.

Honestly, a good portion of the FCPS HSs have SAT scores above the VA State average, which is higher than the National Average. It isn't like sending your kid to anything less than the top 5 HSs in Fairfax is dooming them to a life of crime. A good portion of the schools in Fairfax are ranked in the top 20 in the state according to at least one of the national HS ranking publications. We're talking about SAT scores in the 16 and 1700s here - the difference is mostly about diversity of the student body.

The top HS are: Langley, McLean, Marshall, Madison, Woodson by test scores. (not in that order) This is pretty well known and housing prices reflect this.

Anonymous wrote:And, what does "a bit" of diversity mean, anyway, sweetie?

WHOA. Nasty! Take a pill.

Anonymous wrote:22046 for under $500K is hard, but it gets easier if you can get closer to $550K. We saw a few single-family homes last year that were do-able in that range; most fed into McLean HS. Not sure about the commute to Alexandria from there, though, as you're kind of far from either 395 or 495.

You can find some small townhouses in 22046 that feed into George Mason. OK for a young or childless couple, but not so great for kids or dogs.

22046 for under $500K is hard, but it gets easier if you can get closer to $550K. We saw a few single-family homes last year that were do-able in that range; most fed into McLean HS. Not sure about the commute to Alexandria from there, though, as you're kind of far from either 395 or 495.

Anonymous wrote:If you can stretch to 550, Del Ray, Rosemont, and several other Alexandria City neighborhoods would be great, and leave your husband with a super-short commute.

Based on everything I have read and heard, the schools in alexandria are not considered to be very good. Now, maybe at the elementary school level, this is OK, but past that, many people are not comfortable with the alexandria city schools.

However, $550K is more reasonable stretch than $800K. I could see someone being able to stretch an extra $50K, especially with the tax rates in this area and the low interest rates right now.

Anonymous wrote:If you can get up into the $800K range, then Vienna is close to the metro and has good schools.

how is this even remotely helpful? she said her budget was $500K. Try to understand that most people don't have $300K flexibility on their max budget, OK?