Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it have to be a single family? A townhouse is doable in many areas. If it must be a single family, you may look at Greenbrier West Elementary in Fairfax. Although I think you will still need to increase your budget.

I live near GBW - the smaller houses can still be had for under $500K. The model we have (the biggest original model at 2200 sf, called the Essex) is easily in the $530+ range now. We bought for $455K 3 years ago and had to put a good deal of work into it.

I also would NOT recommend our neighborhood to anyone who needs to commute to College Park. Tysons is doable, but MD would be bad.

That said, my husband has been commuting to Stafford County for almost 2 years now (his choice - he was working in Ashburn when we bought). It is against traffic and he got a hybrid car to cut down on fuel costs - he was driving an Acura before that required Premium and the gas costs were KILLING us.

I honestly don't know if there is a good compromise spot. VA's real estate is generally more expensive. And splitting Tyson's/College Park keeps you in MD.

Have you actually talked to families with kids in the DCC? I feel like there is a lot of snobbery on internet boards about anything that isn't the absolute top of everything. Not everyone can afford a million+ dollar home, and that is just the way it is. In general, the schools in this area still are going to be above average, even the ones people look down their noses at. Compared to the rest of the country, we have on average a better educated populace who is going to take their kids' education seriously and be involved. Please don't just discount schools just because they aren't the high fliers.

Agree completely.

Anonymous wrote:Does it have to be a single family? A townhouse is doable in many areas. If it must be a single family, you may look at Greenbrier West Elementary in Fairfax. Although I think you will still need to increase your budget.

I live near GBW - the smaller houses can still be had for under $500K. The model we have (the biggest original model at 2200 sf, called the Essex) is easily in the $530+ range now. We bought for $455K 3 years ago and had to put a good deal of work into it.

I also would NOT recommend our neighborhood to anyone who needs to commute to College Park. Tysons is doable, but MD would be bad.

That said, my husband has been commuting to Stafford County for almost 2 years now (his choice - he was working in Ashburn when we bought). It is against traffic and he got a hybrid car to cut down on fuel costs - he was driving an Acura before that required Premium and the gas costs were KILLING us.

I honestly don't know if there is a good compromise spot. VA's real estate is generally more expensive. And splitting Tyson's/College Park keeps you in MD.

Have you actually talked to families with kids in the DCC? I feel like there is a lot of snobbery on internet boards about anything that isn't the absolute top of everything. Not everyone can afford a million+ dollar home, and that is just the way it is. In general, the schools in this area still are going to be above average, even the ones people look down their noses at. Compared to the rest of the country, we have on average a better educated populace who is going to take their kids' education seriously and be involved. Please don't just discount schools just because they aren't the high fliers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been looking in that price range, and $400K is not going to get you very far in Falls Church. There's houses in the Annandale HS pyramid for that price, or if you want to go out farther towards Burke/ West Springfield you can get a townhome in that range.

PP here, another thought is in the southern part of Kingstowne you can find townhomes in this range zoned for Hayfield.

If you really want a SFH, you're not going to find much in that price range (as I said, we've been looking for a while). We're actually focusing on PG County now because we couldn't find a decent SFH in FFX. If you go a lot further outside the beltway it might be doable, but that wasn't an option for us due to commutes.

+1 My husband and I are doing the same!

+2 we're strongly considering it and planning to tour a few elementary schools in the fall

Townhouse in Burke, or in Annandale but not zoned for Annandale High, or in "Fairfax" but really it's in Merrifield near the new Mosiac District at the corner of Lee Highway and Gallows Road.

Use this link to check an address and see for which school it's zoned - http://boundary.fcps.edu/boundary/

Then check the test scores and demographics tabs to see what the school is like in their profile here: http://commweb.fcps.edu/schoolprofile/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been looking in that price range, and $400K is not going to get you very far in Falls Church. There's houses in the Annandale HS pyramid for that price, or if you want to go out farther towards Burke/ West Springfield you can get a townhome in that range.

PP here, another thought is in the southern part of Kingstowne you can find townhomes in this range zoned for Hayfield.

If you really want a SFH, you're not going to find much in that price range (as I said, we've been looking for a while). We're actually focusing on PG County now because we couldn't find a decent SFH in FFX. If you go a lot further outside the beltway it might be doable, but that wasn't an option for us due to commutes.

+1 My husband and I are doing the same!

Did you find a scent school district there?

That should be decent not "scent".

Middle and high school get more dodgy, but I know folks who have been happy with University Park Elementary and Spellman Elementary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been looking in that price range, and $400K is not going to get you very far in Falls Church. There's houses in the Annandale HS pyramid for that price, or if you want to go out farther towards Burke/ West Springfield you can get a townhome in that range.

PP here, another thought is in the southern part of Kingstowne you can find townhomes in this range zoned for Hayfield.

If you really want a SFH, you're not going to find much in that price range (as I said, we've been looking for a while). We're actually focusing on PG County now because we couldn't find a decent SFH in FFX. If you go a lot further outside the beltway it might be doable, but that wasn't an option for us due to commutes.

+1 My husband and I are doing the same!

Did you find a scent school district there?

That should be decent not "scent".

Another one here who did the same. We will worry about schools when our babies are a bit older.

Does it have to be a single family? A townhouse is doable in many areas. If it must be a single family, you may look at Greenbrier West Elementary in Fairfax. Although I think you will still need to increase your budget.

22031

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been looking in that price range, and $400K is not going to get you very far in Falls Church. There's houses in the Annandale HS pyramid for that price, or if you want to go out farther towards Burke/ West Springfield you can get a townhome in that range.

PP here, another thought is in the southern part of Kingstowne you can find townhomes in this range zoned for Hayfield.

If you really want a SFH, you're not going to find much in that price range (as I said, we've been looking for a while). We're actually focusing on PG County now because we couldn't find a decent SFH in FFX. If you go a lot further outside the beltway it might be doable, but that wasn't an option for us due to commutes.

+1 My husband and I are doing the same!

Did you find a scent school district there?

That should be decent not "scent".

In the Ravensworth ES boundary -- part of Lake Braddock SS pyramid:

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Springfield/5539-Queensberry-Ave-22151/home/9742605

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been looking in that price range, and $400K is not going to get you very far in Falls Church. There's houses in the Annandale HS pyramid for that price, or if you want to go out farther towards Burke/ West Springfield you can get a townhome in that range.

PP here, another thought is in the southern part of Kingstowne you can find townhomes in this range zoned for Hayfield.

If you really want a SFH, you're not going to find much in that price range (as I said, we've been looking for a while). We're actually focusing on PG County now because we couldn't find a decent SFH in FFX. If you go a lot further outside the beltway it might be doable, but that wasn't an option for us due to commutes.

+1 My husband and I are doing the same!

Did you find a scent school district there?