Anonymous wrote:Why are people talking about madison high school (town of vienna) it is not even close to being inside the beltway.

Because Madison and Marshall draw from some of the same middle and elementary schools and are both in Vienna, so folks around here think of them as being close (and the inside the beltway distinction is less important if you already live here).

That said, I think there are many who view Madison as more desirable, which is also code for more "white" and lower FARMS.

Why are people talking about madison high school (town of vienna) it is not even close to being inside the beltway.

I also live between Braddock and LRT and have driven my kid to Frost every morning. (I cut through the neighborhood to avoid the light at Pickett and instead head north at Olley Ln.)

My husband drove our other kid to Lake Braddock every morning for a month.

Consistently my husband made it to the Beltway faster than me.

Perhaps I have always hit Braddock on a bad day. But I was also speaking more to driving into DC from the the neighborhoods that feed to LB, many of which are deep in Burke. Although VRE is a definite option.

Like the PP mentioned, there are many houses in the Dunn Loring Woods areas of Vienna that feed to Marshall HS and that would be an easy Orange Line commute into DC. Also, some of the neighborhoods around the Vienna metro station feed to Oakton HS. Although some won't consider these neighborhoods because the middle school is Luther Jackson.

12:04 - they're the closest Fairfax County schools to DC that most of the posters on here would find acceptable. The only closer schools are Stuart and Falls Church HS, and neither of those ranks especially high in the county. They're also not terribly far from orange line metro, which is a pretty reliable and pretty quick way into DC. (I did the commute from Vienna/Dunn Loring metros into DC - Gallery Place, Fed Triangle - for 12 years. Totally doable and rarely painful.)

I think there's a wider spread for teardowns in both Vienna and McLean than some posts acknowledge. A teardown in the Archer or Vienna ES district closer to the heart of the Town of Vienna might go for more than one in the Marshall Road district

In Vienna at least, the "strike price"--the price the builder is willing to pay for a property on quarter to a half acre of land in the town and still make the profit he wants on the $1.2-$1.3 million house he plans to build there --remains around $520,000. That's just as true in Archer territory as it is on Cottage Street, and the lots on Cottage are bigger than many off Lawyers Road. Having said that, there are some isolated lots in NW Vienna (Lincoln St) with more land, so the strike price there is higher, and the houses going up there are going for closer to $2 million.

That's why there are houses in good shape in the Archer neighborhood going for $600K and up. But, if they're in good condition, they're going fast, and are probably going for closer to $700K than $600K.

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, I don't want to derail by getting off on an obscure tangent, but I live between Braddock and Little River and drive my kid to Woodson every morning. I am getting on Little River from Pickett every day at 7:10ish and am on the Beltway on my way to work in about 5 minutes. The worst is the series of lights between Guinea and Woodburn, but that is not so bad. Occasionally I take Braddock for some odd reason and immediately swear not to ever do it again!

I also live between Braddock and LRT and have driven my kid to Frost every morning. (I cut through the neighborhood to avoid the light at Pickett and instead head north at Olley Ln.)

My husband drove our other kid to Lake Braddock every morning for a month.

Consistently my husband made it to the Beltway faster than me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Madison distrct you are going to be competing with the tear down crowd. That price is not so available as it once was

Teardowns are at about the 500k level. Maybe 550K for a big lot. It is tight, but there is a market at 600-700K.

Tear downs went up to $650-700 this past year. All that new construction.

That's complete bs. Teardowns in madison school district are still around 500k. For 650 to 700k No one could teardown and built something new especially when the ceiling is about 1.2 million. Teardowns in McLean are 650-700.

I think there's a wider spread for teardowns in both Vienna and McLean than some posts acknowledge. A teardown in the Archer or Vienna ES district closer to the heart of the Town of Vienna might go for more than one in the Marshall Road district, and a teardown in the Churchill Road or Franklin Sherman district in McLean might go for more than one in the Kent Gardens district. Many teardowns near downtown McLean now go for over $800K, but that doesn't mean that there aren't decent older houses for closer to $700K in the Kent Gardens/Haycock areas. In either case, the $700K houses may seem underwhelming, but you are getting very good schools and a shorter commute compared to further out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Madison distrct you are going to be competing with the tear down crowd. That price is not so available as it once was

Teardowns are at about the 500k level. Maybe 550K for a big lot. It is tight, but there is a market at 600-700K.

Tear downs went up to $650-700 this past year. All that new construction.

That's complete bs. Teardowns in madison school district are still around 500k. For 650 to 700k No one could teardown and built something new especially when the ceiling is about 1.2 million. Teardowns in McLean are 650-700.

Also Madison school district is farther out and not inside the beltway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Madison distrct you are going to be competing with the tear down crowd. That price is not so available as it once was

Teardowns are at about the 500k level. Maybe 550K for a big lot. It is tight, but there is a market at 600-700K.

Tear downs went up to $650-700 this past year. All that new construction.

That's complete bs. Teardowns in madison school district are still around 500k. For 650 to 700k No one could teardown and built something new especially when the ceiling is about 1.2 million. Teardowns in McLean are 650-700.

PP again. This is the type of home I am talking about:

http://www.redfin.com/VA/Mc-Lean/1808-Melbourne-Dr-22101/home/9403386

listed at $715k, but been on market for a while, so you could probably get it for closer to $700k. Not ideal layout or updates, but is on 1/4 acre in great school district inside the Beltway.

OP, you can find something in the McLean and Marshall HS pyramids for $700k. It may not be ideal, e.g., an older split level with three bedrooms up and one bedroom down, but you will get terrific schools, and can eventually remodel or build up. That's what we are doing. Look specifically in the Kent Gardens Elementary area of McLean.

Example ?

Bull. I live in NW vienna, and there are housing being sold at 600K that are not being torn down. Heck, if you know a builder that will pay 700K for a lot in Vienna (NW, Louise Archer district), I could be talked into selling....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Madison distrct you are going to be competing with the tear down crowd. That price is not so available as it once was

Teardowns are at about the 500k level. Maybe 550K for a big lot. It is tight, but there is a market at 600-700K.

Tear downs went up to $650-700 this past year. All that new construction.

Oakton HS for the 22181 and 22124 zip codes. 680 - 875 range for SFH or upscale TH. Most are metro accessible via foot (less than 1 mile) or via bus (2B or 466). GL.