There are a lot of things about a house you can fix. The location is not one of them. I'd compromise on location for something I could paint/renovate to my satisfaction rather than do the hellish commute from Chantilly. The best thing about Chantilly is Willard's BBQ and the Cub Run recreation pool. And I can visit for those and don't have to live in bland, strip mall hell the rest of the time.

OP again, thank you all for the house links, we've put them on our list. Grateful for the help and opinions!

OP again.

We are willing to compromise on some of our options, it's just so hard to potentially get the exact same thing we have now... for twice the price. Right now we have a 2000 sq.ft. town home that we got for under 300k at a prime location. All we'd potentially get that we didn't have before is a yard and maybe a garage. But what we have now is fixed up how we like it. I have been scrolling through Trulia and Redfin for weeks now and feel dissatisfied. Maybe I'm just hoping for too much even trying to scale back my wishes. Everyone says don't buy unless you can live with it, cause you have to. But I don't want to be doing this commute still in 6 to 12 months.

Part of the issue is I DON'T want to move. I just can't do 2 hrs in evening anymore.

DH and I are still checking out Chantilly and he may take a day off to test the commute himself to and from Vienna Metro. I'm also realizing how far it would put us away from our friends elsewhere in D.C. Dreading this process.

OP, I just posted the Vienna and Oakton listings. Madison and Oakton are awesome HS and the property holds it value. If you can afford it, it's the best option.

Goo luck!

Oakton listings

http://www.mrishomes.com/homes-for-sale/3610-TWILIGHT-CT-OAKTON-VA-22124-203640290

http://www.mrishomes.com/homes-for-sale/11126-TATTERSALL-TRL-OAKTON-VA-22124-206611513

http://www.mrishomes.com/homes-for-sale/3057-FOX-MILL-RD-OAKTON-VA-22124-200778683

http://www.mrishomes.com/homes-for-sale/11806-WAPLES-MILL-RD-OAKTON-VA-22124-207458119

2 options in Vienna - under 700

http://www.mrishomes.com/homes-for-sale/2222-LOCH-LOMOND-DR-VIENNA-VA-22181-206965642



http://www.mrishomes.com/homes-for-sale/9623-COUNSELLOR-DR-NW-VIENNA-VA-22181-207625674

Anonymous wrote:OP, I got everything you were looking for in a Kings Park west home. Four bedrooms upstairs, large bedroom in finished basement with a bath and an updated kitchen/opened up floor plan. Look for updated Baron models.

I think this is your answer, too, OP. I don't see any active listings for this model currently, but check out the three listings under contract to get an idea of the model. Two on Headly Court and one on Dundalk Street. Zip code is 22032.

We are in another neighborhood in 22032, but Kings Park West was one of the neighborhoods we were looking in before we bought. Imagine a 5-10 minute commute to GMU!! That is golden!!! I commute to DC and like riding the VRE.

I live in Chantilly, and am surviving to tell the tale! I commute to DC via commuter bus 3x a week. There are bus stops throughout the area. I catch one 2miles from our house at a commuter lot. I love where I live, our neighborhood has a great community feel, and I still work in DC (fed). I get to work at 7:15 when I catch a 6:30am bus, and I get home between 5:30-6:00 when I catch the 3:52-4:04 bus home. This ensures I'm still home for dinner and bedtime. If I have a trial I'm prepping for I stay until about 6:15, and get home by 7:30 on the bus. Obviously, I can work from home after that if I need to.

South Riding does not feed to Chantilly HS.

Chantilly to DC is tough, but bearable if you work early or late hours. We live near SR and DH commutes to Bethesda, but it's 45 minutes to and just under an hour home because he leaves by 6am/330pm. He's a morning person, so it works for him. Commute to GMU isn't too bad especially if you're near FFX Co Parkway (again depends on how far west you are).

And I agree, don't buy a house with an extra bedroom just because your in laws want you to. That's ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sounds like Chantilly is an awful option. This is why I thought to come here and get ideas of commutes from folks more familiar with the area - I only really drive to work when I'm in FFX.

Like I said, we're also looking at Burke and FFX, but Vienna seems really out of our price range. We're looking for four bedrooms, one of which would be a guest, and needing enough area to have an office if DH or I choose to telework. I need yard if we're not within walking distance of parks (less than a mile) and I'd prefer a garage and/or lots of storage space. And we need a big kitchen, we love to cook and that's just part of our family/friend culture - that's the biggest factor that's keeping a lot of these houses out of the running. And DH wants lots of natural light.

I could go down to three rooms but we're under pressure from DH's family to go larger to host holidays now.

You're not as wealthy as your extended family pressuring you to get a four bedroom house thinks you are. You can't have a room dedicated just to them, make the home office double as a guest room. People in three bedrooms houses love to cook and host holidays too. Joy and love does not have a square footage requirement.

sorry OP but on your budget you have some trade offs. For us, we were not willing to give up the nice commute or the big kitchen, so we moved close in, small house, but renovated to have the big open kitchen. We only have 3 bedrooms and no master bath. Luckily we have a lot of family close by, so when my parents want to stay the night (they are about 2 hours away) they usually crash at my sibling's house about half an hour away. And DH's parents and sibling live within 45 minutes so no need to spend the night. We can host nice holiday meals in our kitchen, people just can't stay over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would move to Syria before I moved to Chantilly.

Shut up. People are dying there you asshole.

+100 kajillion

Shut up, you cretin.

Meh, maybe this person will actually go to Syria and do society a favor by dying.

Syria, VA. Actually quite nice, quick access to hiking.

A bit of a scramble, eh? Is your taste that ragged?

And one helacious commute.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would move to Syria before I moved to Chantilly.

Shut up. People are dying there you asshole.

+100 kajillion

Shut up, you cretin.

Meh, maybe this person will actually go to Syria and do society a favor by dying.

Syria, VA. Actually quite nice, quick access to hiking.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sounds like Chantilly is an awful option. This is why I thought to come here and get ideas of commutes from folks more familiar with the area - I only really drive to work when I'm in FFX.

Like I said, we're also looking at Burke and FFX, but Vienna seems really out of our price range. We're looking for four bedrooms, one of which would be a guest, and needing enough area to have an office if DH or I choose to telework. I need yard if we're not within walking distance of parks (less than a mile) and I'd prefer a garage and/or lots of storage space. And we need a big kitchen, we love to cook and that's just part of our family/friend culture - that's the biggest factor that's keeping a lot of these houses out of the running. And DH wants lots of natural light.

I could go down to three rooms but we're under pressure from DH's family to go larger to host holidays now.

You're not as wealthy as your extended family pressuring you to get a four bedroom house thinks you are. You can't have a room dedicated just to them, make the home office double as a guest room. People in three bedrooms houses love to cook and host holidays too. Joy and love does not have a square footage requirement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are crazy to move to Chantilly. Move to Vienna or Mclean or North Arlington.

Where is she going to find 4bedroom SFH that is updated in those areas for under $600k?

She won't. Not even 700K.

Fairfax City, Fairfax by GMU and Burke are the best options for OP. She's going to have to compromise on her wants unless she's willing to have a long commute.

Anonymous wrote:You are crazy to move to Chantilly. Move to Vienna or Mclean or North Arlington.

Where is she going to find 4bedroom SFH that is updated in those areas for under $600k?