Anyone from Virginia?

[fantasymagic]

My husband is considering a job offer in Arlington, VA. We're trying to figure out the cost of living difference between Wisconsin and Virginia. We figured that you'd have to go out from Arlington to find affordable housing.

About how far would you have to commute to find "affordable" housing? Is my definition of "affordable" doable:

4 br house with 2 bathrooms @$200K-$220K?

I've tried to research on the web, but got all kinds of responses when trying to compare cost of living.

Thanks and pixiedust to you all!!!

 

[Blondie]

I'm not positive, but I do think a house in Arlington is going to cost you more than that if you want to live right there. You may have to live further south and commute to Arlington.

I suggest contacting a major real estate agent (like C21) and asking for a relocation package. They'll send you lots of info to get you started.

Good luck!

 

[kinlaw6450]

I am I am...but I am in Charlottesville...can't help with Arlington but welcome to Virginia!

 

[Blondie]

Oops, I forgot to add that your commute could be anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour away--depending.

I-95 is a disaster around here, you may only be a few miles away, but once you factor in the traffic, your looking at a longer commute.

I'm not sure about the cost of living difference, I think prices of food tend to be cheaper down here. Right now gas is running $1.30 a gallon (here in Fredericksburg.)

 

[fantasymagic]

And of course, the number 1 reason to relocate is to be 455 miles closer to Disneyworld, and to be able to get there in a day!!

 

[helenabear]

My favorite place to check out other regions in the US (like I'm going to move though ) is www.realtor.com They can help with a lot of things and even have tools to tell you that (for instance) if you make $50K in Madison WI, the equivalent for cost of living in Arlington would be nearly $67K. I do believe from what we've talked about with my in-laws that housing is even more expensive there than here for us. I think it might be difficult to find a home like you want for hte price you named (only based on what my in-laws have told me). But check out that website and it will give you an idea what is out there for homes and how much they cost. Good luck

 

[caitycaity]

"4 br house with 2 bathrooms @$200K-$220K?"

i don't mean to laugh, but you are never going to find that around here. you'd have to move pretty far away (an hour plus commute) to get a house like that, and it probably wouldn't be a new house.

i live in a md suburb of dc. dh and i can afford something up to $250k and around here that will get us a 3 br, 2 ba townhouse from the 1970's.

check out the COL calculator here:

http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html

i would assume that your husband would be getting a salary increase to make up for the COL differences.

my number 1 grip about this area is that it is so unaffordable. for that and other reasons, i'm looking to move out of this area, but it's hard b/c of what i do for a living.

good luck.

 

[Blondie]

You'll be able to build a new home here in Fredericksburg for the price you want.

You just have to be willing to drive the commute.

Many people who live here in Fredericksburg work at the Pentagon, Crystal City, Quantico, Arlington, Fairfax, Alexandria, etc.

Here's a link to get you started.

 

[Olaf]

You would have to live in Fredricksburg (over an hour away) to pay $220,000 for a 4-bedroom house. My girlfriend just sold her home (4 bedroom) in Stafford (about 45 miles out of DC) for $300,000. Arlington is in Fairfax County where the median cost of a home is around $500,000. The property taxes are also very high in that area.

Traffic is a nightmare too.

Sorry if this is depressing.

 

[nicurn]

you could also move west of arlington. We live in Loudoun county (ashburn) Traffic would not be the best, but there are at least several ways to get there, route 7, the toll road to 66, the toll road to the beltway, etc. There are also a lot of commuter vans, buses that have pickups and go into the city etc. House prices in asburn are unfortunantly high, average is probably 350 for a 4 bedroom (and depending on the development it can be 500,000) It really depends on how far you want to commute because as other posters have said, traffic is a nightmare. On the other hand if he isn't working 9-5 hrs it isn't bad. maggie

 

[caitycaity]

"You would have to live in Fredricksburg (over an hour away) "

that's over an hour away without the traffic. the traffic here is truly horrible. i live 16 miles outside of DC and during morning/evening rush it usually takes us just about an hour to get home, ocassionally more.

i'd say the rush hour commute from fredricksburg would be way more than 1 hour, each way.

 

[coqui]

For that price the house won't be big. You can get one in Alexandria. That is going to be about 30 - 45 minute commute. (5 minutes if no one was on the road)

Northern Virginia in general is more expensive to purchase because of the proximity to DC.

 

[Tina]

Yep, you really won't find those prices close in. I do know of a lot of people that are starting to moving out to the Culpeper area for those kind of prices. We lived there for about a year when we first moved to VA. We moved farther north when my DH got a new job in Vienna. Now he works in Arlington and we live in Prince William County (near I-66). 5 years ago we paid $203,000 for our newly constructed 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, brick home. Now the exact same builder is selling our same model just down the street starting at $349,000 (base price). You may find a nice townhome in Western PW County in the $200-250 range. As a matter of fact, my friends are selling their HUGE (3 Bedroom + finished basement) townhouse (only 2 years young). They've priced it at $265,000 to start. It is a huge place and very nice. This type of housing may be an option for you.