Questions About Living in DC Area

[savannahcat]

I lived in Northern VA from 1995 to 2000, first in Reston, then in Sterling. We bought a single family home in Sterling for $160K and sold it for $180K (fsbo) a year later. Last I checked, homes in that neighborhood (built in the 1960's) were selling in the range of $450K. Oh, how I wish we had kept that home as a rental property!

That said, I really disliked living in the DC area. I grew up in a fairly rural area and never could get used to the tiny residential lots and traffic. I hear the traffic is much worse now than it was 10 years ago. In short, I would not move back to that area by choice - I value my personal space too much!

 

[Tina]

I live in the Western end of Prince William County. You could definitely find a house out here at the high end of your price range, but adding $25k would definitely expand your options. The commute from here is not great, but we get used to it over time. I commute into Fairfax and am lucky enough to have a flexible schedule. On most days, I leave the house around 8:45am and make it to the office between 9:15 and 9:30.

Many commuters in my area take the train (VRE) if they are heading into the District. There is a great little station just south of Manassas that goes to all the way to Union Station, with a few convenient stops along the way (Arlington/Crystal City/L'enfant Plaza). My ex rides it daily and loves it, in comparison to driving in or driving to the nearest Metro station (too far!). You can get more info here: http://www.vre.org

If VRE is an option for you, definitely do some home searching in Bristow/Gainesville. I love our area and have lived here now for 12 years.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Hmmm, let's see. Northern VA. is very expensive but also very lovely. You'll pay a nice sum to live there, probably around $500,000 or so for a house. Townhouses are more like $350,000. As far as desirable areas, Fairfax, Oakton, Reston, Ashburn, Leesburg, South Riding and Clifton are all pretty nice. But the down side is that you're going to be in traffic. Actually, you're pretty much going to be in it no matter what unless you take the metro. Even still, you have to drive to the metro, park and then wait for it as well. Good luck to your DH with the job! Hope he gets it then!

 

[Tina]

Just out of curiousity, I did a realtor.com search for homes in your prices range in my area. I bought my townhouse 2 years ago and I'm well aware of how much I lost in the housing bust. It looks like a great time to be a buyer now. There are tons of single family homes (nice and nearly new!) in your price range. Just for an example: I bought my 3 year old townhome in June 2007 for $345,000. Today, I would be lucky to sell it for $225,000. Single family homes are in the same boat. Good luck to your DH in the interview process.

 

[Christine]

OP-

I live in the Eastern side of Prince William County and you can DEFINITELY get a single family home in your price range. Because this end of the county has been well-developed since the 1960s, we have all sorts of housing and it is not very rural like on the Western end. We have our, hmmmm, "bad" areas but they are easy enough to avoid and there is no real spillover of crime or violence. It is not as pretty as the western end; however, I think we have the leg up on commutability. I know many people who commute into DC from that area and the VRE is the way to go but it is still a lengthy process. The good news is that the government will subsidize your ride.

On this end of the county, we have the VRE, the PRTC OmniRide bus system straight into DC and leaves right out of many neighborhoods so there is often no need to even go to a commuter lot. If you do go to one of the many commuter lots, there are busses, vans, and the ever popular "slug" system to get you into DC for FREE!!!! I slugged for awhile and it was a great experience. If you take any form of public transportation from this area into town and use the HOV lanes, the commute is roughly 40 minutes. The train takes longer. Depending on the job location, when you take the train you often have to go catch the Metro afterward. My coworker commutes from Manassas via VRE train and start to finish is almost a 2 hour proposition for him (yet he is napping for much of it).

Some neigborhoods in eastern Prince William County to search in my area are Montclair, Springwoods, Westridge. They all feed into pretty good schools. I like where I am situated but I do not feed into a good school. I do have a 1/2 acre lot, 2500 square feet and my house sells for about $325,000.

 

[dis-happy]

For homeschooling try to live in VA as the laws are very homeschool friendly. If you register once under a religious exemption (if that is the reason you homschool, of course) you never have to do another thing.

We lived in No. Virginia and traffic was horrible. Try to live as close in as possible. So glad to be living in NC these days....the slug line is but a distant memory.

Good things about living there: all the free things to do on weekends in DC from the Smithsonian, the National Zoo, to 4th of July on the Mall.

My other advice: try to buy a place with a garage (whether it's a house or townhouse). Scraping ice and snow off your car is a huge pain. Especially if you were raised in CA. And don't know any better than to pour hot water on your windshield to make it melt. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

[monkeybug]

My other advice: try to buy a place with a garage (whether it's a house or townhouse). Scraping ice and snow off your car is a huge pain. Especially if you were raised in CA. And don't know any better than to pour hot water on your windshield to make it melt. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Ha ha!! I grew up in CA. too and did exactly the same thing when we moved here!!! I don't know if I get to blame it on CA though. I grew up in the mountains and we had snow...but I think I'm going to go ahead and use the excuse anyways.

 

[bas71873]

One of the hangups that keeps us relocating is home prices. The COLA (to me) isn't so bad....it's the cost of housing that is keeping us away (in addition to the cold...and the snow.).

Completely agree about the cost of housing

 

[bas71873]

bas71873, I live in Covington right now! Where in town did you live?[/B.

Penn Mill Lakes subdivision! My daughter went to CES for 1/2 of her Kindy year and we moved in Feb of this year, not too too long ago!

 

[LaraK]

Where I live you could get a house in that range and our High School is nationally ranked. Another plus is that we can walk to the private beach in our community. I can't pretend that the commute would be easy, especially on a Friday night when all of Baltimore and Washington are cutting through our neighborhood trying to get to the ocean.

Our area is great because it feels more like a small town than a city. Let me know if you want more info.