Need help -- where to live in metro DC (Virginia) area????

[onehappymomma]

Hello,

My family and I live in the Chicago area, but my husband may be getting transferred to Washington very soon. He will be working in the district so we really need help on where to live.

Is there any place in the greater area that
1) is not that far from the district for commuting to work,
2) that is SUPER safe (we have kids),
3) and not terribly expensive (where you can get a home under 500K)?

Please tell me there is such a place or places! Many moons ago I lived in Arlington VA for a summer intership and I loved it, but I didn't see any houses there we could afford now.... Please advise! Thanks in advance.

[nerdymom]

Eek, well. It's a really expensive area, though houses are starting to go down. Try looking in Fairfax, Lorton, Springfield, Centreville, Manassas. I hope that helps. Feel free to PM me with any questions about the area, I've lived here my whole life.

[Virginia884]

OneHappyMamma- We're relocating from Chicago suburbs to VA, too. I don't have any advice for you, as we are looking for advice ourselves, but I wanted to say good luck!

[ThatLinGirl]

You can buy in many many places here for under 500k now.

We are under contract on a house, albeit further out, in a lovely family oriented community for half of that. There are great and easy commute options to work, but it will still be about 45 min for my husband. Perhaps too far for you, but with that price range you'll definitely be able to find SOMETHING you're happy with.

When we were house hunting, I really liked the ziprealty website -- you can put in a price bracket and then browse around on the map and see where that makes homes pop in relative to public transport, commute distance, etc.

[dinan6]

We live in Haymarket, which is I think something like 40 miles from DC.. I think traffic is pretty crazy from here to there. and maybe the commute is an hour, I have neighbors that do that commute.. My husband works in manassas so his commute is very little... the houses in our area range from 400,000 and up although that is changing and I'm thinking maybe you could find some for 350,000... Good luck on your search...

[kmb9906]

We live in Gainesville, and DH works in Manassas. I would NOT recommend living in Gainesville, Haymarket, Bristow, or even Manassas if your DH will be working in the District. It's not a long ways mile-wise, but that is a BRUTAL commute. Quality of life. Quality of life. I think Fairfax is as far west as *I* would go, but even that is stretching it.

We just moved to NOVA, and when we were looking for advice, I went here - http://www.city-data.com/forum/northern-virginia/. It's a forum full of people answering all kinds of questions about NOVA! You will find a lot of helpful information there.

[nerdymom]

I guess it is all in what you are used to. 'Round here, a good commute is an hour. If you're lucky it's less. Where we're currently at DH's commute is two hours every morning and evening. But we can afford the houses here (stafford) and slugging is a great commuter option.

[katmann]

Vienna is about the farthest west of DC that still has metro access. It can be expensive, but for $500K you might be able to find something decent. It's a safe area and the schools are good. Driving to DC in the morning would be a hassle, but metro might work.

[MomToKandE]

Are you willing to do a townhouse instead of a single family house? Are you willing to have a very small yard? Are you willing to do an older house (like 35+ years)?

If you want a newer single family house on an acre or more then you're out of luck. Otherwise there's hope. This is an expensive area but there are options out there.

I live in the Chantilly/Centreville area and work near the Pentagon. The commute is bearable because I have a carpool. That means we're able to use the HOV lanes and it means I'm not driving every day.

If you're going all the way downtown Fairfax is the furthest out I'd consider.