Places to buy home in decent area, and at a reasonable price, in Fairfax, VA / Washington DC area?

Question

Planning to move to the Fairfax/DC area in about six months. My girlfriend will be working in Fairfax and I'll be working in the greater DC area. We have no knowledge of the area so we're trying to find a good area with good schools and homes at fairly reasonable prices. Other things I'd like to consider is traffic...prefer to be closer to Fairfax but have access to the metro or minimal traffic into the DC area. I'd prefer to avoid "big city living" , meaning a signle family home if possible. Any pointers or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance!

Answer 1

That depends on what you deem reasonable for cost.  In Fairfax, house are easily 600K depending on where you live, there are some more, and some less.  Schools in Fairfax are great and there are metros, some neighborhoods are more suburban and others more citylike.  Prince WiIliam County has some decent prices, but you have to be careful where you buy, some schools are not great.  Loudoun County is beautiful and more rural, but houses are very expensive, schools are good.  Stafford County is a bit further out, reasonable house prices, metro and good schools.

Find a good real estate agent, you will probably have to give up on some things to get others.  The market here is really good for buyers, the main concern will be how much you are willing to pay.

Answer 2

Rent for awhile until you can decide where you want to be!

My husband rented in Arlington/Ballston for a year before the kids and I moved out.  We're in Western Fairfax County now and love it!  

I miss the convenience of Ballston, but not the price (his 1 bedroom apartment was over $1800/month).  In our neighborhood a single family home is $600k on the low end and over 1.1 on the high end (and that's with prices dropping in the last two years).

The closer you are to the beltway the more expensive property will be.

My husband works in Arlington and leaves for work by 6AM and only has a 1/2 hour drive.  Depending on when he comes home he can easily spend 1-1 1/2 hours commuting.

I would seriously consider renting until you can decide on what area you like best.  Personally, you couldn't pay me to live anywhere off the I-95 corridor!

Fairfax county schools are great, but depending on the area within the county you could see a great variance in scores.

Answer 3

We live in Fairfax and yes, Single Family Homes can easily be $600K for average older home and Townhouses $400K. Add another $100K for larger one with high ceilings and open layout, double car garage, granite and stainless steel.  What Fairfax and Northern VA attract is college educated couples seeking to raise family where SAT scores are good and best areas in my opinion are outside of I-495 Beltway that might have less apartments and lower income.

Best advice is to take temporary lodging in extended stay hotel and make permanent lodging decisions based on where your actual job/work location is bec traffic and commuting to/from work is pretty bad that the farther out you stay has tradeoffs in terms of time <= very important factor. Don't rush whatever you do as a mistaken real estate transaction is COSTLY rather begin looking and then Designate Target Homes etc

Hope the Above Info Helps