the best schools are in mlcean, langly, vienna, and oakton. schools in thoseare are argueably some of the best public schools in the nation. Low crime areas are also the same as mentioned above. fairfax county has a relatively low crime rate. some places with higher crime rates are springfield, arlington, alexandria and etc.
most houses are expensive in FFC. i think you should buy our townhouse. it is located in Vienna which has EXTREMELY LOW CRIME. located 2 minutes from I-66 andt the metro, and right next to RT.123. school are really good. only problem is its not cheap.

 

My townhouse in Fairfax was just assessed at quite a bit more than $300k! ... Its ridiculous. Loudoun county is also a little bit cheaper. But they're getting up there in price in the Sterling/Ashburn area.

 

I'm up in Howard County, MD. Like everyone else has mentioned, housing is expensive around here. I work just outside of DC in New Carrolton, MD and my drive is 32 miles each way. The drive can take between 40 minutes and a couple of hours.

We bought our house in 2000 (our first house). At first we tried to find one on our own and nearly got ripped off by a builder (long story). We then found a realtor through a friend. The realtor that we had really knew her stuff - we would have never found our house if we hadn't had this person helping us.

I'd recommend first figuring out which part of this area you are really interested in and then ask around (here perhaps) for reccommendations for a realtor.

Each area around here has good and bad points. It seems that the areas that are almost affordable are either a long drive from work or are in a not so good neighborhood.

If you have kids, the Maryland schools post their test scores somewhere - I can ask my wife about this if you want the info. Virginia probably does the same.

The only other think I can reccommend is to actually make the drive to work from where you are looking at houses during rush hour. Some of the roads around here can be real parking lots. I didn't think to to this when we bought, but got lucky. A couple of the houses we looked at would have made for an impossible commute (left turn, no light onto a busy street).

Good Luck!

John

 

Thanks for all the helpful information you guys have posted. Anyone know about Dale City, Woodbridge and Annandale? Someone mentioned Reston, that is on my list.

I knew I could count on S2K people.

You are right, all these will come into motion once I get a job offer (next year , start looking by end of Feb) and where the office location is. I dont mind commuting upto 1 hr each way, as long as they would be primarily avoding crowded interstates. I dont mind the drive ... as long as I am driving, not sitting in traffic.

 

It's probably best for you to wait until after you know where you will be working and how much you will be making before looking for places around here. Can't imagine you'd still want to live in NoVa if you get a job in say Columbia or Gaithersburg!

 

^ Yes, commuting here can be a real drag if your house is far from your work. And depending on your profession, finding a job could be a problem. Or do you have one and are just relocating? Arlington and Alexandria are high-priced areas because they are close to the city. New townhouses in my neighborhood (in Arlington, right across from DC) are starting in the $700-$800K range. Crazy, I know. But people want to be close in and will pay for that. If your job will be in the suburbs you can find something farther out for less. But for $450K for a four-bedroom house in VA, you are probably going to have to go pretty far out of the city (20 miles or more).

 

<puts on flame suit> Well, Dale City and Woodbridge are full of rednecks, blue collar workers, etc. That's starting to change for Woodbridge w/ lots of new development, but that's my general opinion of Woodbridge/Manassas area and definitely of Dale City. Annandale is a good area. Pretty high asian population if I remember correctly?

I live in Reston and love it. Good houses, decent schools, good parks, good shops, good restaurants, etc.

- Jeremy (jnn4v)

 

What are the bigger cities/towns in Prince William county? Thanks!

 

^ Here they are:

Dale City
Gainesville
Lake Ridge
Occoquan
Triangle
Dumfries
Haymarket
Manassas
Quantico
Woodbridge

 

I like this thread, as I can see myself moving in a few years and will do the same thing in the TX forum.

IMO, I wouldn't consider Fairfax. Over priced. And I'm not a fan of their officers, unfortunately. Look at Loudoun and Prince William. Gainsville in Prince William is changing rapidly, and really the only place I'd consider in that county. Both of these counties are quickly gaining ground on FFX, and aren't much farther away. I bought a townhome in Loudoun last Feb.

450k will buy you a very nice home in Culpeper, Va. About 100 miles from DC, it might sound far but it would be a terrific investment. It's a small town that's growing very quickly, trust me. 450k in Loudoun will most likely get you a nice/fairly new townhome with 2 car garage.

http://www.co.prince-william.va.us/default.aspx
http://www.co.loudoun.va.us/

Here's where I live, I'm happy.
http://www.parksideatashburn.com/page.cfm?name=home

Good luck and let us know where you end up.