moving soon to DC area, need some help...

[cdmurphy]

I used to commute to L'Enfant Plaza from the Ashburn area. It was a brutal and soul-sucking commute. There was a years-long waitlist for parking in my building, and the street meters are only two hours, so driving was out. There is a direct bus from Loudoun County, but it didn't work with my schedule; I had to drive to Herndon, take the Fairfax Connector bus to the West Falls Church Metro, then Metro to L'Enfant Plaza. On a good day, that took 1.5 hours. That was also several years ago, before the Metro system really started having problems.

Of your choices, I would suggest looking in Manassas or elsewhere along the VRE lines. There is a VRE station by L'Enfant Plaza, and my co-workers who rode VRE seemed to like it.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by novadc

The houses in Alexandria that are single family homes for under 500k have not been renovated since the 80s, I can guarantee you. Or they're in a less-than-desireable neighborhood. You're not going to get a 2000 square foot, detached, renovated or new home in a nice neighborhood in Alexandria for 500k. This is why I suggested Springfield as their next best bet. It's their best bet of a decent commute coupled with a house in their price range. Good luck!

That's apparently based on your definition of "nice neighborhoods" (or maybe you're only thinking of the City of Alexandria).

I don't live in Alexandria or have any special reason to recommend it, but I checked the real estate sites and see that there are houses built in the 1960s in decent parts of Alexandria with slightly over 2000 SF and renovated kitchens and/or baths that have sold for between $475 and $500K over the past year. Many are in areas that feed into West Potomac HS - including houses in the Hollin Hills and Stratford Landing areas.

Again, the OP may want a house built in the last 20 years with at least 3000 SF, in which case she can look further out like Manassas or Woodbridge and her husband can accept a substantially longer commute to work every day.

[Gottasay]

Have you considered a townhouse closer in, such as Vienna or Oakton (Virginia)? Not clear what type of property you seek but my guess is a SFH, given the geographical choices and budget mentioned. I would seriously consider a townhouse closer in, given your budget and life stage.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by JEB77

That's apparently based on your definition of "nice neighborhoods" (or maybe you're only thinking of the City of Alexandria).

I don't live in Alexandria or have any special reason to recommend it, but I checked the real estate sites and see that there are houses built in the 1960s in decent parts of Alexandria with slightly over 2000 SF and renovated kitchens and/or baths that have sold for between $475 and $500K over the past year. Many are in areas that feed into West Potomac HS - including houses in the Hollin Hills and Stratford Landing areas.

Yes, it would be helpful - especially to the OP - to distinguish between the unincorporated Alexandria in Fairfax County referenced above and the actually City of Alexandria. I agree that relative space and convenience (and a bit of quirky architecture) would be the pros in the neighborhoods suggested above. An openness/preference towards older housing stock would be a plus.