Why so many Manassas homes for sale? (Woodbridge, Springfield: housing, rent)

[Mary98]

I am wondering why there are so many houses for sale in Manassas? Is it people are not liking the diverse group of people there and are moving out? I am just trying to understand why so many homes for sale in Manassas?

[car54]

It isn't just Manassas...the housing inventory is at near historic heights all over the country. And it's going to get worse.

[austindoxie1972]

Manassas seems to have been particularly hard hit, though. The houses there were less expensive and may have been purchased by people who truly couldn't afford them to begin with. A lady working behind the counter at my local Au Bon Pain bought a $300,000+ townhouse in Manassas two years ago. And this chica is making probably $10 an hour. Yikes and double Yikes!!

[Cupclip]

My wife and I are moving our family to NoVA, and have pretty much settled on the Manassas area. My question is why is Stonewall Jackson such an UNdesireable HS? Looking at homes, 2 houses seperated by less than a mile between Brentsville District HS and SJHS and the price difference is nearly 25%. Its easy to see that from the raw statistics that SJHS is very racially and economically diverse, while BDHS is fairly homogeneous (sp?). Personally, I think kids can learn anywhere that they are in an environment conducive to learning -- there is classroom discipline and they don't fear for the personal security. SO how bad is SJHS really? Compared to Battlefield or BDHS? Also, it looks to me like BDHS has an overcrowding problem which will get worse before it gets better. The new Kettle Run HS is actually in th next county, so its not going to solve anything, am I right? I appreciate frank answers about criume, drugs and gangs as well as advantages of larger facility, smaller classes, the IB program, etc.

Thanks.

[Yankeesfan]

I don't know any specifics about Manassas, but I can tell you it's not diversity that is upsetting people -- Northern VA has always had that, and most of us consider it an asset. The problem is the growing number of ILLEGAL immigrants.

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by Cupclip

My wife and I are moving our family to NoVA, and have pretty much settled on the Manassas area. My question is why is Stonewall Jackson such an UNdesireable HS? Looking at homes, 2 houses seperated by less than a mile between Brentsville District HS and SJHS and the price difference is nearly 25%. Its easy to see that from the raw statistics that SJHS is very racially and economically diverse, while BDHS is fairly homogeneous (sp?). Personally, I think kids can learn anywhere that they are in an environment conducive to learning -- there is classroom discipline and they don't fear for the personal security. SO how bad is SJHS really? Compared to Battlefield or BDHS? Also, it looks to me like BDHS has an overcrowding problem which will get worse before it gets better. The new Kettle Run HS is actually in th next county, so its not going to solve anything, am I right? I appreciate frank answers about criume, drugs and gangs as well as advantages of larger facility, smaller classes, the IB program, etc.

Thanks.

That's odd that you would have that impression - Stonewall Jackson is traditionally considered a very GOOD high school. In fact, it was listed on the US News and World Report Top 100 public high school list a couple years ago, the only Prince William school to be so recognized (disclaimer - I do live in the Stonewall school district but don't have children of my own).

I believe the two reasons you find a different price structure between Brentsville and Stonewall are 1) some people like homogeneity, and Brentsville HS is unversally known throughout the county as "Cow Pie High" for being a white rural outpost, and 2) since Brentsville's area is almost universally newer than Stonewalls in the year of construction, folks are charging a premium for that.

Your kids will do just as fine at Stonewall as they would at Battlefield or Brentsville. The bad high schools are all at the other end of the county (Gar-Field, Hylton...) Happy closing, and welcome to Prince William County!

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by Mary98

I am wondering why there are so many houses for sale in Manassas? Is it people are not liking the diverse group of people there and are moving out? I am just trying to understand why so many homes for sale in Manassas?

It's true of everywhere, but Manassas is somewhat harder hit. It's a function of Latinos being somewhat more apt to being sold adjustable/interest only mortgages that they don't fully understand and therefore having somewhat higher foreclosure rates, and also a function of a few really-not-so-good neighborhoods having a lot of properties on the market and having that skew your figures. You didn't say what kind of property you were looking for, but if it's a TH then if you filter out Irongate and Georgetown South, then you'll see a normal amount of listings for Manassas as compared to other areas.

[mark2544]

Prices are down 30% off of their highs. Manassas has been the brunt of jokes for many years. Now, the illegals have over run the City. I grew up in Springfield and now live in Manassas. In Springfield, the residents are more highly educated, and come from all over the world. Many of them work in Washington DC. In Manassas, many have relatives in such notable places as Culpeper, Front Royal, and Woodbridge (the Armpit of Nova). Fairfax County Schools are much better, have a lower dropout rate, and produce many more college graduates. You can get a nice Townhouse now for 265K, but I think it will be heading to 180, where it belongs.

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by mark2544

Prices are down 30% off of their highs. Manassas has been the brunt of jokes for many years. Now, the illegals have over run the City. I grew up in Springfield and now live in Manassas. In Springfield, the residents are more highly educated, and come from all over the world. Many of them work in Washington DC. In Manassas, many have relatives in such notable places as Culpeper, Front Royal, and Woodbridge (the Armpit of Nova). Fairfax County Schools are much better, have a lower dropout rate, and produce many more college graduates. You can get a nice Townhouse now for 265K, but I think it will be heading to 180, where it belongs.

It bears clarification here... There is a major, major difference between the City of Manassas - a separate jurisdiction - and that part of Prince William County that's called Manassas. The City (zip code 20110) does have a major Latino population now, which is to the consternation of some. While there's a lot of discussion about how many of these Latinos are here legally, I've yet to see any kind of tangible, reliable numbers - so it's all who you believe and how you feel on that. In any event, having lived in Northern Virginia for the vast majority of my life - in both PW and Fairfax Counties - I can say that there is *more* minority representation in most parts of Fairfax County versus PW, not less.

Manassas in Prince William County (zip codes 20109, 20111, 20112) can and often is a different story than Manassas City, in any event. The properties are generally newer, there's a bit more land - especially out in 20112 land - and have a very different feel than Manassas City, unless you're in Irongate which is a nasty neighborhood.

Oh, and the schools are better in the County. Brentsville HS district is largely considered Manassas, as is Stonewall. Both are comparable to the better schools in Fairfax County.

[Cupclip]

Thanks for the information everyone. I am a firm believer in the value of diversity in the school -- we're moving from an affluent town in NH and its white-on-white there, and I want my kids to get a taste of the real world before they head out into it. Nonetheless, if you go to the school comparison sites like Greatschools.com or Schoolmatters.com, the view is that the latinos (read illegal aliens) in the school -- for whatever reason -- are creating disruptions and corsening of the learning environment, and needlessly occupying the teachers and administration. There is much more to school than test scores, which is why I made the post. Nonetheless, looking at the test scores, whether in Fairfax or PW, the higher the percentage of whites, the better the average test scores. That fact can be interpreted several ways, to be sure. But of the non-Manassas City, non-Manassas Park HSs, SJHS has the highest minority rate, highest school lunch subsidy rate, and lowest test scores. Looks like white flight to me -- and reflected in the fact that 2 nearly identical houses built in the same year, one in Breamar (BDHS) and one in Sheffield Manor (SJHS) are priced $120K differently.

My preliminary Moms-on-the-street (actually at a lemonade stand fundraiser) interviews in Sheffield Manor revealed a significant push towards redistricting OUT of SJHS and into anywhere else. I do see that a new HS is scheduled to open off of Kettle Run in 2011, but my oldest will be starting HS next year . . .

So I'm looking for answers. I guess I need to wait until school starts, and schedule visits with the schools while in session. I'd love to hear from some SJHS parents on what their expereince has been. Is SJHS safe? Crime or drug problems? Thanks.