Help! Any affordable living in Northern VA close to a train station? (Manassas: crime)

[kawinn]

My husband has relocated to the D.C. area (Union Station) and we are looking for single family housing (have 2 large dogs) around the 300,000 -350,000 range. We are coming from Georgia, where we live in the suburbs (I'm a country girl). He has us looking in Baltimore City, which once I visited the area, was shocked at the crime and grunginess of the area. It seems there are a couple of nice neighborhoods (Hamilton, Parkville, Lauraville) but it's crack alley on the next street, with no safe shopping areas. I really would like to relocate to Northern Virginia (very pretty and safe!), but we have to find housing close to the rail line for him to commute into Union Station daily. First question, is there any affordable housing in a nice suburban area within Virginia with close commuting distance to the train line, and second, is there any train that runs commuters past 7 pm in Virginia, since there is the possibility he could work later than that? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Sincerely very frustrated,
Kelly

[jmarkd]

Fredericksburg or further south. The Virginia Railway Express (VRE)'s last stop is F-burg. 350k will get a townhome any closer, but consider it- you would still have a backyard for the dogs and your hubby might not have to go so far to work.
They say for every mile closer to DC on I-95, add $10k to the average home price. Not sure if that's totally true, but it's a good rule of thumb.
I took a job here without actually looking at home prices, and I wish I had. I could have made 2/3 what I'm getting here and bought a home in a lot of places.

[kawinn]

What about the trains? If we should go with a townhouse, are there any trains that commute from D.C. after 7 pm and to which areas?

[jmarkd]

The VRE also goes out to Manassas. You'd have to check their website for details on times: http://www.vre.org/service/schedule.htm
Looks like the last train leaves DC at 7 for Fred. and 6:50 for Manassas.

[alphaforcex]

Originally Posted by jmarkd

I took a job here without actually looking at home prices, and I wish I had. I could have made 2/3 what I'm getting here and bought a home in a lot of places.

That is very true. We are looking at relocating to No Va and I can't even afford to buy a house with a 25% raise over my existing job. FYI, with my existing pay, I can afford 2 cars, 1 boat and a 2-story 4 bedrooms w/media room house in Texas but I could barely afford a townhouse in No Va. We want to relocate to No Va because it's closer to NY (in-laws) and my friends/family are in Toronto, Canada. As least we are within driving distances to NY.

[kawinn]

Okay, so it looks like the townhome will work. Does anyone know of any nice townhome communities with small fenced in backyards around the Manassas train or the Frederick train for under $350,000 with nice ammenities such as walking trails or lakes? Of course the closer in to D.C. will be better for my husbands train commute, maybe Woodbridge on the Frederick line or something in Manassas? Thanks, finding hope!

[ibeg4sushi]

Kawinn, now you need a realtor!

[HammockDreamer]

I have lived in both Manassas and Fredericksburg. We lived in a townhouse in Wellington in Manassas-it it a very nice development--only about 1 mile to the train station.

We much preferred living in Fredericksburg. We found a great house in an older, but very nice area of town, just 2 miles from the VRE station. Look into the Grafton Village area. [moderator cut] Fredericksburg has a beautiful, historic downtown with eclectic shopping and dining. It also offers all the conveniences of shopping out on "The Strip" in Centeral Park.

Hope you find just the right spot!