Relocating to NOVA from Florida for work. Best Places to live? (Centreville: for sale, houses)

[spleuchan]

Originally Posted by MovingMommy22

I was just thinking the metro would be nice since I am a stay at home mom. I like to do day trips with my son and it seemed like it would be a convienient method of going in to the city to see the museums and such. Am I wrong in thinking the metro would be more convienient for that sort of thing? I have only visited once so I could really use any advice you guys have.

If you have kid(s), they will be in school most of the day except summers (or they will be in a few years if they are toddlers). So if I'm hearing you right, you'd rather make your husband commute much farther every day so that you can be closer to metro the few days a year you want to go into the city?

[VAFan]

It will be so much nicer for your husband to live near his place of employment. Look in Gainesville, Haymarket or Bristow. You can get a nice house for that price. Nice neighbors, good schools, shopping, etc.

If you want to take a trip downtown during the week to a museum then ride the VRE out of the Broad Run Station outside of Bristow. My neice does it all the time when she comes to visit us. Way easier then driving to the Vienna Metro.

[MovingMommy22]

Thanks for the information I really appreciate it.

[stpickrell]

Gainesville job may not last forever.

For 600k you can get great schools and more proximity to Metro in/around Ashburn (near to 267) or Reston. (Metro to Reston is a certainty by next year, Metro to Dulles is a 95% certainty by 2016 or so, and Metro to Ashburn is 85% certainty by 2016 or so.) IMO, Loudoun is better for a generic commute than Prince William.

But if this job is going to be something permanent ... Gainesville and Haymarket are great in terms of schools/safety/etc. Just check out the various communities, some are "gated residential only" areas, others are "integrated shop/live/dine" areas with townhouses around the shopping areas and SFHs further out.

Given your preference for Metro, you would probably prefer the latter.

[Middlin]

Another issue you would find whether you lived close to a metro or not is that parking gets full for the daily commuters.

I currently live in Bristow and Bristow/Haymarket/Gainesville tends to be lumped together since their proximity to one another and not much distinguishes one from the other except in terms of housing/neighborhood preference. I have grown up in this area and have lived all over Northern Virginia and the big difference between this area and closer in Fairfax is the congestion which is 24/7. I remember living off 123/Jermantown Rd years ago and it taking 20 minutes to get to the grocery store which was 3 miles away on a Saturday. When we lived in Fair Lakes and went to Red Robin on a Friday night and it was routinely a 1 hr wait for dinner. I like the slower pace here and since everything has been built in the last 10 years it looks unified and clean. I find that that the Atlas Walk shopping center meets most of my every day needs so as a busy working Mom I'm not driving all over the place just to get errands done.

It really boils down to personal peference, but I would not buy closer in just for the occassional trip into DC.

[marie5v]

Originally Posted by MovingMommy22

Ok, thanks a lot for the information :-)
So most of the suggestions I have received suggest Gainesville or Haymarket areas. Are there any other suggestions of areas that I should look at as well?
A couple people mentioned Fairfax county. Any particular areas in Fairfax county or are they all good?
Thanks again.

Fairfax County is huge and has good and bad. If for some reason you don't like anything in Gainesville or Haymarket, then you could just look to the areas surrounding - in the east that would be Fairfax County, I guess the Centreville area, then further east Fairfax city and Burke. Centreville is not that great, in my opinion, but many people like Burke and the southern Fairfax (there are three Fairfax's - Fairfax county, Fairfax city, and an area around Fairfax city that is just called Fairfax) area because the housing is affordable and schools are good. The commute to Gainesville would be OK because it would be against traffic during standard rush hours (about 20 - 30 minutes). However, I can't think of any advantage that area holds over Gainesville and Haymarket if the job is in Gainesville. Maybe if a job change is in the future, it would be a more central location.

[MovingMommy22]

As a couple people have mentioned even though his job will be in Gainesville, it may not be a forever job and no matter where he works we would like to be happy with the place we live. That is the reason commuting to find a good area is an option. Especially since it would be a reverse commute. Not to say that Gainesville area isn't perfect for us, I just want to make sure we have looked at all of our options considering the importance of schools and being close to shopping activities etc.

[Middlin]

I would recommend looking in 22033 and 20171. Obviously the closer to 66 the better

[NC211]

You want a metro point. You're open to a commute. You're thinking of an area that would continue to work even if the job in Gainsville doesn't pan out. You have a toddler. You can afford $600k. You want good (excellent) schools. Nice retail. And I suspect you'd like to be around folks of similiar age and of a similiar life situation so you can make some new friends and have some fun as well.

Welcome to Brambleton (20148).

Have google earth? If not, you'll need to download it. Type in this address: 42415 Ryan Road. ASHBURN, VA 20148. That will take you to the center of Brambleton (it's the address of the high-end Harris Teeter grocery store). I suggest you download the actual program of Google Earth, instead of using just google.com. Works a lot faster and has a lot more options that you'll really enjoy while looking at the area from Florida.

Go to Realtor.com, set your max price of $600,000, and "search by map".

Sit back, and enjoy the show.

One thing you'll begin to quickly realize however, is that you might need to buy a brand new home, instead of a resale. The market is tight around here, and the homebuilders know it. When we moved here last year (November), we really had no choice but to buy brand new. This time of year is tough for a buyer to find a resale home (need to wait for spring time). The market goes quiet now. But the new homes keep being built. You might find one that has been completed but not sold (very rare though). Best bet is that you'll find one that can be finished by the time you want to move in. We came sliding into DC sideways, with our tales on fire last year, and made it work fine. Some builders in the area, that I am sure you can go to their website and find their neighborhood information on per specific neighborhood are:

Toll Brothers / Van Metre / Brookfield / DR Horton / Miller & Smith / Ryan Homes and Lennar. I'm sure there are probably a few more that I'm missing.

When we were making our decision from afar about 18 months ago (from Chicago), I sat my wife down in front of the computer with those two programs, showed her the Google earth map, and said "$600k, and I need access to the toll road (267) here as primary, rte. 7 here as back-up, and highway 66 here as last ditch effort. Brambleton was the spot. My office is in Tysons Corner. It was, and has turned out to be, the absolute perfect spot for us. They are starting construction on a metro station not but 2 miles from our house too, that will eventually lead to DC.

Don't get me wrong, Haymarket and Gainsville is very nice too! But your comment about the metro rail desire makes Brambleton a little more appealing to me. It should be in-place and operational in appoximately 36 months. They are literally just now breaking the dirt for the station and probably 8 miles or away from it with the track install.

We took a drive this past Saturday morning after hitting the Costco in Leesburg (a weekend event in our house) down to Haymarket. We've been here a year, knew of Haymarket from Chicago but ruled it out due to my location needs for work, wanted to actually see it on such a beautiful day. Drove down Rte. 15 to it. Holy smokes, is that some beautiful countryside! Seriously, some of those side roads are just jaw-dropping! If your husband is commuting from Bramleton to Gainsville on a daily basis, I am willing to bet it'll be one of the most beautiful and relaxing commutes he will ever have. I'd say probably 20 minutes total, give or take 5 mintues. I'd also say you'll probably find him down at the car lot soon too, with his eye towards the sportscar section!

[VAFan]

Well since you are looking at this new job opportunity as not being a forever job, there are many options.

First, have you ever been here before and looked around the area? Do you have a realtor that you are talking to? NOVA is one big sprawling sub's. Fairfax County is huge.

I'll start with driving up 66 and you could look at Manassas, Centreville, Chantilly, Fairfax, Fairfax City, Reston, Oakton and Vienna. Much further and that drive will be over an hour. I'm pushing it with Vienna with traffic. Others, Warrenton, Brambleton, Leesburg, etc. The list could go on and on.

We don't know what type of house you want or what will suit your family. You have to look.

Traffic is a nightmare in this area and it does wear people down. That is why people have said if you can live close to where you work it will make your life so much more pleasant. But it is an individual choice.

Also, the closer to Metro the more expensive it is.

I was borned and raised in Fairfax and this place has changed BIG time since the days of my being a kid.