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Old 05-04-2014, 10:18 AM
 
177 posts, read 277,480 times
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I want to buy a house, and I work near Pentagon City metro station (I am new to Virginia), but the houses in Arlington are too expensive for me. What I need to consider most are: school district, house condition, community safety, commute.

1. I did some research, and found out there are some very good elementary schools there, like Sangster elementary.

2. Not ideas if how "old" are the houses in the community in average? I am not good at DIY(it is too costly to hire people to fix this fix that), and hope no major maintenance during the first few years.

3. One hour community is acceptable to me. I am a federal employee, and have the maximum $130 transportation subsidy per month (I can claim up to $130 for either public transportation cost or parking cost, not claiming both). I do some research and find out three means of transportation: first, take VRE at Burke station to Alexandria, then take metro rail, and parking at Burke should be free; second, park my car at metro station ($4.75 per day), then take metrorail; third, drive to Pentagon city and find a parking space there. Both the first mean of transport and second mean of transportation are much higher than $130, that means a lot of out of pocket cost. No ideas how much commute time for me to drive to pentagon city metro, and how much is the cheap monthly parking cost.

Thank you very much!
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Old 05-04-2014, 10:53 AM
 
Location: northern va
1,736 posts, read 2,874,759 times
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Average age is going to be in the 30 yr range, right about the time that an original owner should be doing the roof, HVAC (if not done well earlier), etc.

A thorough home inspection should help establish the life of these major systems, but no one can be prepared for what comes with homeownership... leaky toilets, clogged drainage lines, leaks into the house after torrential downpours, drafty windows..

A good home warranty will help with some of those things, hopefully at just the expense of a service call fee..

Concerning commute, you pretty much nailed it IMO in terms of locations. Anything further South could add a considerable amount of time, although your housing options open up quite a bit
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Old 05-04-2014, 11:04 AM
 
177 posts, read 277,480 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kww View Post
Average age is going to be in the 30 yr range, right about the time that an original owner should be doing the roof, HVAC (if not done well earlier), etc.

A thorough home inspection should help establish the life of these major systems, but no one can be prepared for what comes with homeownership... leaky toilets, clogged drainage lines, leaks into the house after torrential downpours, drafty windows..

A good home warranty will help with some of those things, hopefully at just the expense of a service call fee..

Concerning commute, you pretty much nailed it IMO in terms of locations. Anything further South could add a considerable amount of time, although your housing options open up quite a bit
Thank you very much, kww, you are a great contributor to this forum.
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Old 05-04-2014, 11:14 AM
 
Location: Alexandria, VA
214 posts, read 497,402 times
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There are some park and ride lots in the West Springfield/Burke where you can park for free and I believe you can take a commuter bus straight to the pentagon. I don't have any firsthand experience with it, but I've seen it mentioned many times here so maybe do a search for that. Parking in Pentagon City itself is very limited and expensive.
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Old 05-04-2014, 11:17 AM
 
177 posts, read 277,480 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chocolatelover View Post
There are some park and ride lots in the West Springfield/Burke where you can park for free and I believe you can take a commuter bus straight to the pentagon. I don't have any firsthand experience with it, but I've seen it mentioned many times here so maybe do a search for that. Parking in Pentagon City itself is very limited and expensive.
Thanks for the information, I think I find the information on wmata.com website.

Thank you very much!

Last edited by ssmssm; 05-04-2014 at 11:43 AM..
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Old 05-04-2014, 11:19 AM
 
177 posts, read 277,480 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ssmssm View Post
Thanks for the information, could you please do some research on the commute bus for me? I never know I still have this option, all I know is VRE/metro rail/driving to Pentagon city.

Thank you very much!
I think I find the information on wmata.com website.

Last edited by ssmssm; 05-04-2014 at 11:43 AM..
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Old 05-04-2014, 08:34 PM
 
Location: Alexandria, VA
214 posts, read 497,402 times
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Look at the bottom of this post: http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...-pentagon.html
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Old 05-04-2014, 08:58 PM
 
177 posts, read 277,480 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chocolatelover View Post
Thanks, actually, I found something different earlier, from the bus route map. For (2), why nobody mentions bus 18P? It seems to me that we can drive to Rolling Valley Park & Ride, then take bus 18P


http://www.wmata.com/bus/timetables/va/18a-r.pdf
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Old 05-04-2014, 09:00 PM
 
Location: Ormond Beach, FL
1,615 posts, read 2,119,459 times
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The 17 series bus lines run through west Springfield and Burke. They are express busses that take you to the Pentagon metro. With your smart card, the discount for taking a bus before/after the metro is automatically applied. Homes in my neighborhood (Kings Park) were built in 1961-1964 which makes them 50+ years old. I think many of the subdivisions along Braddock Road date from the 1960's on.

Look at house prices on Zillow to get an idea of the prices in the neighborhoods and look at your budget to figure out where you can afford.
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Old 05-04-2014, 09:03 PM
 
177 posts, read 277,480 times
Reputation: 21
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fredesch View Post
The 17 series bus lines run through west Springfield and Burke. They are express busses that take you to the Pentagon metro. With your smart card, the discount for taking a bus before/after the metro is automatically applied. Homes in my neighborhood (Kings Park) were built in 1961-1964 which makes them 50+ years old. I think many of the subdivisions along Braddock Road date from the 1960's on.

Look at house prices on Zillow to get an idea of the prices in the neighborhoods and look at your budget to figure out where you can afford.
Thanks. Not 18 series?

http://www.wmata.com/bus/timetables/va/18a-r.pdf
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