Buying a house in NoVA. (Reston, Chantilly: real estate, renting, how much)

[kutra11]

Hi:

We just sold our SFH in Vienna (lived since 2002) and would like to buy a bigger SFH in NoVA. A good school district is VERY important to us so with our budget we are looking to spend around $750K in Oakton for its good school (Oakton HS). Of course, Vienna is also an option for its Madison HS. McLean HS or Langley HS is out since I can only find old and small homes for my $750K budget.

I keep reading posts about good schools in the Loudon county in areas such as South Riding, Ashburn, Centerville, etc. Are they really comparable to established HS like Oakton and Madison?

Also, do HS in Reston and Herndon match up to Oakton and Madison?

Please do offer your opinions on where should I spend $750K on buying a SFH in NoVA for a good school district. Proximity to Tysons Corner is also a plus.

Thanks,
K

[twinmma]

I live in Ashburn and think the schools are good. DOn't know much about Vienna...my husband went to school there and got a good education.
Just wanted to mention that you will get more bang for your buck in South RIding, Ashburn...than you will in Vienna/Oakton.
Good luck!

[kutra11]

Originally Posted by twinmma

I live in Ashburn and think the schools are good. DOn't know much about Vienna...my husband went to school there and got a good education.
Just wanted to mention that you will get more bang for your buck in South RIding, Ashburn...than you will in Vienna/Oakton.
Good luck!

Thanks for your reply. Yes, you are correct that for $750K I could buy a MUCH BIGGER house in South Riding and Ashburn (given the price in RE). When I looked at the good high schools: Broad Run, Stone Bridge, etc. I noticed that they surged into the "best schools list" in the last 4-5 years []America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com. I would like to move out of Fairfax county, but I just can't get myself to do it. Read below for what's preventing me...

I could be wrong in my analysis so do not take this personally: I this the reason for Loudon County schools doing well is/was largely because Loudon County became immensely popular when Fairfax County real estate (RE) became unaffordable or unreasonable. So people started moving to Loudon County and with RE going up and up until 2006, there were enough funds from Loudon County RE property taxes to afford school resources and pay higher salaries to teachers.

But now that the RE is going down, Loudon County has experienced a worse % drop than Fairfax County (or specifically, let's say Ashburn, South Riding are in worse shape than old-horses Oakton, Vienna or McLean). This has directly affected the school funds that the Loudon County schools can get from RE property taxes. See the following three articles:
1. Drastic Loudon Co. school cuts proposed [http://m.knoxnews.com/news/2007/May/...uts-proposed/]
2. Loudon schools facing battle of budget [http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/perspectives/article/0,1406,KNS_2797_5566428,00.html] (broken link)
3. Loudon school needs deserve attention [http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/letters_to_editor/article/0,1406,KNS_363_5566425,00.html] (broken link)

So I don't know what could be the correct decision: Whether to buy something reasonably big in old-established HS districts such as Oakton and Vienna (that have weathered all upturns and downturns in RE and Recession) or take a chance and buy something a lot bigger in upcoming areas such as Ashburn, South Riding, Centerville, etc. BTW, just for context, my wife and I are in mid-30s and have a three-year old daughter.

Hope to have a civil discussion.

[twinmma]

That is a good observation, but I don't worry about it too much. Every school is going to have it problems and every one is going to have it good points. What I do know is what kind of people are in Ashburn and most are the type who would fight tooth and nail for their kids good education. Ashburn is very suburban-with all that comes along with that.
I think living in Vienna would be GREAT for my husbands commute and I know the schools are good. (all schools are mixed with good apples and sour grapes, lol!) But I also know that for what we could afford ($550) we would have gotten something very small and not in good condition.
Whatever you decide will be good for you. Your kids will do just fine no matter what school they go to. I think parenting has a huge affect on what kids do.

[SaratL]

I have a colleague who moved to Vienna for one of his sons to be at Madison HS and he bought SFH in 750K range and it is very old, small and not very well kept. I think the houses in established school districts in FFX - Woodson etc are all old and 750k does not buy you much (you can get a far better house in Loudon). My colleague bought it because he has a short commute, can fix lot of broken things at home, wife works part time and is always home when the kids come home and she volunteers at school etc. I think being involved with your child esp. in higher grades, in my opinion, is way more important than just sending them to a "ranked" county school. BTW- also keep in mind the changing demographics and redistricting of county schools in FFX.

[car54]

Originally Posted by SaratL

I have a colleague who moved to Vienna for one of his sons to be at Madison HS and he bought SFH in 750K range and it is very old, small and not very well kept. I think the houses in established school districts in FFX - Woodson etc are all old and 750k does not buy you much (you can get a far better house in Loudon). My colleague bought it because he has a short commute, can fix lot of broken things at home, wife works part time and is always home when the kids come home and she volunteers at school etc. I think being involved with your child esp. in higher grades, in my opinion, is way more important than just sending them to a "ranked" county school. BTW- also keep in mind the changing demographics and redistricting of county schools in FFX.

I don't get this mindset that new=better! All I'd need to walk right through the exterior wall of most new houses is a utility knife (to cut the vinyl siding) and my big foot to kick through the 1/4" of sheathing and 1/2" of drywall.

This Woodson district has many very nice neighborhoods of solidly built 1960's houses that are solid brick and block (on all four sides!), not that fake brick veneer front like out in Loudoun. 750K will buy a beautiful house in Camelot or Mantua, with plenty of money left over to retrofit it with whatever modern geegaws that are chic at the moment.

Don't let that granite and stainless steel crap fool you...most new houses are stapled together in a factory and thrown up on site as cheaply as possible.

To the OP: Be very careful if you are shopping for a house in a particular school district. The Fairfax School Board does regular "redistrictings"....most recently a bruising one in the western part of the County. It involved sending kids from Westfield, Oakton, Madison, and Chantilly high schools to under-enrolled (and poorly regarded) South Lakes High School. The lawsuit is still pending over this redistricting. So buy a house as close to the desired school as possible....across the street is best!

Here's the site belonging to the parents fighting the last redistricting:

FairfaxCAPS - Fairfax Coalition of Advocates for Public Schools

[knoxville_girl]

But now that the RE is going down, Loudon County has experienced a worse % drop than Fairfax County (or specifically, let's say Ashburn, South Riding are in worse shape than old-horses Oakton, Vienna or McLean). This has directly affected the school funds that the Loudon County schools can get from RE property taxes. See the following three articles:
1. Drastic Loudon Co. school cuts proposed [http://m.knoxnews.com/news/2007/May/25/drastic-loudon-co-school-cuts-proposed/]
2. Loudon schools facing battle of budget [http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/perspectives/article/0,1406,KNS_2797_5566428,00.html] (broken link)
3. Loudon school needs deserve attention [http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/letters_to_editor/article/0,1406,KNS_363_5566425,00.html] (broken link)

OP - as fate would have it, I am a recent transplant from Knoxville, TN to the NOVA/DC Metro area also looking for a SFH in a great school district, so your post definitely interested me. After checking out the articles you mentioned, I think I can reassure you - they reference Loudon Co., TN, an area relatively close to Knoxville (Knox Co.) TN, as opposed to Loudoun Co., VA.

[claremarie]

Honestly, I think you are over-emphasizing the high school ranking thing. Your child will not be in high school for more than ten years. You have no idea what sort of student she will be -- some children thrive in large, competitive public high school settings, while other equally bright youngsters get lost in the mix (especially if they are neither extraordinarily gifted nor learning disabled). Your child might turn out to be a talented artist or musician who lacks the time or inclination to take advantage of the AP classes and myriads of sports teams at the most sought-after high schools. Or she could be a science/math whiz who is invited to attend Thomas Jefferson High School (which is a LONG way from Loudoun County). Buy a nice house in a decent school district, and relax.

[FranklyRE]

Hey there,
First of all a little disclaimer: Realtors are not allowed to steer buyers to one school district or another. We can't even say one school is good vs another. But we can direct you to ranking websites.

So with that said, if you REALLY wanted to do something amazing for your child... VISIT THE SCHOOLS! I'm sure they have some system to visit a few of the schools. While the rankings might be helpful, I'm not sure they are that accurate. Some places might try and go down each column in order to increase their stats, while forgetting about what is really important.

As for your price range, I guess it depends what size home you are looking for. I would also look up to $850k, as there are some homes that are way overpriced that might come down to your price point. And if you do decide to stretch for a $50k higher priced home, think of it this way:
1) For the most part, you get that $50k back when you sell it (even if the market went up or down)
2) Add up how much your monthly increases with that $50k bigger purchase. Let's say about $3,000 more a year. And after tax that would be about $2,000. So for $2,000 per year you are paying to be in a "top school" district, vs paying $30k to $40k for a private school.

Just my 2 cents.

Moderator cut: sig removed

[knoxville_girl]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Honestly, I think you are over-emphasizing the high school ranking thing. Your child will not be in high school for more than ten years. You have no idea what sort of student she will be -- some children thrive in large, competitive public high school settings, while other equally bright youngsters get lost in the mix (especially if they are neither extraordinarily gifted nor learning disabled). Your child might turn out to be a talented artist or musician who lacks the time or inclination to take advantage of the AP classes and myriads of sports teams at the most sought-after high schools. Or she could be a science/math whiz who is invited to attend Thomas Jefferson High School (which is a LONG way from Loudoun County). Buy a nice house in a decent school district, and relax.

Thanks for this post, claremarie. I agree. We lost out on a house and are looking again - but I agree that with so many nice neighborhoods and good schools in the DC metro area (as opposed to the many places I have lived before where there were far fewer desirable neighborhoods), it is easy to overthink the decision. I seem to remember something about how the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.... Thanks again for your help.