What's your favorite NoVA "transitional area?" (Arlington, Hampton: renter, condo)

[novahousehunter]

So, I'm still househunting. I've lived here as a renter for a long time but am hoping to buy now that things are affordable. Depending on circumstance will likely stay in the "starter" house I find for ~5 yrs (so not looking for "flip this house" type investment, but hoping not to buy into a declining area).

My commute is infrequent (I mostly work from home) but all over the place--1x/week to Tysons (may be Arlington in the future), occasional to DC, Herndon, Warrenton, Nokesville. Trying not to get too far out (say, Gainesville, Haymarket) for greater job flexibility, in case I do get stuck with a daily commute ever.

The bottom line is that in my price range (lower 200s at most, hopefully less) are understandably not the most desirable parts of NoVA. (If tons of rich people wanted to live there, houses would be more expensive--fair enough). I'm hoping for a TH (SFH fine too if I find one), not a condo as those fees add up, I'm young and not family oriented (though I understand that school districts impact housing values a lot). I don't fear diversity, but don't want to get stuck in an area I can't sell. Character is nice but probably too much to ask.

Every area I've looked at has been heavily panned on this board as sketchy (totally understand--that's why it's cheap), if not the whole town, then at least that complex ("that is the worst part of Centreville/Chantilly etc. . . ")

So, for the best of the worst, what do you think has the most potential to go up, not down in the next 5 years or so?

• Falls Church (22042, 22043)
• Low end of Fairfax City (22030)
• Low end of Centreville
• Low end of Chantilly
• Signal Hill/VRE section of Manassas Park
• Manassas off Sudley Manor
• Lower end of Reston/Herndon
• Others?

Thanks for any suggestions!

[JD984]

I would have said the Pimmit Hills area of 22043 - with the recent increase in tear-downs/infills and the Tysons metro coming to the area - but perhaps this is already factored into the prices. You won't find anything in the low to mid-200s there now.

Good luck.

[novahousehunter]

Originally Posted by JEB77

I would have said the Pimmit Hills area of 22043 - with the recent increase in tear-downs/infills and the Tysons metro coming to the area - but perhaps this is already factored into the prices. You won't find anything in the low to mid-200s there now.

Good luck.

Thanks--you are right on that--more like upper 200s-300s.

In that general neighborhood I saw 1 in 22046 and quite a few in 22042 (a bunch clustered on 29 which would be like Tyler Park, I think, which I believe is less good than Pimmit Hills and then some on 50 which is Broyhill Park which I'm not familiar with).

Anyone have thoughts on those areas? (vs. the other ones further out) Thanks!

[nwlv]

There are some nice values in 22042. You may even see some in 22044 under 400K.

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by novahousehunter

So, I'm still househunting. I've lived here as a renter for a long time but am hoping to buy now that things are affordable. Depending on circumstance will likely stay in the "starter" house I find for ~5 yrs (so not looking for "flip this house" type investment, but hoping not to buy into a declining area).

My commute is infrequent (I mostly work from home) but all over the place--1x/week to Tysons (may be Arlington in the future), occasional to DC, Herndon, Warrenton, Nokesville. Trying not to get too far out (say, Gainesville, Haymarket) for greater job flexibility, in case I do get stuck with a daily commute ever.

The bottom line is that in my price range (lower 200s at most, hopefully less) are understandably not the most desirable parts of NoVA. (If tons of rich people wanted to live there, houses would be more expensive--fair enough). I'm hoping for a TH (SFH fine too if I find one), not a condo as those fees add up, I'm young and not family oriented (though I understand that school districts impact housing values a lot). I don't fear diversity, but don't want to get stuck in an area I can't sell. Character is nice but probably too much to ask.

Every area I've looked at has been heavily panned on this board as sketchy (totally understand--that's why it's cheap), if not the whole town, then at least that complex ("that is the worst part of Centreville/Chantilly etc. . . ")

So, for the best of the worst, what do you think has the most potential to go up, not down in the next 5 years or so?

• Falls Church (22042, 22043)
• Low end of Fairfax City (22030)
• Low end of Centreville
• Low end of Chantilly
• Signal Hill/VRE section of Manassas Park
• Manassas off Sudley Manor
• Lower end of Reston/Herndon
• Others?

Thanks for any suggestions!

You'll be seriously hard pressed to find any diamond in the roughs in Falls Church (22043) for upper 200's/300's.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by novahousehunter

Thanks--you are right on that--more like upper 200s-300s.

In that general neighborhood I saw 1 in 22046 and quite a few in 22042 (a bunch clustered on 29 which would be like Tyler Park, I think, which I believe is less good than Pimmit Hills and then some on 50 which is Broyhill Park which I'm not familiar with).

Anyone have thoughts on those areas? (vs. the other ones further out) Thanks!

Not really sure what direction Tyler Park or Broyhill Park is heading in these days, but there are some nice older properties in Broyhill Park and it has better access than Tyler Park to both 495 and Tysons.

[mdcrim]

I like Ashburn, although I wouldn't consider it a transitional area. There have been some townhouses come on the market in the low $200,000's.

[JfromReston]

Here are a few places to look at in Reston.

View Property Details- 2128 WHISPERWOOD GLEN LN, Reston, VA 20191
View Property Details- 11862 SAINT TRINIANS CT, Reston, VA 20191
View Property Details- 2402 RIDGEHAMPTON CT, Reston, VA 20191
View Property Details- 2152 WHISPERWOOD GLEN LN, Reston, VA 20191

[athousandlogins]

I love how the OP specified "lower 200s at most" and got a list of properties, all of them over $250. Nobody ever takes me seriously around here when I talk about my potential price range, either

I can't say where I think values will go up or down. I don't have my crystal ball handy. But, personally out of that list, I like Fairfax City and Reston. Especially Fairfax City. It's very centrally located and it does have some character, probably because of its proximity to GMU. It's never going to be Old Town, but it feels more lively, to me, than Chantilly, Manassas, Centreville, etc.

[ecko_complex24]

I would say falls church maybe or reston because they are building metro out to reston. then I would say fairfax city, then I would say centreville then chantilly then manassas park vre section then manassas of sudley manor that is in order from most safe economically wise to least safe economically wise