Moving To NOVA - Manassas or Woodbridge areas (Springfield, Lake Ridge: short sales, 2011)

[mparker56]

It looks like I'll be landing a job in NOVA. Have been doing research in the area and I know that the cost of living is pretty high. I know that it's a great area to raise children. I have two (3 & 7 yr. old). My wife is an elementary school teacher and will be working as well. We like the area but I know the cost of housing can get expensive as well. The job that I may be landing is in Lorton. As far as housing have been looking in Manassas and Woodbridge areas and areas south of Lorton. Is it a far stretch for me to think I can purchase a decent size (2,000-2,500sqft) for $250K-$300K? Would like some input on this and on housing.

[tgbwc]

We lived at the south eastern end of zip 20112 for about 8 years until April. It was a Manassas zip, but the houses literally right behind us had a Woodbridge address. We were really right next to the community of Montclair. The students fed into Forest Park HS. I would drive through Lorton to get to my job in W. Springfield. Most days it took between 35 and 40 minutes leaving around 7am. Our house was new in 2001. It wasn't huge, but was a single family and had about 2,200 sq. ft if you include the walkout basement. We sold for just under $300k in April.

[dansuz1]

mparker56,

We just bought a house in Manassas Park (20111) for ~365K @ 3300 s.f. (including finished basement). The area is very family friendly and is nice and quiet with good schools.

We did a lot of research before we moved here and had settled on Bristow and Lake Ridge as our target areas. The problem we ran into in all areas was that many of the available homes in our price range were forclosures or short sales and we didn't want the hassle of buying either as our goal was to quickly move into a new home and get the kids into school. We got lucky with the home in Manassas Park as it was move-in ready and the right price.

Depending on your timeline to buy/occupy, new homes in the area might be a consideration. Lennar Homes builds some really nice homes in your price range if you can wait until January to occupy.

There are still new homes going up in the Lake Ridge area that might fit the bill for you and be close to work.

PM me if you want to talk more. I can also recommend our realtor to you if you're interested.

Dan

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by mparker56

It looks like I'll be landing a job in NOVA. Have been doing research in the area and I know that the cost of living is pretty high. I know that it's a great area to raise children. I have two (3 & 7 yr. old). My wife is an elementary school teacher and will be working as well. We like the area but I know the cost of housing can get expensive as well. The job that I may be landing is in Lorton. As far as housing have been looking in Manassas and Woodbridge areas and areas south of Lorton. Is it a far stretch for me to think I can purchase a decent size (2,000-2,500sqft) for $250K-$300K? Would like some input on this and on housing.

Even in this "down" market, your range might be a bit of a stretch unless you include short sales and foreclosures which, for better or worse, aren't in short supply there in Prince William County. You may be able to score a townhome but a single family home may be harder to come by for less than $350K.

[Tish Thompson]

I used to live in Woodbridge but moved to Bristow 6 years ago. I left Woodbridge because I couldn't deal with the traffic anymore. I find travelling on 66 is much easier than 95. I think you'd have to visit both areas and decide from there. I'd suggest you schedule visits in the morning, so you can see what traffic is like.

Originally Posted by mparker56

It looks like I'll be landing a job in NOVA. Have been doing research in the area and I know that the cost of living is pretty high. I know that it's a great area to raise children. I have two (3 & 7 yr. old). My wife is an elementary school teacher and will be working as well. We like the area but I know the cost of housing can get expensive as well. The job that I may be landing is in Lorton. As far as housing have been looking in Manassas and Woodbridge areas and areas south of Lorton. Is it a far stretch for me to think I can purchase a decent size (2,000-2,500sqft) for $250K-$300K? Would like some input on this and on housing.

[oneasterisk]

Woodbridge would be a much easier commute to Lorton than Manassas IMO.