Within reach of VRE? (Alexandria, Burke: for sale, 2015, renting)

[Dachannien]

Hi all,

I've been in NoVa for over a year now, and I'm about ready to switch from renting (in Burke) to owning. I want to focus my house-searching efforts in areas that meet two factors:

One, it needs to be within reasonable distance of a VRE station. I work within walking distance of the Alexandria station, and I couldn't imagine having to drive in every day.

And two, it needs to be in my price range of $200-300k for a townhouse or single-family home, but in a neighborhood that is reasonably low crime. (Okay, maybe that last one is yet another factor )

My thoughts at the moment are the Manassas/Manassas Park area or the Lorton/Woodbridge area, but I don't know enough about the crime situation in those areas (aside from some parts of both Manassas and Woodbridge not being so good).

Any thoughts/suggestions on areas near the VRE where I should focus my efforts? Am I overlooking some good areas? Thanks much!

[weezycom]

There are a lot of SFHs in North Springfield under $300K that are maybe 1-2 miles from the VRE station on Backlick Road -- although that's close enough to your work (7 miles?) that you may prefer to drive

[Bigfoot424]

Check out the Braemar subdivision off Linton Hall Rd just outside Manassas off RT 28. (Nokesville Rd) Plenty of townhomes in here although I don't know what they are selling for. Crime is still not an issue here although there is no such thing as a "crime free" neighborhood. Even gated communities experience crime at some point. Braemar is a short drive to the Manassas VRE near the airport.

[Margery]

There are houses for sale in that price range in Burke. Is there a reason you would not want to live in Burke? You would be in the Fairfax County school system, which makes the area attractive for a future resale. You would know that area well enough to know which areas would suit you. Check out the houses for sale at homesdatabase.com.

[FLgirl367]

I don't know if you want to come out this far, but we love living near the Brook VRE in Stafford.

[Dachannien]

Margery: I've been using Redfin for a good bit of my research so far, and they only list a few properties in Burke in my price range. I don't know if homesdatabase.com includes listings on properties that aren't actively on the market, but that might explain the difference.

In any case, I'm certainly keeping Burke in mind as well, but as a first-time homebuyer, I want to make sure I've considered lots of options before I make a decision.

Thanks all for your help! Any other suggestions people want to offer are quite welcome as well.

[FLgirl367]

as far as i know, homesdatabase is always up to date....i had heard it was the most up to date website for this area

[bornindc]

Try looking in franklymls.com, you can do a search under "Burke" or by zip code, set the price for under $330k. Franklymls.com seems be up-to-date site and it has the best detail from my experience.

Just doing a search for active properties in 22015 under $300k today there are 18 properties.

FranklyMLS.com Virginia & DC MLS via Keyword Search & Wiki. Homes for Sale

I think if you look around, you can find a property to suit you in the Burke/Springfield area if you are interested in staying there, some of the ones I pulled up looked like they are near the Burke Center VRE.