Moving to Fairfax VA Area (Arlington, Centreville: rental, condo, house)

[monkey20]

Hi there I am wondering what are some nice town within a 45 minutes drive of Fairfax. Nice towns that are safe and that are not over-priced. Moving from Wisconsin in 4 weeks. With Wife and two year old. Thanks.

[jb124]

What's your price range and what type of housing are you seeking?

[saganista]

Originally Posted by monkey20

Hi there I am wondering what are some nice town within a 45 minutes drive of Fairfax. Nice towns that are safe and that are not over-priced. Moving from Wisconsin in 4 weeks. With Wife and two year old. Thanks.

All of them are nice. All of them are safe. All of them have good schools. It's a very nice area. All of them are probably underpriced at the moment, but they are all very expensive if you are coming from a low cost-of-living area in Wisconsin. Things will run a little cheaper to the west of Fairfax City, a little more expensive to the east. Otherwise, kind of depends on what you like in terms of housing and what sort of area you like to live in. Within 45 minutes of Fairfax their is a fairly decent range of options, from high density, to old style suburban, to modern suburban, to almost rural...

[monkey20]

We are Looking for a house or condo around $1000-2000 a month would be fine,

just want a nice neighbourhood so my wife and son can go and walk ect

thanks for your reply

[monkey20]

thanks, we are moving in just a few weeks so it nice to get some information thanks

[jb124]

A 45-min commute gives you plenty of options, so it might be good to look at some ads and some maps to see what looks interesting.

There are plenty rental ads to get ideas and price ranges from on Craig's List: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/apa/. Here's a link for a house "in Fairfax City" for $1900: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/apa/337394503.html (broken link).

[mcmartian]

I was wondering the same thing sorta. mind if i hop onto your thread?

Are there towns where the average housing is less than 500K within 45 minutes of fairfax?

I'd like to buy for less than 400K. My current home is worth 150K in an area where the average is 100k. we have .25 acre 4 bedroom, 2 car garage, 2.5 bath.

and the idea of getting less house than that for 5 times the cost, will prevent us from moving to the fairfax area, unless we find towns that are more affordable within a decent commute.

[5stones]

to the OP all housing in NoVa is overpriced.
Fairfax itself has some nice area and with up to 2000 per month ofr a condo you should be able to find a place.
Arlington, Falls church, Vienna, Chantilly, etc... all have nice neighborhoods that are safe. Not sure about the 45min commute fom some of them though.

mcmartin...
it's hard I know to feel like you are going backwards in the whole housing issue. Less house for more money etc... and with a rule of a 45 min commute you are limiting yourself.
Centreville and Manassas have soem housing under 500k (not much is under 400k unless you go out further)
Nokesville, Gainesville, and Bristow (not sure of how the commute into fairfax is though)

Warrenton would get you alot more house forthe money and it's a nice town but it's gonna be at least 60min into fairfax...I believe.

Good luck.

[claremarie]

Originally Posted by mcmartian

Are there towns where the average housing is less than 500K within 45 minutes of fairfax?

I'd like to buy for less than 400K. .

By "Fairfax," do you mean Fairfax City? Or Tyson's? Or somewhere else?
During rush hour, it can easily take 45 minutes to travel just 10 miles, so you don't get very far out in that time. A house under $400K will be difficult to find, especially a single-family house with a garage.

[JayEm]

Yes, you need to understand that a drive from I-66 from Fairfax to D.C. is only 15 minutes without any traffic. With traffic, say like 8a.m. on a weekday....FORGET about it. That can take upwards of an hour. So I suggest getting a feel for traffic before settteling in somewhere that is 45min to Fairfax without traffic when it can really mean a 2 hour commute during rush hour traffic.