How is neighborhood in 22042 near Graham Elementary School (McLean, Fairfax: for sale, apartments)

[antheo]

Hi,

I work 3 days out of 5 at home and other days travel to Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia. I am renting in McLean right now and I am looking for a 5BR in the beltway if possible and saw some decent houses in the 22042 area near Graham Elementary School.

How is the area? How are the schools? Is it safe? Nice?

[adolpho]

Falls Church area of FFX County. Very doable for a good price. Go over to Loehman's Plaza on Rt. 50. See if you are comfortable there.

[liloulou]

School-wise, it looks like Graham Elem. is a good school, as will be the middle school. Falls Church HS is ok, not great.

[wingerr8]

Originally Posted by antheo

Hi,

I work 3 days out of 5 at home and other days travel to Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia. I am renting in McLean right now and I am looking for a 5BR in the beltway if possible and saw some decent houses in the 22042 area near Graham Elementary School.

How is the area? How are the schools? Is it safe? Nice?

That area consists of older SFH's and a lot of garden style apartments.

Also, there are a lot of run down mom and pop shops, eateries, markets, etc.

Graham Road Elementary bucks the trend of what one would think that area's schools would be like where 77% of the kids get free or reduced lunch (state average is 15%).

Check here for demographics:

Student Teacher Ratio Graham Road Elementary School - Falls Church, Virginia - VA

Luther Jackson MS is an average middle school, but it does have a GT program.

Falls Church HS is one of the worst high schools in Fairfax County, but may be comparable to other middle of the road schools in other counties.

[JD984]

The number of five-bedroom houses in the Graham Road ES area is few and far between. Most of the larger properties that have been for sale recently are big houses that were built on tear-down lots and subsequently ended up as short sales or foreclosures. As the prior poster mentioned, most of the area consists of garden apartments and older SFHs (mostly 3-BRs). From an investment standpoint, I'd be considerably more comfortable buying an older, smaller and presumably less expensive house in the area that's in good condition than a five-bedroom.

[antheo]

thanks a lot to you guys for the wake-up call. My company closed our office and we have to work from home which is great as I then avoid the commute but then it makes me require an office. So i saw this large 5BR in this area around 550K and thought that could be the solution. But being close to great schools and safe neighborhood is the priority. I am afraid i'll have to buy one of those old house in McLean for that. Thanks again for the information.

[adolpho]

my friend's 2/1 in that zip is assessed at 267K. A 1952 bungalow/cape cod on a great lot (10,000 sf). As mentyioned earlier; that is about standard in there.

[antheo]

i looked at this one: 7134 Rice Street, Falls Church VA - Trulia

[adolpho]

Looks like a pretty good deal. That's close to a lot of lower priced homes, and of course the apartments. Real convenient to lots of places. Assessed at 611K. How long on the market? They may have no intention of selling at that price, but I would still go in at about 475K, just to rattle their cage. I think it's a McMansion...................

[JD984]

Originally Posted by antheo

i looked at this one: 7134 Rice Street, Falls Church VA - Trulia

The comments on that house (a bank-owned foreclosure) on Franklymls make it sound pretty scary:

FX7192548 on FranklyMLS.com 7134 RICE ST, FALLS CHURCH VA for $549,000 in TYLER PARK Home For Sale