Living in DC area with kids

[5stones]

^ but in those areas you can get abrand new house for well under 700k. (and that would be a bad move IMO) But if you have to have brand new then yes, go out to loudoun and PWC.

Ashburn you can get a new 4 bed house for 500-600k now. and Leesburg is cheaper than Ashburn.
But you will have well over an hour & 1/2 commute into DC.
Lowes Island in Sterling is a bit closer but not by much, maybe 15-20 minutes

IMO with 700k to spend go for a nice older home in a great location with excellent schools...

Clifton, kingstowne, Burke are all good areas and should have pleanty of housing options for you.

For newer houses,(10 or so years) in your range, in Fairfax...
Centreville is putting you out a bit futher but you will find more houses for your criteria there. you could go to the Vienna metro station and ride into DC that way.

[NOVAmtneer82]

5 stones is correct, if you can compromise on the age of a house then there are indeed some places in Fairfax in your price range. Burke, West Springfield, Kingstowne and even Centreville/Chantilly will have be the places to look. The commute will also be longer...

[lexisky]

Thank you! How far a commute is Fairfax? How old would an "older home" be? Is there a lot to do in this area?

Thanks again!

[lexisky]

Sorry 5stones, I see that you stated the houses in Fairfax would be about 10 years old - what about in Clifton, kingstowne, and Burke? Have many of the older homes been remodeled that are in the 700K price range?

Thanks!

[5stones]

Have many of the older homes been remodeled that are in the 700K price range?

I don't know, checkout realtor dot com and look at the pictures.

most homes inside the beltway are 1940-1960's. They started building "out" in Mclean in the 1970's. we moved into a brand new neighobrhood in McLean in 1975.

Yes, there are many new homes inside the loop...they were built on hte lots of homes that were tore down. So you will drive through a neighobrhood with modest ranch or split levels and then have a huge monster of a new house. Almost all of those will be 1mil and up. (it's hard to find a "new neighborhood" in hte area...there are some but they ae $$$)
Some have had additions built on etc...
the market has chnaged in hte last 2 years so nicer homes are avail at the 500-700k range. (in 2005...500k would get you a dump in fairfax)

[vanyali]

Here is some recent info on the market in the Bethesda area. I think Arlington is similar, but I don't have quite as specific info on that:

I just got a house in Chevy Chase, 4 BR, walk to everything, great schools, all that. It was on the market for a day. 65 people came to its first open house, and they had multiple bids on it, and signed a contract the next day. I'm paying just under $870k (about $20k more than asking, and the asking price was equal to the tax assessment), and while the house is spacious and nice for the area, everything in the house could use some attention (the wiring should be updated, the plumbing is at the end of its useful life and should be changed out, the HVAC and heat will need replacing someday soon, the roof and windows need maintenance, all of the bathroom tile is cracked, etc). A house down the street sold quickly after listing at $825k. Something else just went on the market across the street at $899k. Townhouses around the corner are listed around $550k, but I think they're small.

New things on the same street are listed at north of $1.6M. Big difference.

I saw some very small old places (2br/1-2 bath type small) very close to the northern end of the Bethesda shopping district which have been selling for around $650k or so. They go quickly at that price, and some of them are easier to expand than others. Outside of easy walking distance to Metro and shopping, you can get a very nice remodeled house in the $800,000's (like a 25-minute walk to the edge of the commercial area, by some nice parks and open spaces). A bit farther out than that, prices are a little lower, but I didn't look very much at those areas.

So if you can give up needing a NEW house, and maybe can stretch your budget $100k or so, you can probably get most of what you're looking for in that area.

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by 5stones

^ but in those areas you can get abrand new house for well under 700k. (and that would be a bad move IMO) But if you have to have brand new then yes, go out to loudoun and PWC.

Ashburn you can get a new 4 bed house for 500-600k now. and Leesburg is cheaper than Ashburn.
But you will have well over an hour & 1/2 commute into DC.
Lowes Island in Sterling is a bit closer but not by much, maybe 15-20 minutes

Just today on NPR, I kid you not, they ran a story comparing the realestate markets in Ashburn, VA and Bethesda, MD. I almost fell over, since I just got back from up there (in Charlotte, NC right now).

But what they said was that things that sold in Ashburn at $550k two years ago are now listing at about $350k, and the place is chock full of foreclosures. In the very close-in suburbs (they mentioned the closest MD 'burbs specifically, but were making a point about close-in suburbs in general) prices are holding or even still increasing, because people are getting fed up with the commutes.