Anyone commute from Stafford to K St in Downtown DC? (Arlington: for sale, real estate market)

[sibanez]

Communing Options:

My husband and are relocating to Northern Virginia within the next 3 weeks and we really want to buy a house in North Stafford (22554) (ORIGINALLY WANTED FREDERICKSBURG BUT THANKS TO YOUR FEEDBACK THAT WAS WAY TO FAR OUT) Anyhow, we are torn about the traffic and his commuting time. His job requires him to be there from (9:30 10:00) till (5:30-6:30) most days however depending on his clients he could be there past 8:00 a day a week.

I have listed below some options he has for commuting, can someone please correct me if I am wrong or If I am off base. I am just trying to make sure we are we understand our options.

Options:

VRE --Could take the take the train into DC (Union Station) and that would run 200.00 a month. All times of the day up to 8:00. Service Information - Virginia Railway Express

Slug- would only really be optional on the way home from work since the HOV lanes open up in the morning at 9
Drive: We are looking at an hour commute to work and an hour and 1/2 drive home.

Are there any other options that we might have?

Thanks in Advance:

[saganista]

Originally Posted by sibanez

Communing Options:
Options:
VRE --Could take the take the train into DC (Union Station) and that would run 200.00 a month. All times of the day up to 8:00.
Slug- would only really be optional on the way home from work since the HOV lanes open up in the morning at 9
Drive: We are looking at an hour commute to work and an hour and 1/2 drive home.

VRE would be $200/month if you went from Quantico. That's roughly an hour on the train. Add in 20-30 minutes to get from Stafford to the Quantico station and another 15-20 minutes (and $2.70 per day) to get from Union Station to K Street via Metro.

Drive might be an hour on a Sunday morning in August. It will be longer, usually much longer, at any hour Monday-Friday. Also add in roughly the monthly VRE fare to park a car downtown. And $6 or $7 worth of gas each way.

Bottom Line: From Stafford, it's still quite a hike to K Street.

[claremarie]

Are there any other options that we might have?

Yes. Move closer in. Given your husband's very conventional work hours, he will be spending 3-4 hours per day commuting.

[mlv311]

Originally Posted by sibanez

Communing Options:

I have listed below some options he has for commuting, can someone please correct me if I am wrong or If I am off base. I am just trying to make sure we are we understand our options.

Options:

VRE --Could take the take the train into DC (Union Station) and that would run 200.00 a month. All times of the day up to 8:00. Service Information - Virginia Railway Express

Slug- would only really be optional on the way home from work since the HOV lanes open up in the morning at 9
Drive: We are looking at an hour commute to work and an hour and 1/2 drive home.

Are there any other options that we might have?

Thanks in Advance:

I think you may need to add $2.70 daily ($1.35/trip) to travel by metro from Union Station to Farragut North (if that's his metro stop).

You might want to check if there is a commuter bus and what that schedule is, but I don't think that would be faster than the VRE.

As far as driving times, I think you are underestimating the commute. The average commute time unless he left very early in the morning is more like 1.5 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. Does his job offer parking? If not, you'll need to add that monthly cost if he drives.

ETA: The commute may seem doable until you actually start enduring it day in and day out for years. Pretty soon, you'll regret living so far away from work. It will leave little time to decompress or spend time with your family.

[Yankeesfan]

I'm sorry that we are all still sounding so negative, but please, for your own sakes, don't tie yourselves up to that kind of grueling and expensive commute. My husband works in the same part of DC; from Kingstowne he drives five minutes to the Springfield-Franconia Metro, then rides a little over half an hour to his Farragut West and walks a few blocks to the office. There are plenty of townhouses in Fairfax County for sale or rent; you can move further out later if you decide it's worth it but for most people it would not be and it would be a shame to start off that way and decide too late that it was too much sacrifice just because you love a particular house. No way could you get from Stafford to DC in anything close to an hour on a weekday.

[5stones]

get a smaller place closer in...at least for a year then you'll know the area better.
If you are set on living out in Stafford...rent and do the commute for 6mo. A TH in Fairfax will seem like paradise then.

[seldomseen]

Many folks make this sort of "extreme" commute into the District/NoVa everyday, but if at all possible. You may want to consider renting or buying a home in at least Prince William County, on up!! Towns on the western section of PWC, e.g. Gainesville, Haymarket, Bristow are all very nice, and are pretty much new developments of single family, and townhomes that are in excellent areas to raise a family.

These towns will also provide a more doable commute into the District everyday too. You will be able to buy a large townhouse in these towns in the $300k range, and can buy a single family home in the $400k+ range in these towns as well. Now that the real estate market is finally taking a noise dive, you'll have more negotiating power in these particulars areas too.

Good Luck!

[sibanez]

Thank you Seldomseen for the information.

If we were to move to the western section of PWC, would my husband drive to Vienna Metro and ride in from there. Can you give me a idea of how long it would take him to get to DC from say Gainesville driving to the metro and taking the metro in. I pulled up mapquest and it says that its 37 miles from downtown DC. Thank you in advance.

[sibanez]

Thank you to everyone who has responded to this post. It's greatly appreciated. This has helped us out a lot and given us guidance on where to buy!! Thank you!

[seldomseen]

If you guys want more of a suburban atmosphere you should also consider towns like: Chantilly, Centreville, Herndon, Reston, and Fairfax City. Communiting into the District from these towns still won't be a treat, because of traffic, but it will be much more doable. These towns don't offer the most affordable housing options, but they will offer a better commute into the District; if you don't want to live in the likes of Alexandria, Arlington, Rosslyn, Clarendon, Crystal City, Shirlington, Falls Church etc, which would all offer a very easy commute into the District and home. I would personally first start off by seeing what these cities offer in terms of housing/pricing before considering towns further away e.g. Herndon, Chantilly, Centreville