Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia > Northern Virginia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-23-2011, 12:10 PM
 
43 posts, read 89,605 times
Reputation: 26

Advertisements

I got a job offer in DC and I hope to take the train in from Fairfax.

============================================
Please tell me what salary range would ensure that a
husband, wife and kid (kinder) could survive on. I will be the sole income. Thinking about buying a house in fairfax.

Please give me a dollar amount annual salary for comfortable living.
============================================

Can people comment on the life in Fairfax? I've already done most of the work by internet research but I'd like to hear from people there.

================================================== ====
Housing? best pockets to live in?
Best schools for elementary?
Crime? Safety? (checked the crime maps.. robbery is their cup of tea!)
================================================== ====

Read more: https://www.city-data.com/forum/virgi...#ixzz1EoJVVdF4
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-23-2011, 12:46 PM
 
648 posts, read 1,334,177 times
Reputation: 219
I also moved here from CA (Orange County, also expensive), and in my experience, it costs more to live here; I had to sell my really expensive car for a cheaper one because I found I was struggling (whereas I wasn't before) - and I'm single with no children.
But, I'm almost positive your situation (everything about it) is different than mine. I'm sure more people will chime in.

I think the salary range question (and what is sustainable) will be pretty subjective - I'm guessing it all depends on your lifestyle.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2011, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,779 posts, read 15,795,280 times
Reputation: 10888
That's a very hard question to answer without knowing what kinds of expenses or debt you have and how much you have in savings for a downpayment on a home. It also depends greatly on lifestyle. Do you expect to send your child to expensive camps? Do you take expensive vacations and like fine dining? Or do you find camping at a state park to be your ideal vacation while your spouse make all her meals from scratch? If you can give us more information, we could help you better. For one family, a salary of $75K might work, for another, $200K would be a minimum.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2011, 01:36 PM
 
8,982 posts, read 21,173,971 times
Reputation: 3808
If you're from coastal California, home prices will be roughly equivalent. Don't be surprised to see SFH's available starting in the $500's around Fairfax City.

Similarly,salaries in NOVA/DC may be comparable to those in the Bay Area or LA metro. To be a sole breadwinner in Fairfax County/Arlington County/City of Alexandria who aspires to buy a detached home, it wouldn't hurt to be earning a six-figure salary. Loudoun and Prince William Counties will give you bigger bang for your buck but there are tradeoffs, not the least of which is the commute.

Fairfax City might be considered generally upper middle-class. There are relatively few "rough spots" in Northern Virginia as a whole.

Last edited by FindingZen; 02-24-2011 at 11:18 AM.. Reason: typo
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2011, 01:53 PM
 
43 posts, read 89,605 times
Reputation: 26
But there seems to be a lot of homes 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom for 250k in Fairfax.

The only reason I want to move to Fairfax is because I heard the school districts are really good.
I'm looking at a public school.. I don't have an outrageous life. We might go to NYC for a vacation that's about it. We plan to dump the cars we have here and buy new or used ones in Fairfax.

I have an offer for 90k from DC in my hands. (I can't make it in Ca with 90k, that's why I'm moving to the DC area, I'm hoping to buy a house for 300k or so and have a low mortgage payment.) The idea is to save more money than I do in the bay area and have a good school district.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2011, 01:55 PM
 
Location: Fairfax, VA
247 posts, read 1,141,428 times
Reputation: 88
We moved to Fairfax this past summer. DH works in the NE side of the city, we live on the SW side. All areas are really nice and quite safe, so I wouldn't worry about that too much. Same goes for schools. We purchased a single family home (1980's 4/ 3.5 colonial) for $550K. We're a single income family, and my DH makes about $175K. We're able to live comfortably, and still save a good bit too. We're pretty frugal though - we pay cash for everything, shop at walmart, etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2011, 01:56 PM
 
Location: Fairfax, VA
247 posts, read 1,141,428 times
Reputation: 88
Quote:
Originally Posted by vishnu111 View Post
But there seems to be a lot of homes 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom for 250k in Fairfax.
Really? I've seen a few ROUGH townhomes for this price, but that's about it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2011, 02:01 PM
 
Location: Maine
2,503 posts, read 3,407,050 times
Reputation: 3860
Quote:
Originally Posted by vishnu111 View Post
But there seems to be a lot of homes 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom for 250k in Fairfax.

The only reason I want to move to Fairfax is because I heard the school districts are really good.
I'm looking at a public school.. I don't have an outrageous life. We might go to NYC for a vacation that's about it. We plan to dump the cars we have here and buy new or used ones in Fairfax.

I have an offer for 90k from DC in my hands. (I can't make it in Ca with 90k, that's why I'm moving to the DC area, I'm hoping to buy a house for 300k or so and have a low mortgage payment.) The idea is to save more money than I do in the bay area and have a good school district.


How to say this without someone here giving me grief? I mean this comment to be a kind warning: If you can't make it on 90k in CA, you may have a tough time making it here in Fairfax County. You will have a lot of competition for the elusive $300,000 house or townhouse in a decent school boundary in Fairfax County. But if you have a good handle on your family's financial needs vs. wants, you may do just fine here.

Would you be able to live farther west of Fairfax?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2011, 02:22 PM
 
8,982 posts, read 21,173,971 times
Reputation: 3808
Quote:
Originally Posted by vishnu111 View Post
But there seems to be a lot of homes 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom for 250k in Fairfax.

The only reason I want to move to Fairfax is because I heard the school districts are really good.
I'm looking at a public school.. I don't have an outrageous life. We might go to NYC for a vacation that's about it. We plan to dump the cars we have here and buy new or used ones in Fairfax.

I have an offer for 90k from DC in my hands. (I can't make it in Ca with 90k, that's why I'm moving to the DC area, I'm hoping to buy a house for 300k or so and have a low mortgage payment.) The idea is to save more money than I do in the bay area and have a good school district.
I think that those $250K homes you're finding may be foreclosures or short sales. It's rare to find a 2BR condo around here at that price.

$300K is definitely low for a detached home in Fairfax County...really for much of Northern Virginia. Your luck may improve further south in Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties...but the commute would truly be a bear.

Perhaps a better strategy would be to rent for a year, get a feel for things, and then decide whether you want to buy let alone stay in the area.

EDIT: Having just read your post in the general VA forum, I see that you're an Indian household from the Bay Area. Northern Virginia is like the United Nations. You'll definitely see a good portion of South Asians among everyone else. I don't know if there are any specific Indian neighborhoods, if that's important. While NOVA will be more conservative than the Bay Area (not difficult to do, right? ), it is generally the "bluest" part of the state, particularly in Arlington and Alexandria. Fairfax County is a hodgepodge that may sway mildly red as you approach Loudoun and Prince William Counties.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-24-2011, 08:46 AM
 
Location: Reston
83 posts, read 195,453 times
Reputation: 38
Living in Fairfax for $90k is possible, but it would be tight for most families. (Any single family home for sale in Fairfax for $250k is going to have something wrong with it. I think that's virtually guaranteed.)

When we moved here from California, we found the cost of living to generally be lower in this area. Not substantially, but it certainly wasn't more expensive.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia > Northern Virginia
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top