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My husband just got word that he will be transfering to a job in McLean, Va. We know nothing about the area and could really use some advice on where to begin looking for a house. I KNOW from what I have read that we cannot afford to live in McLean! We are a family of four and I do not work. My husband says he doesn't mind commuting an hour to work and back. He commutes 40 minutes where we live now. My concern is whether we would actually be saving money with gas prices what they are. We would like a house with a decent yard for our boys to play in. Originally, we thought he would be working in Fredericksburg, so we were looking at houses in Stafford. Is Stafford to far to commute back and forth to McLean? Are there any areas closer to McLean like Stafford. The one thing that really impressed me about Stafford was the public school system. Our boys are going to be in Kindergarten and 1st Grade. We would like to stay wherever we decide to plant our feet, so we need to make sure we are picking the right area.
What times does the rush hour traffic occur? Does the train (or whatever it is called) go to McLean? Is there any place near Stafford to get on it? Is that the best way to commute?
If it is not too much trouble, could you tell me how far my husband would be driving to McLean from any place that you suggest.
Thank you so much!!! We are moving from a very peaceful, everyone knows everybody and is nice, kind of town just West of Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is going to be hard to leave, but my husband assures us that we will love the area. I am looking forward to showing my boys where so much of our history as a nation took place. Which reminds me...what about Manassas?
Obviously everywhere here is terribly expensive. If you wanted to live within a short commute of McLean, I'd say be prepared to buy a simple home from at least 700-800k. If you can't afford that, commuting isnt much fun...If you move to Frederick you could probably get a decent townhome for 250-300k, which would be around 45 min commute without any traffic. In Manassas, homes probably are at least around $500k. I wouldn't recommend Stafford or Fredericksburg if your husband works in McLean...that's a guaranteed 2 hour commute during rush hour, and he would probably lose his mind. Also, rush hour is about 6:30 - 9:30 in the morning and 3:30-6:30 in the evening.
Don't let the home prices get you down though...this is a cool area to live in. Here you have nation's capital, the beautiful mountains within a 45 minute drive, the beach within 3 hours, and the Chesapeake Bay is all around. Great universities such as the University of Maryland and Georgetown are here, and Baltimore is also close by for the weekends, so there is never, ever a shortage of things to do. I think you all will like it.
Sorry you're leaving Colorado, we just got here last year from Chantilly, VA, zip code 20151.
The prior post is correct. Driving up I-95 from Fredericksburg is a killer commute, among the worst in the nation.
Use realtor.com to see homes and prices, either by zip code or by location name. Consider being well west of town in Loudoun County, out by Hamilton, Purcellville, Round Hill or other small towns that may have some flavor of what you're leaving here.
I would strongly advise against moving to Stafford, purely due to the insane commute. Unfortunately, VRE (the commuter train) serves neither Stafford nor McLean so any trip would need to be made by car, on a slow crawl north that would take at least an hour even without any traffic, and probably two or more during heavy traffic.
Actually, I'm not sure if you mean Stafford the town or the county. There ARE stops for the VRE within the county, at Fredericksburg, Brook and Leeland Road and while the VRE does not service McLean, it would be less of a commute to drive to one of these stations, take the VRE to Crystal City and then a bus to McLean. Still a nightmare commute though that will be over an hour.
Unfortunately, there is nearly always a dilemma regarding commute time vs. cost of living here in the DC area. There are very few single-family homes on the market within a reasonable commute (under an hour) from McLean that will be cheaper than 400K. Most will be significantly more. You can find townhomes for under 400K, although a good chunk of them are more expensive as well, and I'm assuming that these would not be ideal for you as you're looking to have a large yard for your children to play in.
There aren't really any areas close to McLean that are "like" Stafford, as the area is largely sprawly suburbia. However, one thing you can be assured of even if you choose to move closer in, whether it be Prince William or Fairfax or Loudoun or Arlington County, is that the schools will be great. Of course, there are differences between this school and that school but as a general rule of thumb, all of the school districts in Northern Virginia are very good.
As far as Manassas goes, you're probably now around 25 miles from McLean, much closer than Stafford, but still most likely at least an hour's commute or so away. Manassas does have a VRE station but seeing as how there is still no station in McLean, a commute using public transport would require taking the train to Crystal City and then a bus to McLean which I would imagine could actually be quicker than driving the whole way and doable in one hour (barely). Homes in Manassas and Prince William County as a whole are cheaper than they are in Fairfax County, but I suppose that follows the general template of homes being cheaper the further away from the center city you go. Homes in the Sudley subdivision (which looks perfectly nice to me, at least from the outside), two story 3-4 bedrooms, are going for around 380K, and it gets a bit cheaper the further south and west you go (towards Gainesville and Bristow). Generally, most homes are somewhere in the 400s though in Manassas, but there is your odd old one-story brick rambler that you can find for 350K and some even under (but none under 300K).
What is the commute like from West of McLean? Like from Leesburg or Marshall? We are thinking of renting a home for a while so that we can make a sound decision on where to live. Are the homes in those areas more than 400K generally speaking?
All of your info. has been so helpful. Thank you!!!
Colorado Mom...I just returned from a 10-day homefinding trip of that area as we are moving there from Arizona. I'll be working in Merrifield - which is just outside the beltway - near fairfax (in fact, the mapping programs require that I use Fairfax, VA - they don't recognize Merrifield for some reason)...anyway...during our trip, we extensively covered 4 counties - Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford counties. Our favorite, by far, was Prince William - this was taking into consideration commute time AND home prices. We found the home prices in Stafford were in the high $400s (Austin Ridge community was beautiful)...but we decided against it because the commute would be 1.5 to 2 hours each way (an associate of mine that lives in Austin Ridge which is in the City of Stafford, and works in the same building that I will be in at Merrifield - which is a little closer than McClean, by the way - verified this.) That is just tooooo long of a commute. Loudoun County, if you haven't heard, has one of the (if not THE) highest median incomes in the US...and their home prices reflect this...we looked at homes in Leesburg and Ashburn...didn't like what we were getting for the money. We weren't favorable to anything in Fairfax County as the homes were much older...and starting in the $600's. Prince William County was best for us. We found several communities we really liked with homes ranging from low to mid $500's. The communities we loved (which were all planned communities, if you like that sort of thing - community pools w/swim teams, rec center, tennis courts, basketball courts, fitness centers, walking/biking trails, etc...and most had an elementary school within the community). This was exactly what we were looking for. If you're interested...we loved the following communities: Ashland - in Manassa; Victory Lakes - in Bristow; Braemar - in Bristow. Can't think of any others off-hand...but my commute from these areas should be under an hour (barring any accidents - which I'm sure occur frequently). It's just too expensive, though, to be any closer. Just my two (or twenty) cents. I have to say, however, I am VERY excited about moving to an area with sooo much to do...sooo much history...and GREAT schools!
What is the commute like from West of McLean? Like from Leesburg or Marshall? We are thinking of renting a home for a while so that we can make a sound decision on where to live. Are the homes in those areas more than 400K generally speaking?
All of your info. has been so helpful. Thank you!!!
Commutes from the West are a bit more doable thanks to the Dulles Greenway, a toll road which will take you almost all the way to McLean and will enable you to bypass the brunt of the rush hour traffic. Not using the toll road, the commute from Leesburg and points west will run at least an hour as even sans traffic, such a commute is around 45 minutes. Using the toll road during rush hour, I would say a commute to McLean would be around 50 minutes or so although truthfully, I've never actually taken it from Leesburg to McLean during rush hour so that's somewhat of a guess.
Home prices in Leesburg are similar to what you'd find in Manassas. Most single family homes are somewhere in the 400Ks although there are a handful you can find for 350K-400K. In Marshall, the homes are generally in the mid to upper 300s although you can find a handful in the lower 300s and maybe even a few cheaper than that, but generally of course, these homes that are the cheapest are much older and in shabbier condition. The sparkly new homes with the big yards (although yards seem to actually be getting smaller and smaller in the newer developments) and such generally even out in Leesburg start at 500K.
I would definitely recommend renting beforehand, and that's something I'd recommend for anyone moving anywhere, not just the DC area. It will give you a chance to get a feel for the area, make lots of little trips to different neighborhoods, gauge commutes, and research schools and such. Maybe rent out in Manassas or Leesburg since you seem to be partial to the outer suburbs, just to see how the commute goes and put you in good proximity to the areas you'd be interested in.
Gosh, I don't mean to be negative and maybe your husband has to take this job, but prepare for culture shock. Not only is the McClean area outrageously expensive, but all the surrounding areas are so overbuilt and result in the worst traffic on the east, not withstanding NYC. People are always in a hurry, and road rage is rampant. Prepare for long waits in traffic just to go to the grocery store. The stress level is quite high here. Having said that, there is certainly much history here, but personally, I would take that all in with a nice 2-3 week vacation here. Seriously, think carefully, about this move. Visiting is alot different than living here.
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The commute rail is called the VRE, can be found with a google search so you can see the lines and the stops. Unfortunatly, you will find it does not server Mclean (although it DOES serve Stafford on the Freiderickburg line).
Like a couple others suggested, try out in Loudon County (Ashburg, Leesburg) and your husband can take the toll road into McLean.
No one around here ever mentions Springfield, Burke, or Lorton - but I live in Lorton and like it. Burke is also very nice and fairly reasonable (for the area). I commute from Lorton up to Bethesda, driving right by Mclean. It takes me about 45 minutes in the afternoon to get from the Georgetown Pike to my home in Lorton. (leave Bethesda 5pm, 5:20 or 5:25 hit the beltway, home close to 6pm). Its a little faster in the AM.
Rush hour runs about 5:30-9:30 am and again from 3-7pm, except from Fridays when afternoon rush runs from 11:30am-8pm.
Also, you can look into carpools/vanpools. Google Commuter Connections to see some of the carpooling options in the area.
Yeah, let me recommend renting for the next few years. Home prices in the area are way outpacing rental rates because the rental market is huge and overbuilt. Let your husband work for a a few years while living close or closer into work, hope for a promotion, and then buy your house.
Let me also say that the Washington, DC metro area is not a single-income area. It's one of the most educated metropolises in the world with a 1.7% unemployment rate. Women and men typically both work, which is one of the reasons home prices are so high--people can afford it. In those families, especially in McLean, where there is a single income, the bread-winner is usually making around $200,000 annually, and holds a JD, an MBA, or both. Welcome to the big leagues.
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