Kirkpatrick Farms - Aldie- information needed (Arlington, Reston: short sales, foreclosures, HOA)

[BayTexan]

All,

Thank you for all your valuable insight so far. We are very interested in South Riding and/or Aldie and have narrowed down our search and one of the top candidates is the Kirkpatrick Farms neighborhood in Aldie (at Braddock Rd and GumSprings). Some questions about this community:

• Looking at new or pre-owned construction. Are prices stable there or falling (i.e lot of foreclosures/short-sales etc.)?
• How is the community (safety, activities for kids and adults etc.)?
• Is it a diverse neighborhood (in terms of ethnicity etc.)?
• How is the HOA? Are the amenities reasonable (compared to South Riding)?
• How are the schools: says it's zoned to PineBrook Elementary (which has very high reviews online and seems to be fairly diverse population), Mercer Middle and Freedom high school (which will change to a brand new school in 2012 apparently). Any thoughts on these schools and the quality of education, extra-curricular activities, PTA and community support etc.?
• Commute to Reston (near the Oracle office there) - how much worse than living in a different neighborhood in South Riding for example?
• Shopping and other amenities (is it similar to South Riding options)?
• Any other comments?

Thanks once again - you folks on this forum are awesome!! Would love to buy you all drinks/dinner if we manage to move over there :-)

Just to refresh your memory - we are looking to move from the San Francisco Bay Area and are Indian American. Any insight from people who have moved from CA will be appreciated!

[gammann]

I live in Kirkpatrick Farms (been here a year)....I'll try to answer some of your questions:


1) I'm not sure how much new construction is actually left. I think the NVHomes lots are all gone, and Ryan might have a few left. As for shortsales/foreclosures, according to Franklymls, among actives there are currently 2 SS, 1 FC http://franklymls.com/default.aspx?m=R&l=350K&h=700K&s=sub%3dkirkpatrick +farms
In the past couple of years of sales (2008+), it looks like 10 FC, 15 SS out of 58 sales.
http://franklymls.com/default.aspx?m=R&l=350K&h=700K&s=sub%3dkirkpatrick +farms&x=sold2009
We actually bought a short sale. I think prices have been fairly stable since about 2009.


2. We feel safe in the community. My son is only 3 so we don't let him play outside without supervision, but there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood that he plays with. There are a couple of tot lots around the community, and there are some ball fields at the elementary school.


3. I think it's a pretty diverse neighborhood. Just around us we have Caucasian, African American, and Indian American families.


4. Well, this isn't South Riding. South Riding is a pretty large community, with about 25k residents. We have one pool in KF, and HOA dues for a SFH is $78/month.


5. My son is only 3 so I can't comment on the schools. It is nice that Pinebrook is in the community though.


6. Commute to Reston really wouldn't be any different than living in SR. Maybe a 5 minute difference.


7. The main shopping centers are in Stone Ridge and SR.
http://www.stoneridgeva.com/vc_directory.html
http://southriding.com/marketsquare.shtml
http://southriding.com/towncenter.shtml

With all of that, there is still a lot of development still going on. They recently broke ground on a new shopping center, www.thearcolacenter.com, which is supposed to have a lot of retail space. There is also supposed to be hospital built in the next 5-10 years, www.stonespringmedical.com

[BayTexan]

Thanks gammann! Really appreciate the details.

Couple of questions:

Commute to Reston - would you know how long it would take (during rush hour)? What about further East (Arlington, DC etc.)?
Schools - do you have second-hand info (from friends or otherwise) on Pinebrook? I have researched online but there is only so much info.
HOA Amenities - what else is covered? You mentioned pool; are there other amenities? What about snow clearing (of the community roads) etc.?

Anyone else with insight into this neighborhood?

[VRE332]

Is that the neighborhood who has a community well that dries up in the summer because everyone has irrigation systems?

[BayTexan]

Community Well - really?

Can someone please clarify this and also the water situation in this neighborhood?

[gammann]

No well that I know of....we're on the county water system.

[gammann]

Originally Posted by BayTexan

Couple of questions:

Commute to Reston - would you know how long it would take (during rush hour)? What about further East (Arlington, DC etc.)?
Schools - do you have second-hand info (from friends or otherwise) on Pinebrook? I have researched online but there is only so much info.
HOA Amenities - what else is covered? You mentioned pool; are there other amenities? What about snow clearing (of the community roads) etc.?

Anyone else with insight into this neighborhood?

I think I saw someone answer in your SR thread that the commute to reston was 30-45 mins, depending on when you leave. The commute from KF is really no different, maybe 5 minutes more. Commute to DC would probably be an hour or more, again depending on when you leave. Unless you carpool, you will have to get off 66 or take the metro, as 66 is HOV2 only inside the beltway. Metro is working its way out to Dulles, but it will be a few years before it opens. Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

Schools - I don't really have any 2nd hand knowledge either, maybe someone else will chime in, but I will have no problems sending my son there. The reviews on GreatSchools looks pretty good.


You can see the other community Amenities here:
Kirkpatrick Farms Community Association - Amenities

As for snow removal it depends...If you live in a townhouse, you will pay more in HOA dues, and that will cover snow removal and street maintenance. This is because the state does not maintain townhouse streets. If you're in a SFH, it depends on what builder section you are in. I believe the builder is responsible for snow removal and maintenance until they turn the section over to the HOA. After that, the state does these things. This is how it is done in most communities in VA; townhouses the HOA has to take care of, and the SFH the state takes care of.

[immig05]

Hi there,

It has been just over an year since we moved to that area and love it, I would concur with what gammann has said before. There are a few new neighborhoods coming up in the area.
And no there is no well that I know off in the vicinity.

Except for commute to DC on the weekdays you are looking at driving (of course duh)
There is a loudon county transit bus from the south riding directly to DC which takes about an hour to an hour and half.

[BayTexan]

Thanks Gammann and Immig05.

We will need to commute to Reston 3-4 days a week (and not DC). I was only asking in case we decided to switch jobs and take something up in DC.

Immig - do you have any insight into the schools (Pinewood, Mercer)?

[shamrock847]

I have several friends that live in Kirkpatrick Farms and a number that live in South Riding. Here is what I have heard:

- Prices in both areas seemed to bottom in 2009 and have been slightly up since then but nothing crazy. Someone else already posted some stats about foreclosures and short sales, and from what I have heard anecdotaly these are heavily outnumbered by regular sales. Well kept, well priced homes sell quickly. As a buyer, you still have some leverage and should be able to get some discount from list price depending on how aggressive the price was and how motivated the seller is.
- Both are safe and have a good sense of community. HOA dues are about the same. SR is bigger and has been around longer, so it has more stuff. I have heard the pool in Kirkpatrick Farms gets more crowded than the South Riding pools, but one of the people that lives there could speak to that better than I can.
- Both communities are diverse and have an Indian American community. There are a large number of families with kids in both neighborhoods.
- The schools in both areas are comparable, you can't really say one has better schools than the other. Everyone I know seems pleased with the schools, extra-curriculars, and activities for kids in both communities.
- Since the neighborhoods are so near each other, proximity to shopping and commutes are about the same, with SR having a slight advantage because it is further east and has more shopping in the neighborhood. People in Kirkpatrick farms can cut through Stone Ridge to get to the shopping in that area pretty easily. There is a commuter bus that goes from Stone Ridge (Dulles South) to Arlington, DC, and other areas.

A lot of people I know looked at houses in both communities and selected the specific house that was best for them, rather than trying to choose a community first. Hope this helps.