Max square footage and commute to Hearndon (Arlington, Reston: condo, new house)

[PolandSprings]

Berryville or Eastern Winchester.

[diablogun]

Originally Posted by Tone509

By the time you reach Lovettsville (only one "e"...no worries ) or even before it, you may notice a interesting phenomenon of home prices actually rising; this is due to a rule on minimum lot size to promote slow growth in western Loudoun County. This is why many people looking in that direction, leapfrog over to West Virginia to look at places like Harpers Ferry and Charles Town as well as Martinsburg. If those locales as well as Point of Rocks MD interest you, you may be better served looking at the respective state forums. Generally speaking, you may need at least double your preferred budget to find the square footage you are looking for within an hour of Herndon. (No "a". )

Thanks for the information; I was hoping that there might be an alternative that the good folks here may come up with, but it would seem that it is pretty straight forward.

[diablogun]

Originally Posted by HokieFan

But what is the commute from Harpers Ferry and Charles Town to Herndon? Google Maps says an hour - my rule of thumb, during rush hour travel, is to multiply Google's estimated time by 1.5 (at least).

Frankly, if I could have a 3500sf single family home for less than $300k with an hour commute - I'd be tickled pink.

OP, don't underestimate the traffic volume and travel time it takes to get from Point A to Point B in this region. 60 miles out doesn't equate a 60 minute commute. (maybe if you're commuting in the middle of the night)

Hi Hokie,

I was hoping my location a few miles out of DC would open up some possibilities, as I don't have to go into the closer areas. Thanks for the insight

[diablogun]

Originally Posted by dss757

I live between Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown, WV and commute to Herndon. It takes me between 55 and 65 min. in the morning (but I leave around 5:45 am) and usually about 65 minutes in the afternoon leaving Herndon around 3:45 pm. West Virginia is building a 4 lane highway on their portion of Route 9 from the Virginia line to Charles Town which should cut 5-10 minutes off the current travel time, however the Virginia portion of route 9 can be extremely slow and congested. I would recommend looking for a house where you could easily take route 340 (from the Charles Town area) down to route 7 at Berryville and take 7 into Northern Virginia. It's a much easier drive and less congested. As someone mentioned in an earlier post, you can also find more info in the West Virginia forum, but feel free to ask me any questions about the area, commute, etc...I grew up in Arlington and moved out to Harpers Ferry 3 years ago. Jefferson County, WV is great area (beautiful scenery, friendly people, etc...) and Shepherdstown offers some culture with a University, lots of restaurants and small shops.

Dss, that is some great advice. How long do you think one would take to commute to Herndon from Harpers Ferry or Charles town, as opposed to the 55-65 minutes that you take a little further out? I am seeing on googlemaps that they lie about 41 or 42 miles exactly from my place of employment in Herndon, but as others mention that does not account for traffic. I will probably be able to work an off-shift to avoid the traffic, but of that I am not completely sure.

In any case, I will probably buy a commute car to make the gas costs managable.

[diablogun]

Originally Posted by PolandSprings

Berryville or Eastern Winchester.

Is Berryville a nice town, or Winchester?

[dss757]

Originally Posted by diablogun

Dss, that is some great advice. How long do you think one would take to commute to Herndon from Harpers Ferry or Charles town, as opposed to the 55-65 minutes that you take a little further out? I am seeing on googlemaps that they lie about 41 or 42 miles exactly from my place of employment in Herndon, but as others mention that does not account for traffic. I will probably be able to work an off-shift to avoid the traffic, but of that I am not completely sure.

In any case, I will probably buy a commute car to make the gas costs managable.

diablogun--I'm about 10 minutes from both Harpers Ferry and Charles Town..so if you're able to go off-shift with little traffic you could probably do either in about 45 to 50 minutes..you might be able to take another couple minutes off that time once the new route 9 is open in WV. I forgot to mention earlier though that those times are based on using the Dulles Greenway which unfortunately is about $4.75 each way off-peak hours and $5.55 each way during peak hours (they consider peak hours to be 6:30 am to 9am eastbound and 4pm to 6pm westbound). I work off the Dulles Toll Road (Rt. 267) near the Fairfax County Parkway exit so there's also a 75 cent toll to connect from the Greenway to the toll road. It's a little pricy but it will definitely save you time compared to the alternative which is Route 7 and Route 28 (although that might depend on exactly where in Herndon your office is located). The positive side of taking the Greenway is that it is rarely congested even during rush hour so it's rather predictable in terms of congestion. Where you might run into a little bit of slow traffic is around the Leesburg Bypass (route 7) but again, if you're able to go off-peak that shouldn't be a big issue. The nice thing about Charles Town is you have the option of taking Route 7 west from Leesburg to Berryville and taking route 340 up to Charles Town...mostly 4 lane with only 2 lights...if route 9 is backed up. As someone mentioned earlier, Berryville is nice too...only about 15 min. from Charles Town. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[diablogun]

dss,
Very good information. I will try to avoid the big tolls; although they won't break me, it would take quite a bit of the benefit out of cheaper housing that far out. If you had to do it again, would you choose Charles town or Harper's Ferry? I have some friends that did some training in HF, and they said the area is nice, but I have heard the same about Charles Town as well.

[PolandSprings]

Originally Posted by diablogun

Is Berryville a nice town, or Winchester?

Berryville is smaller than Winchester, but also about 20 minutes closer to Herndon. Winchester has much more to offer. If you lived in Berryville, your daily commute would be better and getting to Winchester on the weekends (for more to do) would be easy.

[diablogun]

Originally Posted by PolandSprings

Berryville is smaller than Winchester, but also about 20 minutes closer to Herndon. Winchester has much more to offer. If you lived in Berryville, your daily commute would be better and getting to Winchester on the weekends (for more to do) would be easy.

Poland,
Thanks, I will add Berryville tot he mix :-)

[chicagotodc]

Originally Posted by diablogun

Hi all,

I am anticipating a job offer shortly that would allow me to work in Hearndon. It is my desire as part of moving to the area to get a large house, say up to 3500 sf, without paying a large amount for it (under 300 K). Where would be you good folks recommend for such a possibility? A commute doesn't bother me hugely (within an hour), and I don't want to live around dirtbags :-)

Hahahahaha

Also 3500 sq ft? Are the duggars moving in?