Help! Trying to buy a home in suburb of DC (Richmond: hardwood floors, real estate)

[adm08001]

My husband and I are currently renting in Arlington, VA in the Shirlington area. We really love it. However, we just can't afford to buy a home in this area, and we are looking to be a bit more removed from the city life. We are in our late 20's, have 2 dogs, not huge into night life but would like to have grocery stores/restaurants/bars within close driving distance. My husband works near National Harbor and so we are trying to find an affordable place to live (under 500k would be ideal) that would still be under an hour commute for him. We do not have a preference of Virginia or Maryland. We moved to Arlington about two years ago and so we are not super familiar with other areas and neighborhoods. Any help/information on surrounding areas would be super helpful! Thanks!

[Jeanie Beanie]

Gosh this feels like I'm revealing a best kept secret - but here goes: Try 22303 in your real estate search (Realtor.com or others) with a top price of $500,000 and see what comes up. I'm especially partial to Jefferson Manor homes over Huntington homes mostly because I like basements (and Huntington water table is high and they've had flooding issues in the past) and I'm a sucker for a front porch.

The homes are twins (or semi-detached?) but built SOLID with hardwood floors and plaster walls and a nice yard your dogs would love. LOTS of people have dogs. More people have dogs than kids. If you've gotta commute over the WW bridge - you are right there. If you need to use metro - Huntington Station is right there.

You mentioned wanting to be close to grocery shopping - lots of those including a Wegman's at Telegraph and Beulah. I'm from out of state (daughter's family lives in 22303) and when I visit I like to pop into Trader Joe's in Old Town which is a 5-10 minute drive. (Underground parking is free). Oh, yeah, places to eat or drink - Old Town is great. Farmers Market in Old Town in the summer, too.

I'm a country girl and I like green and I HEARTILY recommend two local parks:
- Dyke Marsh along the Potomac River; park next to the marina and take a walk out to the boardwalk that goes into the marshes and river; count the great blue herons and watch for the eagles; when you leave, stop for lunch at the Belle View Shopping Center (I highly recommend my favorite Indian restaurant "Dishes of India" or the casual indy restaurant "Primo's" - BTW, last time I was at Primo's Martha Washington stopped to pick up takeout - no lie!
- Huntley Meadows Park south on Route 1, turn at Lockheed; this place is HUGE and tucked away. No dogs allowed on boardwalks in the lake, but there are nice long trails; there were two beaver dams last time I was there, including one that was encroaching the boardwalk; mini-museum with a ranger and natural artifacts.

You're 5 minutes from the movie theaters at Eisenhower. Hmmm, I think I'll stop now. I gotta say, you are close in but feel like country in spots. Down Route 1 has rough edges, but, if you've seen ROUGH, this isn't it. The houses are smaller but are well-kept. I understand the market is good, but with your budget this is a time and place to get a home on a piece of land that you can afford and works for you and your furbabies.

Anyhow, Good Luck!

[jMichael1956]

Working at National Harbor, look at King George County. You have to cross the Potomac on 301 but you'll not miss NoVa traffic on the weekend. Easy shot to Va Beach, Richmond. Home prices are much more palatable than Nova, too.

[Vectorhead]

Originally Posted by jMichael1956

Working at National Harbor, look at King George County. You have to cross the Potomac on 301 but you'll not miss NoVa traffic on the weekend. Easy shot to Va Beach, Richmond. Home prices are much more palatable than Nova, too.

Boy, I wouldn't recommend this. That commute is an hour with NO traffic. Could easily be two or more hours each way during normal commuting hours.

[sonnymarkjiz]

Originally Posted by Jeanie Beanie

Gosh this feels like I'm revealing a best kept secret - but here goes: Try 22303 in your real estate search (Realtor.com or others) with a top price of $500,000 and see what comes up. I'm especially partial to Jefferson Manor homes over Huntington homes mostly because I like basements (and Huntington water table is high and they've had flooding issues in the past) and I'm a sucker for a front porch.

The homes are twins (or semi-detached?) but built SOLID with hardwood floors and plaster walls and a nice yard your dogs would love. LOTS of people have dogs. More people have dogs than kids. If you've gotta commute over the WW bridge - you are right there. If you need to use metro - Huntington Station is right there.

You mentioned wanting to be close to grocery shopping - lots of those including a Wegman's at Telegraph and Beulah. I'm from out of state (daughter's family lives in 22303) and when I visit I like to pop into Trader Joe's in Old Town which is a 5-10 minute drive. (Underground parking is free). Oh, yeah, places to eat or drink - Old Town is great. Farmers Market in Old Town in the summer, too.

I'm a country girl and I like green and I HEARTILY recommend two local parks:
- Dyke Marsh along the Potomac River; park next to the marina and take a walk out to the boardwalk that goes into the marshes and river; count the great blue herons and watch for the eagles; when you leave, stop for lunch at the Belle View Shopping Center (I highly recommend my favorite Indian restaurant "Dishes of India" or the casual indy restaurant "Primo's" - BTW, last time I was at Primo's Martha Washington stopped to pick up takeout - no lie!
- Huntley Meadows Park south on Route 1, turn at Lockheed; this place is HUGE and tucked away. No dogs allowed on boardwalks in the lake, but there are nice long trails; there were two beaver dams last time I was there, including one that was encroaching the boardwalk; mini-museum with a ranger and natural artifacts.

You're 5 minutes from the movie theaters at Eisenhower. Hmmm, I think I'll stop now. I gotta say, you are close in but feel like country in spots. Down Route 1 has rough edges, but, if you've seen ROUGH, this isn't it. The houses are smaller but are well-kept. I understand the market is good, but with your budget this is a time and place to get a home on a piece of land that you can afford and works for you and your furbabies.

Anyhow, Good Luck!

I agree with this. This is a great area and no one hardly talks about it. It'll put you out at 495 right across from National Harbor. Also, another good area is the Mount Vernon area of Alexandria near Route 1. That area is undergoing a transformation, as well.

[pcity]

Originally Posted by Vectorhead

Boy, I wouldn't recommend this. That commute is an hour with NO traffic. Could easily be two or more hours each way during normal commuting hours.

Yeah, and when something goes wrong on the Nice Bridge, just give up, you're not making it to work that day. King George isn't exactly a mecca of grocery stores/restaurants/bars either. I would recommend many places in southern Fairfax County or southern PG County, or even Charles or Calvert Counties over King George.

Huntington sounds best. Otherwise, head west toward Kingstowne or Springfield. OP didn't specify townhouse or house, so I'm assuming a townhouse is OK.

On the MD side, you could head south to Ft. Washington or east toward Upper Marlboro, but neither of those places have what OP is looking for in close driving distance- you'd probably end up going to National Harbor for bars and restaurants.

[Old Dominionite]

Like the poster above, I also recommend looking at Springfield (West Springfield) if you are entertaining a townhome. West Springfield (22152) would satisfy many of your needs. SFHs can be found in Springfield and West Springfield as well, but often start a bit above $500k.

[adm08001]

This is all really helpful thank you so much for taking the time to post!

[adm08001]

Originally Posted by Jeanie Beanie

Gosh this feels like I'm revealing a best kept secret - but here goes: Try 22303 in your real estate search (Realtor.com or others) with a top price of $500,000 and see what comes up. I'm especially partial to Jefferson Manor homes over Huntington homes mostly because I like basements (and Huntington water table is high and they've had flooding issues in the past) and I'm a sucker for a front porch.

The homes are twins (or semi-detached?) but built SOLID with hardwood floors and plaster walls and a nice yard your dogs would love. LOTS of people have dogs. More people have dogs than kids. If you've gotta commute over the WW bridge - you are right there. If you need to use metro - Huntington Station is right there.

You mentioned wanting to be close to grocery shopping - lots of those including a Wegman's at Telegraph and Beulah. I'm from out of state (daughter's family lives in 22303) and when I visit I like to pop into Trader Joe's in Old Town which is a 5-10 minute drive. (Underground parking is free). Oh, yeah, places to eat or drink - Old Town is great. Farmers Market in Old Town in the summer, too.

I'm a country girl and I like green and I HEARTILY recommend two local parks:
- Dyke Marsh along the Potomac River; park next to the marina and take a walk out to the boardwalk that goes into the marshes and river; count the great blue herons and watch for the eagles; when you leave, stop for lunch at the Belle View Shopping Center (I highly recommend my favorite Indian restaurant "Dishes of India" or the casual indy restaurant "Primo's" - BTW, last time I was at Primo's Martha Washington stopped to pick up takeout - no lie!
- Huntley Meadows Park south on Route 1, turn at Lockheed; this place is HUGE and tucked away. No dogs allowed on boardwalks in the lake, but there are nice long trails; there were two beaver dams last time I was there, including one that was encroaching the boardwalk; mini-museum with a ranger and natural artifacts.

You're 5 minutes from the movie theaters at Eisenhower. Hmmm, I think I'll stop now. I gotta say, you are close in but feel like country in spots. Down Route 1 has rough edges, but, if you've seen ROUGH, this isn't it. The houses are smaller but are well-kept. I understand the market is good, but with your budget this is a time and place to get a home on a piece of land that you can afford and works for you and your furbabies.

Anyhow, Good Luck!

This is incredibly helpful and we are absolutely going to take a look at the zip code you mentioned. Thanks so much for taking the time!