Where to live & school? (McLean, Manassas: how much, buying a house, buying)

[Doppelganger69]

I am moving to NoVA in a few weeks and don't like suburbs. If you can stop laughing, I'd love your advice.

Husband will be working in Manassas. We have two kids, preschool & 4th grade. I'm SAHM. We can spend up to $1M on a house, and would like it to be within walking distance of as much as possible - post office, playground, bank, restaurants, grocery store, whatever we can. We also would like an established community (with sidewalks) and a home with some architectural style. Modest is ok, just not a new subdivision of McMansions.

All of us want to spend as little time in the car as possible. For the children, we want private schools with very small classes, nice people, and a lot of differentiation.

So far, we are thinking of the Vienna area. I hear it has a downtown of sorts, and we'd be on a Metro line. What kind of commute would DH have to Manassas?

For schools, we are thinking either Flint Hill or Green Hedges.

With respect to communities and schools, I would be very grateful for all types of feedback. Would they be good choices? Are there other areas and/or schools we should consider?

Thank you SO much!

[claremarie]

Some of your "wants" are inconsistent. Your husband could avoid a long commute if you lived in Manassas, but most parts of Manassas will require you and the kids to spend lots of time in the car getting to stores and private schools. You could live in Vienna or Falls Church, near the "downtown" areas, so that you could walk to Starbucks or the library, but you will still have to drive your kids to their private school (or schools), and your husband will have a long-ish commute to Manassas along I-66, which is never fun, even against traffic. Living near Metro is nice, but not essential for your family, since the Metro doesn't run to Manassas.
If you were wiling to consider public schools, and your husband wouldn't mind the commute, I would suggest looking in the City of Falls Church, which has a superb small public school system considered among the best in the area. You could get a great home for $1million, within walking distance of parks, the library, farmer's market, etc. The City is only about 2 square miles, so the kids could either walk to school or have a very short bus ride. There is plenty of ethnic diversity in Falls Church, whose residents come from all over the country and the world.

[handy man88]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Some of your "wants" are inconsistent. Your husband could avoid a long commute if you lived in Manassas, but most parts of Manassas will require you and the kids to spend lots of time in the car getting to stores and private schools. You could live in Vienna or Falls Church, near the "downtown" areas, so that you could walk to Starbucks or the library, but you will still have to drive your kids to their private school (or schools), and your husband will have a long-ish commute to Manassas along I-66, which is never fun, even against traffic. Living near Metro is nice, but not essential for your family, since the Metro doesn't run to Manassas.
If you were wiling to consider public schools, and your husband wouldn't mind the commute, I would suggest looking in the City of Falls Church, which has a superb small public school system considered among the best in the area. You could get a great home for $1million, within walking distance of parks, the library, farmer's market, etc. The City is only about 2 square miles, so the kids could either walk to school or have a very short bus ride. There is plenty of ethnic diversity in Falls Church, whose residents come from all over the country and the world.

I agree.

Vienna, Falls Church City, West Falls Church (FFX Cty), or even McLean.

Vienna would be the shortest commute to Manassas.

I don't think you could find anything "great" for just 1 mil for a house in McLean though.

Also, if you want private school, you're not going to get a lot of "differentiation." Only the really wealthy or people with fees covered put their kids in private school in choice parts of FFX County.

[HEATHER72]

I'm wondering why you'd want to walk to the grocery store with the hot and cold weather we have? Take the million, buy a nice house in Gainesville or Bristow for $400K and then put the $600k in the bank.

[handy man88]

Originally Posted by HEATHER72

I'm wondering why you'd want to walk to the grocery store with the hot and cold weather we have? Take the million, buy a nice house in Gainesville or Bristow for $400K and then put the $600k in the bank.

I'm not sure if she implied they had 1 mil available for a cash payoff or downpayment.

[HEATHER72]

Originally Posted by handy man88

I'm not sure if she implied they had 1 mil available for a cash payoff or downpayment.

My point is that there are lots of nice houses in the area that don't cost $1 million

[handy man88]

Originally Posted by HEATHER72

My point is that there are lots of nice houses in the area that don't cost $1 million

Yes, but people want to live closer to the beltway for a reason, and they will and do pay for that.

Buying a house is not just about the house, it's about location, location, location, and that translates to schools, jobs, amenities, shopping, exclusivity, public transportation, etc.

Gainesville is way out there, and jobs and people change.

If they bought out in Gainesville, and changed jobs to DC, or even Tysons, they will be hurting. One way to Gainesville, one way out. I66

[saganista]

I do I-66 westbound out of Vienna/Oakton in the morning rush several times a month. I'm not the only one, but our little group is wa-a-a-ay in the minority compared to those who are headed east at that time. The point is that on any normal day, 66-W will be at a speed limit or better pace, so either Vienna or Falls Church to Manassas would typically fall somewhere in the 35-45 minute range...more of course if there is additional work to do at the western end. Both of these communities are incorporated (Vienna as a Town, and Falls Church as a City), so there is decidedly more of a community feel and identity to them than to most NoVa locations. Both do have at least quasi-downtowns and are flat out amazingly convenient to everything that NoVa is best known for. With their easy Metro connections, they also make the culture and other urbane pleasures of DC a part of your life that they simply won't be from any of the exurbs. The public schools in both communities are first rate, and each is quite convenient to most of the range of private schools that dot the area. There are parks, playgrounds, and restaurants of every style and sort. All in all, there are many advantages to living closer in, but as with everything else, you will have to pay for them. $1m will still get you into a very nice place in either community, and, depending on tastes, there will be some fine places as well that are below that level. These two are certainly among the places to be focusing on...

[Doppelganger69]

What a font of information you all are! Thank you!

In no particular order:

You're right that some of our desires are mutually exclusive. We're doing our best to make compromises and are trying to get a sense of what we can compromise on and what we have no choice about (e.g., there will be SOME commute).

If Vienna to Manassas is 35-45 minutes, that's about the most we would want to deal with. Falls Church sounds worth looking into, but on Mapquest it looks waaay further east. Is it? How much more time would it take to Manassas? The kids & their father would like to see each other every evening before the kids are in bed.

$1M is probably our maximum (total, not down payment.) I'd be very happy to spend less, but am trying to be realistic about what we can get for any given price (yes, I read the sticky.)

This job might later morph into one in DC, so being on the Metro line, while not required, would be very helpful. Also, it would be great to use it on the weekends with the kids to go to museums, etc., unless for some reason this is not possible (infrequent weekend schedules?).

When I said "differentiation" in a school, I meant the ability to individualize the curriculum to meet each child's strengths and weaknesses, not "diversity" (though that is good, too.) I've lived so long in places without good public schools, but it sounds like these will be worth investigating. Anyone know average class size?

Saganista, I am glad to hear that you sound very positive about Vienna/Falls Church. Thank you so much for your detailed feedback - you seem to hear exactly what we are looking for.

[SaratL]

I think Vienna/(Flint Hill/Green Hedges) or Falls Church City (Congressional) seem like good options given the Manassas/DC options you have. Most private schools (Congressional, Flint and Westminster) also have a bus option available. Both Vienna and Fall Church City also have good public schools but I am no sure if they will offer the "differentiation" that you seek. You will get great cultural diversity in this area wherever you go.
I do not know if there are Architectural Styles/lively down towns/Bicycle lanes etc and everything within walking distance here in the areas you are looking at. In my mind, Vienna etc are older suburbs..but still suburbs and the people I know who live there still drive to everything for majority of things.