Possibly moving to Nova, looking to buy, commute questions (Chantilly: townhome, living in)

[Checkered24]

I am contemplating taking a job in DC. The job is a gov't job and would be right in DC, requiring me to commute in. My preference is also to purchase either a townhome, or a single free standing home, and commute into downtown. I expect my price range to top out in the $300's. Based on my research, it appears that this would leave me plenty of choices in Fairfax and Chantilly, and maybe some closer to the beltway.

So how is the commute in from NOVA in these areas? I would likely just take the Orange Line metro, but likely would have to commute to Orange line. Start time would likely be 7 AM, so my commute would be going on before then, rather early. 6AM and later, depending on overall distance and time.

Are there any pitfalls to this plan? Is it going to take an hour to reach a metro station, only to find no parking at the station? At this time, would it be tolerable?

I really don't know what to expect from the commute. For comparisons sake, I am currently living in Buffalo NY, which is tiny by comparison. I work downtown too, and live in an eastern suburb about 13 miles away. My total commute time by car is about 20 minutes. I know this isn't the case in the DC metro area, but being aware of the commute realities and experiencing them are two different things too! I have been to NOVA a few times now too, so I am somewhat familiar with the area, in as much as I have seen normal, non rush hour traffic and volume, experienced the area, etc.

Any info would be much appreciated! Thanks!!

[becwells]

If you're leaving at 6am, depending on where you are you should be able to make it to the Metro in 20 minutes or less, and there should still be parking. I used to drive from Chantilly to the Vienna Metro at about 6am, and it would take me about 15-20 minutes to drive the 17 miles, most of which was along Route 50 with lots of traffic lights. You'll be fine.

[SandraBrowning]

I agree, It really depends on the time you leave to fight traffic on 66 to get to the Vienna Metro. You should have no problem finding a townhome in Fairfax County in this price range.

[saganista]

Ditto. It's just about 30 minutes on the Metro from Vienna to Metro Center, and there is plenty of parking at the Vienna station early on. Make sure to sign up for SmartBenefits at work -- it will pay the first $120 per month of your Metro fares. It's tax-free. All government agencies offer it. Traffic on the roads in from Chantilly will vary, but going in early, you'll have the best of it, and can pretty soon learn if there are particular problems to watch out for...