New to NOVA RealEstate !!! Help !!! (Arlington, Alexandria: for sale, first time home buyer, neighborhood)

[fir$ttimehomebuyer]

Hi,

We are first time home buyers,looking to buy single family home.I work in fairfax ,VA and my husband work in mclean.VA. We live in herndon with 2 kids.Our budget is up to 600k.

We are in a confusion to decide whether buy a NEW(ashburn / brambleton /southriding) or OLD(Herndon) single family home. How could be the commute to fairfax from these places?

I just want to know what communities are good in ashburn ,brambleton and south riding. I heard that airplanes noise is more in these areas.? is that true?
which BUILDER is good builder who offer best deals/ reasonable prices for new homes?What about tollbrothers in ashburn? NVhomes in southriding ?

How about public elementary and middle schools in these areas(ashburn ,brambleton and south riding)? how about development in future? I heard that the Metro station is planned for ashburn ? Is this true?

Please drop your ideas, thoughts and info development ,schools rating ,airport noise, prices of new homes ,best builder ,best community etc about any area , (ashburn ,brambleton and south riding) best reasons to buy /not to buy in each place ashburn ,brambleton and south riding ?

Looking for your great and helpful suggestions !!!!!!!!

Thank You Very Much !!!

[adolpho]

I would look in the Oakton Area. Better schools, better commute. Prince William County is going to have serious fiscal problems.

[JD984]

Do you like Herndon? If so, with your budget, that's where I'd probably stay. You could find a newer (1990s or later) home in the "astronaut" school districts (Aldrin or Armstrong Elementary) and still have decent commutes to Fairfax and McLean. I'll again recommend the http://franklymls.com/ site as a useful search tool for local homes on the market. One subdivision that seems to be in your price range and that is quite attractive is called "Shaker Woods."

In general, the Loudoun schools in places like Brambleton are newer, and somewhat less diverse, than the Fairfax schools with Herndon addresses. At least in terms of test scores, however, the Loudoun schools haven't quite caught up with the Fairfax schools, though this may be a matter of time and it may not matter to you in any event. Herndon HS is considered an "average" Fairfax County high school, but would be at (or close to) the top of the rankings in Loudoun.

Here's the information on the Silver Line project that would extend the Metro to both Herndon and Loudoun. These stations are scheduled for completion in 2016 - others will have more insight as to whether that's a realistic projection.

http://www.dullesmetro.com/

Other considerations are whether you really want a newer home and whether you intend to go into DC or Arlington regularly. There will be more newer homes in your price range in Loudoun, but it's obviously further away from DC and the other urban parts of the region, such as Alexandria and Arlington. DC will be more accessible to Loudoun residents when the Silver Line is finished, but that's years away.

Oakton is also nice, but more expensive than the other areas, so I'd avoid it unless you're prepared to pay more.

[ShannonMilligan]

I live in Ashburn and like it a lot. A commute to Fairfax is about 35 minutes if leaving at 7:25am or so and that is about right pass Fair Oaks mall. (used to do this commute)

I also did commute to McLean and it is more like 45 minutes but depends on what time you leave. (I went at all different times. If in rush hour I would give yourself 1 hour. Now I DID NOT TAKE the greenway, so that would be faster but I didn't want to pay $4 each way everyday.

I personally would go for a newer home. We have had all sorts: a home that was 5 years old, one that we built, one that was about 10 years old, etc. The one we are in now is 15 years old and everything is starting to go: we had to replace the HVAC, the garage doors, flooring, etc. The windows need replaced, as will the roof in the next 4 or 5 years. Just a lot of stuff to replace. PLUS the kitchen is dated and so are the baths. We recently did the half bath and the kids bath and total for both was about $5K and just for minor remodels.
When we moved here my husband wanted to buy new and I refused. We had just built a home in PA and only lived there 6 months. It took 8 months to build...I was just over having to wait and go through the process. But looking back we should have built new. We should have bought in Brambleton or South Riding and had a new home that was current with the fixtures we like and with new equipment. If you buy new you could pay a little more but in the long run you will pay less. (We bought our home for $525K...to build new was like $550K at the time. We have already spent close to $30K on improvements and need to spend about $60 more on them. See where I am going?)
As for air plane noise...I hear about 2 planes a day. And honestly I don't really hear them anymore. It's not like having a plane in your back yard or anything. You just hear one for about 10 seconds twice a day. (that is here in Ashburn Farm. I can't speak for anywhere else) We actually like living fairly close...we can be to the airport in 15 minutes.

Good luck. We built NVHome in PA. I did NOT like my experience with them BUT that depends on the project manager. When we bought we loved the project manager and had a lot of confidence in him. But about 2 months into construction they moved him to a different location and we ended up with a "kid" who just didn't know what he was doing. A lot of work looked shotty.

Good luck!

[CaliTerp07]

WOW! That Franklymls site is awesome! I'm definitely bookmarking that for when I start house hunting!

[fir$ttimehomebuyer]

WE LIKED HERNDON. bUT WE COULD NOT FIND A NICE SINGLE FAMILY HOME FOR OUR BUDGET. WE COULD FIND VERY OLD HOMES FOR 500K-550k. WE DON'T WANT TO SPEND 550K ON VERY OLD HOMES.SO THATS THE REASON WE ARE LOOKING AT ASHBURN/BRAMBLETON/SOUTHRIDING . WE REALLY DON'T CARE ABOUT 30-45 MINTUES COMMUTE TO FAIRFAX.
HOW ABOUT LOUDEN VALLEY NEW HOMES FROM DIFFERENT BUILDERS...AT ASHBURN?

[JD984]

Originally Posted by fir$ttimehomebuyer

WE LIKED HERNDON. bUT WE COULD NOT FIND A NICE SINGLE FAMILY HOME FOR OUR BUDGET. WE COULD FIND VERY OLD HOMES FOR 500K-550k. WE DON'T WANT TO SPEND 550K ON VERY OLD HOMES.SO THATS THE REASON WE ARE LOOKING AT ASHBURN/BRAMBLETON/SOUTHRIDING . WE REALLY DON'T CARE ABOUT 30-45 MINTUES COMMUTE TO FAIRFAX.
HOW ABOUT LOUDEN VALLEY NEW HOMES FROM DIFFERENT BUILDERS...AT ASHBURN?

Here are the recent sales in the Herndon neighborhood I mentioned - homes from the 80s and early 90s with some in your price range:

FranklyMLS.com Virginia & DC MLS via Keyword Search & Wiki. Homes for Sale

If you do pursue a new home, you're getting good advice to pay close attention to the quality of the construction team. Toll Brothers and NV Homes are big builders, and some of their developments are better than others. I don't have a specific recommendation, but it does seem that there is a good mix of builders competing with one another in Brambleton.

[adolpho]

MY PARENT'S USHOME, NOW LENNAR HAD SOME OF THE HIGHEST UTILITY BILLS I HAVE EVER SEEN.
THE 93 NVR IS NOT AS PRETTY, BUT HAS MUCH, MUCH LOWER BILLS. The Pultes in Loudon were ok, those are 25 now+. They had the faulty water pipe that has mostly been replaced.

[ShannonMilligan]

Our home is a Pulte and is 15 years old. Knock on wood, but no problems with the pipes