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Old 03-03-2010, 02:22 PM
 
Location: Colorado
111 posts, read 574,904 times
Reputation: 53

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I'm planning a trip in June to look at townhouse communities in Ashburn, Burke, and nearby areas. Are there many families to be found in townhouse properties, like say the Arbors at Broadlands and just townhouses in general? My mother says we'd be looked down on by families with single family houses. According to my elderly mom: townhouse, stigma. Rental (even a house in a good neighborhood), stigma. Everything I suggest, "bad". So I could use some objective opinions, please! I think some of this is true where I am in a Colorado suburb, but townhouses seem to be a much more popular housing option in nova, just like apartment buildings are popular in suburbs outside new york city, where it's understood people trade home space for shorter commutes. I don't have a sense, though, if further out in a suburb like Ashburn if we'd be the lone family in a townhouse development. I'd be renting the first year and looking to buy down the road, so I prefer to be in a community where I can afford to buy (budget up to $300-$350k).

Last edited by lovesunnydays; 03-03-2010 at 02:38 PM..
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Old 03-03-2010, 02:36 PM
 
Location: TX
3,041 posts, read 11,885,186 times
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Beleive me you won't be looked down upon. Due to the high housing cost many young families live in TH's in the area. Yes Ashburn as well. There are some BEAUTIFUL TH that will blow the socks off some SFH. YOu will probably have a garage and a yard as well.
They will have pools, playgrounds and Tennis courts etc.... SO yes you will find MNAY families in the TH's. Ashburn is full of families in both TH and SFH.

NOW for something to think about.... OUr friends Rented a TH in Braodlands a few years ago. We had a SFH in Leesburg. They had school age kids (as did we). Thier one complaint about the TH was that thier were not MANY older school age children. (esp for out playing etc...) in thier little ct most were very young (toddlers or pre-school kids). We had the opposite "gangs" of children riding bikes etc...

However... Thier kids had NO problem with making friends and going on playdates and sleepovers with school friends. They joined the swim team and other sports and also the scout programs.

The other upside... they did NOT loose close to 100k when it came time to leave as we did when we had to sell our house.
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Old 03-03-2010, 02:42 PM
 
Location: Loudoun County, VA
1,148 posts, read 3,738,517 times
Reputation: 408
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovesunnydays View Post
My mother says we'd be looked down on by families with single family houses. According to my elderly mom: townhouse, stigma. Rental (even a house in a good neighborhood), stigma. Everything I suggest, "bad".
LOL!! Sorry.. but you won't be looked down on by anyone else but snooty people. Stigma my butt. And who cares about them!! We rent in a townhouse community in Ashburn (Farm) and love it. I'd say 80% of the houses have 2 or more kids in them, babies and teenagers. Good luck, I'm sure you'll love the townhouse communities.

Add: Ashburn Farm often has townhouses in your price range. I think our neighbors on both sides bought their homes in the low 300s two years ago (normal sales). These houses are about 2000sqft. One house in the neighborhood (short sale) just sold for about $270K last summer.

Last edited by EuroExpat; 03-03-2010 at 02:45 PM.. Reason: adding something
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Old 03-03-2010, 02:49 PM
 
Location: Colorado
111 posts, read 574,904 times
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That's encouraging! Here in the sw corner of littleton, the couple of mothers who've come to our townhouse had a look on their face like the actors in the movie "Bug" - you know, the eyes rolling left and right and along the ceiling. We never heard from the families again. Personally, I believe a small footprint is a good deed for the environment, but alas, I don't want to be fighting a battle where my child is the one on the front line.

I saw online the Ashburn Ice House state-of-the art ice skating facility (my daughter loves ice skating), the scenic bike trails, can't wait to visit. I went to George Wash Univ for 2 years, and Great Falls was my favorite place on weekends.

Last edited by lovesunnydays; 03-03-2010 at 04:00 PM..
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Old 03-03-2010, 04:40 PM
 
Location: Brambleton, VA
2,136 posts, read 5,309,954 times
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There are many, many families with children in townhouses in Brambleton.
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Old 03-03-2010, 07:21 PM
 
Location: Loudoun County, VA
1,148 posts, read 3,738,517 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lovesunnydays View Post

I saw online the Ashburn Ice House state-of-the art ice skating facility (my daughter loves ice skating), the scenic bike trails, can't wait to visit.
Ashburn Ice House is a fun place! They have all kinds of cool programs from toddlers to adult's hockey league. And I totally agree about the small footprint!!
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Old 03-03-2010, 07:56 PM
 
Location: Falls Church, VA
722 posts, read 1,981,231 times
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It is very, very common for families to live in townhouses around here. We actually lived in an apartment the first year we lived here (with our 2 year old, at the time) and I thought I'd never hear the end of it from my father. He seemed to seriously believe that one needs a SFH in order to be a respectable adult. But, once he visited here and got a load of the traffic, it suddenly clicked that it's very common to make these kinds of tradeoffs in NoVA.
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Old 03-03-2010, 08:07 PM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,941,346 times
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Here in Lowes Island the townhouses next to Trump's Golf course are more expensive than most of the SFHs. It never occurred to me to look down on someone for a reason like that, I just think of townhouse dwellers as people who don't like yardwork. I love gardening, that's my only reason to choose the SFH.
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Old 03-03-2010, 10:01 PM
 
Location: Leesburg, VA
6 posts, read 21,950 times
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You should also consider Cascades. The townhouses are a tad cheaper than Ashburn (you can get a decent size townhouse for under $350K...if you plan to commute alot to the DC area, Cascades might be a better choice than Ashburn since its closer to DC. There are also alot of families in the Cacades TH community. You can't go wrong though in either Cascades or Ashburn . Good luck in your search!
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Old 03-04-2010, 09:07 AM
 
Location: Richmond, VA
2,309 posts, read 2,313,517 times
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Townhomes are a huge part of the housing make-up here in Ashburn. I live in a single family...had to have a single b/c I wanted a yard. WELL...now I wish we would have moved into a tonwhome, lol! The yard is a lot of work-even though it is only .20 of an acre, we still have to mow, do landscaping, etc. And my home was built in 1995...needs a lot of upgrading-we have been working on that but that costs a lot so its not at the rate I would like. Most of the townhomes we had looked at were newer and would not have needed the extra work.
You will be fine in a townhome. I know what your mother means-in my old hometown in PA a townhome would have meant being looked down on. Here it is so the NORM.
Good luck on your move!
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