Moving fron NYC to VA (Arlington, Reston: best neighborhoods, sales, apartments) - Virginia - City-Data Forum

laila_80 · 07-10-2007, 01:00 PM

My husband got offered a great job in Reston. We are not familiar with Virgina and would like some help. We would like to rent a house, single family home, condo, townhouse, etc. in a good neighborhood. We have 2 children and we are looking for a place that is nice, quiet and friendly. We don't want to be tooo far away from shopping centers. As far as cost goes we were looking to rent out around this range $900-$1300. Also what are some of the best neighborhoods around Reston

NOVA$tinks · 07-12-2007, 07:41 AM

Reston is a nice area in Northern VA. Don't let my username fool you (NOVA=Northern VA), this area definately has advantages, I've just been here too long and don't make enough money to lown property. I hope you are ok with living in an apartment because your $900 to $1300 price range is apartment only around here. The townhouse I share is $1600, old and falling apart, and $1600 for a townhome around here is extrememly cheap rent. You can probably get a small two bedroom in Reston for around $1300 (probably anywhere from 800 to 1200 square feet). Many apartments around here are around $1600/mo. I know NYC isn't cheap (I have a lot of friends there), but housing in this area is ridiculous. I think the average townhome sells for $300K plus now. Traffic is absolute hell too, but the Reston area isn't as bad as commuting to DC. One area I would recommend (very kid/family friendly) is Ashburn. It's a relatively new planned community with great community fitness centers and community lakes and nice strip mall type shopping centers. Dulles Town Center is a nice mall and it's 20 min or less from either Ashburn or Reston. It's probably around 20 min commute to Reston from Ashburn which is very short for around here. Although in this area, one day it could take you 15 min, the next could take an hour. Personal property taxes here stink too. Probably around $400 per year for the average vehicle. I would stay away from Herndon if I were you. It's right next to Reston, but has a good bit of gang activity (MS 13 mainly) in some areas. Herndon is the town that had that fiasco with the day laborer facility that was all over the news if that tells you anything. I would look no farther east than Fairfax (where I am from) and no farther west than Ashburn. Leesburg stinks for many reasons, but it cheaper. Western Sterling (Countryside area) is nice, but Eastern Sterling (old Sterling) has a high crime rate. I would try Ashburn, Reston, Fairfax, or Chantilly, in that order. Your best bet is just to go to apartments.com and search by these cities or Eastern Loudoun County or Western Fairfax County. Fairfax county has better schools (rated one of the best systems in the nation) though, but is generally more expensive. If you have any specific questions, just ask. I've lived her for about 18 years now and lived and worked all over NOVA. Most people I know coming from NYC like the open spaces and warmer weather and such, but in the suburbs of DC, public transit is terrible...be prepared to drive pretty much everywhere you go. Good Luck.

seldomseen · 07-12-2007, 08:07 AM

Just about all of NoVa is very, very nice! You may want to consider checking out the both of the following website for apartments in the DC Metro area.

ApartmentGuide.com - apartments for rent, apartment finder
Apartment Showcase.com - Apartments For Rent - Apartment Search in Maryland, Washington DC, Northern Virginia

Both of these websites are actually free apartment finder publications for the DC Metro area. And regarding Reston, it's a very nice town to live in. You could also consider living in neighboring towns too, such as: Herndon, Sterling/Dulles, Chantilly, etc. Most importantly DON'T LISTEN TO the people that say that a particular area is "bad" because in reality, if you're coming for NYC, your perception of bad won't be remotely close to what you will see in NoVa!! lol Just take as much time as feasible to explore all there areas that you're interested in living in, and you will be in good shape.

Good Luck!

laila_80 · 07-14-2007, 12:13 AM

Thanks for all of your advice guys, I really appreciate it.

Living in NY is not as bad as you make it seem. It's actually quite safe here. Where I live, I can leave my car unlocked at night and take the subway in the middle of the night without fear.

Turns out he has a choice to work in either the office based out of Reston OR Ashburn. I think he's leaning towards Ashburn based on the research we've done on the web.

We found a nice community: archstoneapartments.com where we can rent for a while before buying again. (That way we can really get a feel for where we'd like). We just sold our house and figured it's better to wait and find a place we'll really like. There's an Archstone community here and it's really nice (and expensive). They have a 3 bedroom 3 Bath apartment for about $1,600 which is not so bad considering our mortgage was more than double that (closer to triple). We want to be conservative so we can save up some more and just buy a place cash with the profits from our house here.

ashbrn4 · 07-15-2007, 08:54 AM

You'll like Ashburn. It's great for families and I'm pretty sure has a lower crime rate than Reston. I know rents are lower here than NYC. I saw a story last week about how expensive it is to live in the city and the average rents were a lot higher there. My husband has family in a couple of the boroughs and depending on where exactly you live, your costs and safety vary. You'll find buying here wont' cost you anymore than it did in NYC if your mortgage was 3200-4800 there. Not sure how much cash you'll have but for a single family house you're talking anywhere from $550,000 - $1 million depending on size, location, lot size and style of home. It's a buyers market right now and you can get a house for less than you could 1 1/2 years ago. For example, $550k will buy you a 2000 sq foot home on 1/4 acre while $1 million will get you a 5000 sq ft home on 1/2 acre plus. My neighborhood is all 1/2 acre lots with 3500-4000 sq ft homes (not counting basement) for $850-900K. About 1 1/2 years ago, our homes were going for $900-975K. We've been in this house for about 4 years so we have some equity. Property taxes (and sales taxes) are lower here than in NY also.

NOVA$tinks · 07-16-2007, 01:48 PM

Ashburn definately has less crime than Reston, but both areas are very safe compared to communities closer to DC like Falls Church and Arlington. I know several people who live in Ashburn (with families) and they love all the ammenities. There is a lot more in terms of shopping and entertainment (they have the best ice rink in the DC metro area) now than even a few years ago. It's an up and coming area. And with DC and places like Great Falls Park close by, there is plenty to do on the weekends. You can really live your whole life here and not experience everything. I'm just too much of a country boy...sick of the suburbs. Archstone has several developments throughout the area and they are all very nice (I almost rented at the one in Fairfax). Nicer than most I would say having lived in 4 apartments in this area. I would definately lean towards Ashburn if I were you guys though. I would say Reston, being single, but Ashburn is more geared towards families. Anyway, good luck with the move, wherever you decide. As I said before, if you have any specific questions, just let us know.

laila_80 · 07-16-2007, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NOVA$tinks

Ashburn definately has less crime than Reston, but both areas are very safe compared to communities closer to DC like Falls Church and Arlington. I know several people who live in Ashburn (with families) and they love all the ammenities. There is a lot more in terms of shopping and entertainment (they have the best ice rink in the DC metro area) now than even a few years ago. It's an up and coming area. And with DC and places like Great Falls Park close by, there is plenty to do on the weekends. You can really live your whole life here and not experience everything. I'm just too much of a country boy...sick of the suburbs. Archstone has several developments throughout the area and they are all very nice (I almost rented at the one in Fairfax). Nicer than most I would say having lived in 4 apartments in this area. I would definately lean towards Ashburn if I were you guys though. I would say Reston, being single, but Ashburn is more geared towards families. Anyway, good luck with the move, wherever you decide. As I said before, if you have any specific questions, just let us know.

thanks for all of your advice