Hi all.. writing this because I could potentially be leaving AL for a federal position in the DC area. I would like to know if any of you who leave in that area have suggestions about good affordable housing and the most important thing is schools. I have one in K now... so I need a great school. We are most likely looking at VA, but I am not sure of anything just yet any help would be great!

I used to live in Arlington VA-great neighbourhood close to everything. All the benefits of
DC without the crime. Downtown DC -you want to stay away! good luck with the move!

do you know anything about the schools?

No sorry-no school going kids then....how about googling?

I am a weichert referral associate and live in the D.C area. What I do is refer clients like yourself to qualified top producing agents. A Top Producing agent is one who is an expert in his/her field with million dollar club status, the highest knowledge and training, exceptional reputation and has earned the highest realtor designations. In other words, top producing agents are the best in the business. You can go to my website www.myagentsource.com to place your FREE referral. You will be in contact with a Realtor in the D.C. area who is a neigbhorhood expert and can tell you all about the schools, shopping and lifestyle and can begin sending you listings on homes in the area.

We are on our second tour here with my husband stationed at the Pentagon. The first time we lived in Burke in order tp be in Fairfax County schools and knew of several people that liked it. Very happy with the school, wonderful family atmosphere, loved Burke. My DH walked to the bus stop and rode the bus in. Very easy. Moved, came back, couldn't find a house that worked for us in Burke, moved to Centreville. Great school, fantastic neighborhood, more of a commute for DH (an hour). People really look for Fairfax County schools.

Once you are settled in, Fran's Cake and Candy in Fairfax (703-352-1471) is wonderful for getting supplies and she orders all sorts of things I need. People drive from all over to get things there. I just tried to send you a PM with more info, but it doesn't look like it worked, so... we have a great realtor! Her name is Betty Barthle of Long and Foster (www.bettybarthle.com). She really listens to what we request and we really recommend her. (sounds like you are covered for realtors!). You likely already know this, but you can get legal in VA. I have tons of info on that, if you need it. Feel free to contact me. There are a lot of great things to do here and this will be a great market for cakes, etc!

I lived in Fairfax County for 17 years. We still own a condo in Penderbrook. I'm hearing that Ashburn and Sterling are really great areas now. Back when I lived there it was all cattle farms and country roads. My daughter went to a kindergarten in Chantilly. We lived on Jasper road, granted it was only for 3 months but we are big into the school thing too.

I have a realtor name, WE LOVE HER!!! She will point you in the right direction, Kathy Wood, she is with Weichart Realtors and she has young kids. She has been our realtor for YEARS and has never steered us wrong. Her number is 703-222-1274 or 703-851-1120. Please tell her Ginger Soave' sent you. We also lived in Franklin Farm for a couple of years and I believe that neighborhood fed into Chantilly but not sure, my kids were 1 and 2 when we lived there.

Good Luck! Please feel free to ask me more questions if you need to. We also lived in Springfield and Stafford too. I will offer one more bit of advice, you measure not by miles but how long it takes to get there, be careful how far away you live from your job it could be hours of a commute, the traffic is HORRIBLE!!!!

Ginger
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Hi. We moved to West Springfield, VA a year ago. My husband is stationed at Andrews AFB about 1/2 hour commute. Fairfax County schools have a great reputation and seem to be well funded. A neat thing about the school system is the language immersion program and magnet schools. Our daughter (3rd grade) was in an immersion program in a base school in Germany and so when I found out they had a school with German Immersion we targeted the neighborhood with that school. If you have an interest in your child learning a language just do some research and target your area. Feel free to contact me if you'd like more info.

HTH
Ellen

wow, thanks... great to wake up to the posts on this, a lot to absorb DD is very smart... they DIBELS in the south for testing their knowledge and she consistently benchmarks 3x + what the base score should be. She is in Advanced Reading in Kgarten, she was reading before she started... so she is about on a 2nd grade level now. I just don't want to keep her back... you know, wanna pick up the pace for her, she is not challenged right now. So how far is FF county from DC? Commutable?

FFX county is HUGE, and DC is definitely commutable from ffx. Both my children are gifted as well and they have programs for all the kids.

good luck!

fairfax county is very large so depending on where you are coming from on average with little traffic you are looking at 30 minutes. Most likely, there will be traffic though.

Oh, you needn't worry about programs for your daughter! My daughter is the in GT program. They have different levels within the school for the gifted programs and they pull them out for specialized reading, math, science, special projects, etc. For the highest level, you have the option to send her to a school that is expressly GT. They have the GT aspect very well covered here - very well. Regarding the commute, lots of people commute into DC from FFX County. Lots! The time in will depend on where you are/transportation methods. My DH uses publice transportation most times - catches a Metro bus to the actual Metro and rides it on it., but we are a bit farther out (more runnng room for the kids). Very easy forhim to get to work. There is also the VRE (the train) depending on where you live. Lots of people carpool as well.

thanks, I looked online yesterday at some apt complexes.. but you know it is so hard doing that because though they look nice, you just never know where they are actually situated Do any of you have friends or fam who live in FFX county that have ever done the apt thing?? I just don't want to wind up in a bad neighborhood, just me and 2 little ones.