Fairfax County Real Estate Prices: What does $500K buy where?

September 18 by Marina Brito

This time, inspired by the fabulous Washingtonian Magazine, we’ve drilled down on their article on “House Prices Now: What Your Money Buys Where”, and we’ve come up with our own list exclusively focused on Fairfax County Real Estate.

House Prices: What your money buys where

House Prices Now: What Your Money Buys Where

What’s the average Fairfax County Real Estate price?

First, we determined the average home price in all of Fairfax County for the previous month. Based on MLS statistics, the average Fairfax County Real Estate sold price for August 2012 was $520,511*. To simplify our search, we selected “around $500,000”.

How many homes are currently priced around $500K?

Next, we logged on to our Fairfax County Map, and searched for detached homes around the $500,000 price-range. Out of about 100 homes that met our criteria, we chose 10 homes on the market to highlight as representative examples of what you can buy in each area.

Where are these homes?

To give you some perspective on where these ten homes are, we added the Fairfax County schools boundaries layer to our map, so that you can easily see which Fairfax County high schools are assigned to each of these homes:

Fairfax County Real Estate Map of ~500k homes

Fairfax County Real Estate Map of ten homes of about ~$500K

Let’s see each of the homes one by one

Let’s see what kind of home you get for $500K in the different Fairfax County school boundaries. First, let’s start with the Edison High School boundary, in Alexandria, VA.

Edison High School Boundary

Home for sale in the Edison HS boundary

List Price: $500,000
City: Alexandria, VA (22310)
Beds/Baths: 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Year Built: 1970
Lot size: 0.34 acres
Style: Colonial
Floors: 3

This home in Alexandria, VA is a great option for people who commute to DC or Arlington, as it is conveniently located near I-495, I-395, and the Metro.

The next home is in Springfield, also close to I-495 and the Metro, and it belongs to the Annandale High School boundary:

Annandale High School Boundary

Home for sale in the Annandale HS boundary

List Price: $490,000
City: Springfield, VA (22151)
Beds/Baths: 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
Home Size: 3,520 sq.ft.
Year Built: 1978
Lot size: 0.43 acres
Style: Colonial
Floors: 3

Springfield, VA is also a great option for commuters, as it is close to the major highways and the Metro.

South County Secondary School, which is almost directly South of Annandale, covers a very large area, with much of its attendance area covering Lorton, VA – where the next home is located:

South County Secondary School Boundary

Home for sale in the South County Secondary school boundary

List Price: $490,000
City: Lorton, VA (22079)
Beds/Baths: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Home Size: 2,342 sq.ft.
Year Built: 2007
Lot size: 0.10 acres
Style: Rambler
Floors: 2

Homes in Lorton are convenient to I-95, and to the VRE (a good way to commute via rail to DC and the Pentagon).

Going back North to Annandale, VA; a small part of Annandale, goes to Woodson High School, as is the case with the next home:

Woodson High School Boundary

Home for sale in the Woodson HS boundary

List Price: $503,800
City: Annandale, VA (22003)
Beds/Baths: 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Year Built: 1972
Lot size: 0.28 acres
Style: Rambler
Floors: 2

Homes in Annandale are well connected to the rest of Fairfax County via an extensive network of public buses.

And speaking of well-connected, this next home located on the Eastern end of Vienna, VA; belongs to the Marshall High School boundary:

Marshall High School Boundary

Home for sale in the Marshall HS boundary

List Price: $500,000
City: Vienna, VA (22180)
Beds/Baths: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
Year Built: 1963
Lot size: 0.24 acres
Style: Colonial
Floors: 3

This home in Vienna, VA is located very close to one of the prime shopping and employment areas in Fairfax County (Tysons Corner), plus great accessibility to important highways such as I-495 and I-66.

A little bit in opposition to the accessibility of Vienna, Langley High School covers a very wide and rural-feeling area, mostly in the postal code 22066, also known as Great Falls, VA:

Langley High School Boundary

Home for sale in the Langley HS boundary

List Price: $495,000
City: Great Falls, VA (22066)
Beds/Baths: 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Year Built: 1965
Lot size: 0.51 acres
Style: Split Foyer
Floors: 2

Homes in Great Falls, VA enjoy being set in a desirable rural-feeling area, away from the busy-ness of the shopping and employment areas.

Another employment and shopping area can be found in the middle of Fairfax County, where Fairfax High School is located. The following home belongs to the Fairfax HS boundary:

Fairfax High School Boundary

Home for sale in Fairfax, VA (and in the Fairfax High School boundary)

List Price: $499,900
City: Fairfax, VA (22030)
Beds/Baths: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
Year Built: 1984
Lot size: 0.19 acres
Style: Colonial
Floors: 3

This home is located just outside of the limits of the historic City of Fairfax, and very close to George Mason University.

A little bit to the Southwest of the Fairfax High School attendance area, Robinson Secondary School serves a large area on the Southwestern side of Fairfax County, including the postal city of Fairfax Station, VA, where the next home is located:

Robinson Secondary School Boundary

Home for sale in the Robinson Secondary school boundary

List Price: $499,000
City: Fairfax Station, VA (22039)
Beds/Baths: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Year Built: 1960
Lot size: 4.26 acres
Style: Raised Rambler
Floors: 2

Fairfax Station, VA is another area for living away from the hustle-and-bustle, and where one can find a home like this: with 4+ acres of land!.

Now, jumping up to the Northwestern corner of Fairfax County, you can find The Town of Herndon, VA, home of Herndon High School. This next home belongs inside the attendance area of Herndon High School.

Herndon High School Boundary

Home for sale in Herndon, VA

List Price: $499,900
City: Herndon, VA (20170)
Beds/Baths: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
Home Size: 2,244 sq.ft.
Year Built: 1987
Lot size: .29 acres
Style: Colonial
Floors: 3

The Town of Herndon is very well connected both, via bus, and very soon, via Metro to the rest of Fairfax County; plus there is a historic town and all the amenities of a small community.

Going South from Herndon on Rt. 28, you’ll find Centreville, VA. Centreville, in the West end of Fairfax County, is partly served by Westfield High School. The home below is inside the Westfield HS boundary:

Westfield High School Boundary

Home for sale in Centreville, VA (Westfield HS boundary)

List Price: $499,999
City: Centreville, VA (20120)
Beds/Baths: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
Year Built: 1993
Lot size: .13 acres
Style: Colonial
Floors: 3

Centreville, VA is close to I-66 with plenty of suburban areas to serve the many communities within it.

As you can see, there are many options to choose from when you want to stick to a budget of about $500k and are looking for a single family detached home. Some of the homes above are newer, others have more land, and yet others are closer to amenities and transportation.

To see more

To see more information on each of the school boundaries, plus plenty of home details (and photos) of the homes pictured above (and of all the other homes that are currently on the Fairfax County Real Estate market), log into our Fairfax County Map

What is it like to live in a particular High School boundary?

To see where each high school boundary is within Fairfax County, log in to see our Fairfax County map of High School Boundaries:

Click for the Fairfax County Map of High School Boundaries

: Click to access the Fairfax County Map (with UP-TO-DATE high school boundaries)

Access the Fairfax County Map of School Boundaries (a.k.a the Affordability Map) to see the location of each of the most UP-TO-DATE boundaries within Fairfax County and to choose your ideal boundary.

When you access the Fairfax County Map of School Boundaries, you will find:

Transportation options
UP-TO-DATE High School boundaries
School scores for elementary, middle and high schools in each boundary
Photos and videos
Highlights of the area covered by each boundary
Statistics about housing

If you haven’t subscribed yet, why wait?

: The FREE No-Tears Guide to Moving to Fairfax, VA

Downloading The No-Tears Guide to Moving to Fairfax, VA is free, and you’ll get access to our unique home-search (by school boundary).

Plus, you get the Fairfax County Real Estate Affordability Map, AND access to detailed information about each Fairfax County School boundary.

Your turn, what do you think?

Please leave a comment!