Five Steps to Finding Your Dream Home (by Fairfax County School Boundary)

February 14 by Marina Brito

As you may have already experienced, choosing the right home in the right Fairfax County school boundary can be a trying process. But it doesn’t have to be that hard if you follow the steps in The No-Tears Guide to Moving to Fairfax, VA.

The first step of The Guide is “How to Choose the Right School”.

1. Read “How to Choose the Right School”

Step 1: Read How to Choose the Right School

This report (which you get right after you subscribe to The No-Tears Guide) helps you understand how the Fairfax County Public School system works, and why it’s important to choose a school as your first step.

Also, from this report you can access The Ultimate High School Ranking©, where you can compare all the High Schools in Fairfax County using several different kinds of rankings (all of them in a single table).

Once you have a short list of high schools that you might be interested in, then it’s time to get familiar with the average home prices in those school boundaries. To do that, you can start by using the Home Affordability Map.

2. The Fairfax County Home Affordability Map

Step 2: How much do homes cost (on average) in each boundary?

What makes this Fairfax County map unique?

First, we layered the Fairfax County High School boundaries onto the map. Then, we color-coded each boundary based on the average price of sold homes in the boundary. This helps you quickly identify which boundaries are most likely to be within your budget.

But the Home Affordability Map only gives a very broad brush stroke of how much homes sell for in Fairfax County. To find out more details about the kinds of homes available in each boundary, use our interactive Fairfax County Map (with high school boundaries)

3. The Fairfax County Map (with high school boundaries)

Of course, there are all kinds of homes in each of the boundaries, so to get a better idea of what each boundary is like, the next step is to log into the Fairfax County Map.

Our Fairfax County Map (with high school boundaries) can be found at: http://fairfax.homebyschool.com/county-map/ (make sure to log in first).

Once on the Fairfax County Map, click on a boundary to see more details

From the Fairfax County Map, click on a school boundary to reach its boundary page.

4. Boundary Page Details

Each boundary page has details on the area, schools, and information on the homes available in that boundary:

Photos of the the area within the boundary

Slideshow of the the area within the school boundary

Photos and Videos – Many boundary pages have photos of the area within the boundary
Highlights of each boundary – How are the schools? What kind of homes are available? What are a few reasons why you should consider this boundary?
Map of feeder schools – Each boundary page also includes a map with the location of the feeder elementary and middle schools in that pyramid (high school boundary).
Feeder schools & scores – In addition to the location of the feeder schools, you can find their average SOL scores so that you can compare them against the County average.
Real Estate sold prices – See how many homes sold of each kind (detached, townhome, condo), plus the average, high, and low sold prices to get an idea of what’s available for sale in the boundary.

Now that you are comfortable with the schools, home prices, and the feel of the boundary, you might want to check out the available homes for sale INSIDE that boundary.

5. Find homes for sale within each boundary

Click on the red button on each boundary page to open up the interactive home search:

Click the red button to find homes for sale in this boundary

The interactive map will display the homes for sale in the boundary that you have selected. (You can further specify your criteria to refine your search.)

Find homes for sale INSIDE this school boundary

When you click on one of the green squares, you can see more details on each of the homes.

See photos, descriptions, and details of homes for sale

See details for each home, including photos and descriptions directly from the Multiple Listing Service.

Refine your search and see details of each home for sale

If you like the search that you have set up for yourself, you may save it and set up an email alert.

Stay informed with an email Alert

Set up an email alert

Set up a custom email alert to keep you up to date with any new properties that meet your criteria.

TIP: When you find a home you are interested in, don’t forget to double-check the official school assignments.

Double check the official school assignments
When you find a home that looks really interesting, don’t forget to double-check the official school assignments at the Fairfax County Public Schools website.

Summary

Five Easy Steps to Find Your Dream Home (by School) in Fairfax County, VA:

Choose a School
Look at the affordability map
Access the County Map
Study your favorite school boundary
Find homes for sale in your favorite school boundary

Once you are ready to buy a home, definitely contact us.

We are the only Home by School Specialists© in the area that understand exactly what you need. (We won’t waste your time showing you homes outside of the school boundary of your choice.)

Buy your home with a specialist

Keep making your home buying experience easier on yourself and buy your home with the help of a Home by School specialist.

When you are ready to schedule a home tour or if you have any questions throughout the process, Contact Us.

The market is already hot, hot, hot and we are getting busier by the day. If you are planning on moving, contact us as soon as possible to reserve your spot and avoid disappointment.