We saw a nice townhouse in Leesburg, but most of the properties didn't thrill us. I am not a golfer, either. Rockville and Bethesda are out of our price range, especially since we want a yard for our dog, and are also a bit too far from Ashburn.
The places we liked most were Reston/Herndon in Virginia and Frederick in Maryland. We'd might possibly be able to squeeze enough money out of my paychecks to afford a townhome in Reston/Herndon. The neighborhoods are nice and have a lot of walking trails and conveniently located stores and schools. The commute from there to Ashburn was surprisingly good. (We did a bunch of trial commutes to/from Ashburn during rush hours while we were out there.)
I'd have to say, however, that Frederick was our favorite, especially the character of the historic downtown area. On top of character, we discovered that we can afford a 3-br, extra family room, finished basement, big back yard, single-family home very close to that area -- basically a dream first home all for less than a townhome in Reston and comparably priced to a townhome in Leesburg. Seems like a no-brainer, but the commute from Frederick to Ashburn is about an hour. (To put that into perspective, my commute in CA is about 10 minutes.) I'm ready to accept the commute, but my wife is hesitant as that will mean less time with family in the morning and the evenings. A valid concern, but we have to balance a lot of things in choosing the right home.
Next step is to contact a lender in the D.C. area, though.
