When talking to people looking for homes in Centreville, many have already checked out Annandale or Burke first.

Then, when they see the listings in Centreville, they often say, "Well, this place is a bit better."

However, it's hard to say that a home priced over $600,000 is cheap. The important thing is not just the price of the home, but how much you'll be paying each month if you buy it.

Let's assume the average home price in Centreville is around $640,000.

If you put down 20%, which is $128,000, the amount you would need to borrow is $512,000. With a fixed interest rate of 6.75% over 30 years, your monthly payment for principal and interest would be about $3,320.

But the mortgage doesn't end there.

If we estimate the Fairfax County property tax at about 1.1% annually, that adds roughly $590 a month for a $640,000 home. If we estimate homeowners insurance at about $125 a month, your actual housing cost already exceeds $4,000 a month.

If the home has an HOA, you'll need to add those fees as well. If it's a townhouse, those costs can be surprisingly high, and even if it's a single-family home, you'll still incur expenses for things like roof maintenance, air conditioning, plumbing, and lawn care that you might not have considered when living in an apartment.

This is why banks look at DTI, or the ratio of your income that goes toward paying off debt.

Using the traditional calculation that housing costs should be about 28% of your income, to afford a monthly payment of $4,030, you would need a monthly income of about $14,400, which translates to an annual income of about $173,000.

One thing to be cautious about here is that

"Just because you have an annual salary of $173,000 doesn't mean you can definitely buy a home." If you have a car payment of $800 a month and student loans or credit card debt, the overall DTI that the bank considers will change. Conversely, if you have little debt, good credit, and make a larger down payment, your situation improves significantly.

For dual-income households, the numbers start to look a bit more realistic. For example, if one person earns $90,000 and the spouse earns $85,000, that totals $175,000. This puts them in a position to consider a home priced around $640,000 in Centreville.

This is why Centreville often comes up as an alternative for Korean families looking at Annandale or Burke.

It allows them to maintain the same Fairfax County lifestyle while comparing home sizes and prices. If the budget is a bit tight, they can also consider townhouses to expand their options.

However, I believe that being able to buy a home and being able to live comfortably are two very different calculations.

Just because the bank approved you for a $640,000 home doesn't mean that spending over $4,000 a month on housing costs is comfortable. When you factor in car payments, children's education costs, travel, and retirement savings, what's left over is what really matters.

Ultimately, when looking at the price of homes in Centreville, it's more important to calculate, "Will I have leftover funds each month after buying this home?"

A home is not just a one-time purchase; it's an asset that will require ongoing expenses for 10, 20 years, and beyond.