Herndon, Virginia
Weekend plans, what homes are selling for, school news, and the practical stuff. Updated every week. No signup to read any of it.
Put together by John PhamA neighbor here, and a realtor when you need one.
This week
Updated Sunday, August 23
Monday
Aug 24
Buses run their full routes from day one. If your stop or time changed over the summer it's in ParentVUE, and it's worth checking tonight rather than at 7am.
All week
Add ten minutes for the next two weeks, especially between 7:15 and 8:15. School zones are active again and enforcement tends to be visible early in the year.
Thursday
morning
8:00 to 12:30 downtown, running through October. Produce, bread, and the kind of tomatoes that make you annoyed at grocery stores. Get there before 10.
Saturday
morning
Free admission and free parking on West Ox Road. Animals, wagon rides and a carousel. Go at opening. By eleven in August it's a different experience.
Coming up
Two extra days off less than two weeks in. Worth knowing now if you need to sort out coverage.
Know something worth adding? Tell me and I'll put it in next week.
Thursdays
Get this list before the weekend
Five things worth doing in and around Herndon, sent Thursday morning. That's the whole thing. Stop any time.
Happening now
Neighborhood drive
Friday, September 11 · 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Community Room, 2491 McNair Farms Drive
Everyone donates school supplies in July. By late September they've run out and teachers are buying them out of pocket. We're collecting for Northern Virginia Family Services, who get backpacks and supplies to students across the region.
Snacks from Jefferey's Catering, free Brim Coffee, and a school year calendar magnet for your fridge while they last.
Details and RSVPMarket update
Updated the first week of every month. Real closed data, not an algorithm's guess.
August 2026
17
Homes sold last month
74
Median days on market
3
Typical offers per home
Seventeen closings across McNair last month, with homes averaging around 74 days on market. That's slower than the spring, which is normal for August, and it means buyers have more room to negotiate than they did in April.
Townhouses and condos make up most of the activity here, which matters if you're pricing one: your competition is other units in the neighborhood, not detached homes elsewhere in Herndon.
That's the neighborhood average. Your street, your finishes and your floor plan can move it a long way in either direction.
What's mine worth?First week of every month
Get this in your inbox instead
What actually closed in McNair Farms last month and what it means for pricing. Once a month, nothing else. Stop any time.
John PhamLicensed in VA, MD & DC. Figures from Bright MLS.
Schools
Opened August 2026
Skyview opened this month at 2949 Education Drive, in the Floris area just south of Herndon. FCPS bought the former King Abdullah Academy campus for $150 million in August 2025. It's a comprehensive high school with extra programming in aerospace, technology, robotics and AI, and the first school in the county with an indoor pool.
The School Board approved attendance boundaries on July 16, 2026. They pull students from Westfield, Chantilly and South Lakes and affect roughly 2,544 students. This year is opt-in only. Boundaries take effect in 2027–28 with an opt-out for ninth graders, and by 2028–29 there's no opt-out.
Every no-school day and early release, in one place.
Official FCPS calendar page Printable 2026–27 PDF Get it on a magnet
Confirm anything important against the official FCPS calendar. Dates do move.
For the fridge
I had these printed for the neighborhood. If you want one, tell me where you live and I'll bring it by. No charge, and I'm not going to pitch you anything at the door.
Just want the dates now? The full calendar is in the schools section above, and the printable FCPS version is at fcps.edu/calendars. No form for either.
Answers, no clicking
Trash & recycling
Friday
Both collected same day
The practical stuff
Tap any of these to open it.
Where everything is and what your assessment covers.
Your annual assessment covers pool and tennis membership for townhouse and condo owners. The pool runs Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Pool passes: email myafi@capitolcorp.com. Free for new residents, $35 to replace a lost one.
Rates, minimums and how to book it.
Email myafi@capitolcorp.com with your reason and they'll send the rental form.
Checks payable to MFCA. Confirm whether Friday bills at the weekday or weekend rate, since it changes the minimum.
Collection days, permits and who manages what.
Trash and recycling are both Friday.
Parking passes are handled in person at the NRP office, 11091 Sunset Hills Rd Suite 500, Reston.
Who manages what: McNair Farms Community Association is the master association. Manors at McNair Farms, McNair Farms West and McNair Farms Landbay are sub-associations with their own rules. Which one you're in depends on your street.
Resident portal: portal.nrpartnersllc.com
Getting oriented
The places worth knowing about if you're new here or thinking about moving in.
Day to day, the closest of everything: Giant on Elden Street, Paris Baguette, and DMV Iron Gym at the Clock Tower.
For homeowners
Zillow runs an algorithm on public records. It doesn't know your kitchen was redone, that you back to trees, or what the last three comparable sales on your street actually closed at after concessions. I pull the real data and go through it by hand.
I'll email it within a couple of business days. No obligation, and I'm the only person who sees what you send.
About
I'm John Pham. My wife and I run The Topaz Group at Spring Hill Real Estate, we live here in McNair Farms, and I'm licensed in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Before this I spent four years in IT as a systems engineer, on projects for Fortune 500 companies and Amazon. It paid well and I was quietly miserable. I left in 2019 to do this instead.
My parents came here from Vietnam as refugees. We owned a house when I was younger and lost it to foreclosure. Losing something that big is not an experience you forget, and it is most of the reason I work as carefully as I do for the people who trust me with theirs.
My wife and I chose Herndon on purpose and we plan on being here a long time. This is our home too, and we would like to put something back into it.
Featured in NOVA Real Producers, Rising Star, April 2025 · RENE certified negotiation expert · Licensed in Virginia, Maryland & DC
Get it in your phone
You pick. I write these myself, and you can stop them any time.