Buying property in "rural" Northern Virginia - what do I need to know? (Lynchburg: HOA, insurance)

[Fallout Zone]

I'm hoping that this catches the eye of a few people that live outside of the cities in NoVA. My in-laws have moved to the area from the rural Midwest and they are staying with us until they can find a place to live within a 60-90 minute drive (non-rush hour, so think Winchester/Front Royal/Culpeper, etc.). They don't want to live in a city or in a newer subdivision with small lots, so they are looking at areas just outside of the moderate sized towns out west of DC. We will be visiting a lot and are likely to inherit the house down the line, so all of us are in on the decision. The thing is - I have never lived in a rural place. Its not like I grew up in Manhattan, but I have never lived in a place without city water/sewer or good access to cable internet/tv.

I guess what I'm asking is - what are the drawbacks of living in the rural areas that I may not have thought of yet? Obviously, proximity to health care/groceries, etc. are an issue, but what I'm really thinking about is well water and septic systems. What questions do I need to ask a Realtor? How bad is DSL and satellite internet? I get a little scared when one of the selling points I see on some listings is that "Comcast is available!" Everybody hates Comcast, unless I guess you can't get Comcast. Is there anything Virginia-centric about the water quality?

Thank you.

[Hal Roach]

the soil is trickier than the well. You can use Hughes for Internet. Perhaps, check out Madison County.....40 acres for 200K. When I lived in a rural area; there was city water, with septic, on an Arizona ridgetop, which was ideal for septic. We had DSL and DishNetwork. Overall, I don't think NoVa is a good place for rural living...and it will come with a hefty price tag, when all is said and done. OTOH, all other types of living around there come with a big price, too. You can get 640 acres five minutes from Lovelock, Nevada for 75K, and you would actually be close to an Interstate and medical facilities. I don't think OJ likes it very much, though.

[johnsonkk]

You could search other forums on the rural issue but what is it that is good and attracts them to nor wanting to live on top of their neighbors? There are tremendous benefits to living in a rural town and this doesn't have to include20 acres. There are rural subdivisions with great utilities that are on septic and above ground electrical wires.

Any list of wants will have additional distances to cover including the obvious but also hardware, restaurants, cleaners, etc. So planning and making lists becomes important. Lower housing and taxes are a big draw and western Virginia has amazing views and amenities. I'm sure others will chime in with the benefits.

For significant chores, septics built right doubt require very much maintenance. Lots of places have city water but don't have sewer. Well water is normally better and less expensive. Mowing land is a big time consumer in rural areas. Internet speeds aren't as big as cell coverage. It's nice not having a land line but they may have to if their cell coverage is poor. I've switched cell companies if one company had a tower nearby to the house.

Depending on hills, 4 wheel drive vehicle, at least one, may be on the short list too.

[blindside]

Originally Posted by Fallout Zone

How bad is DSL and satellite internet? I get a little scared when one of the selling points I see on some listings is that "Comcast is available!" Everybody hates Comcast, unless I guess you can't get Comcast.
Thank you.

As someone who looked for property west of 15 in western LoCo, outside of 'town' limits, 5+ acres, I have to say the internet access is horrific. Your luck is better if you settle into a development / HOA where the internet access was negotiated with the provider (usually Verizon FIOS) and everybody in the HOA must sign up. There are HOAs with 1 acre lots, however. However, it doesn't seem like you want HOA life and/or want larger acreage.

I once visited a property that was adjacent to an HOA. The HOA had FIOS but 50 feet away on the actual property I was interested in there was no FIOS.

This leaves you with satellite internet which is spotty at best and rather expensive. Most plans I researched were limited to XXX gigabytes per month at which point you were charged a higher fee and moved to a slower transfer rate. Reminds me of the days of AOL where it was $9.95 for the first 10 hours. In this rural market, they are competing with cell phone providers, you may actually find that your cell phone provider gives better service and competitive rates.

For satellite I wouldn't be thinking of streaming services, maybe the occasional web surfing or emails.

I would pay very careful attention to storm water management/site grading. If you buy property that was previously an open field / farmland, there's not much to stop the water from moving around. In other words, the rocks and trees, were removed a very long time ago allowing the water to flow unimpeded.

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by Hal Roach

the soil is trickier than the well. You can use Hughes for Internet. Perhaps, check out Madison County.....40 acres for 200K. When I lived in a rural area; there was city water, with septic, on an Arizona ridgetop, which was ideal for septic. We had DSL and DishNetwork. Overall, I don't think NoVa is a good place for rural living...and it will come with a hefty price tag, when all is said and done. OTOH, all other types of living around there come with a big price, too. You can get 640 acres five minutes from Lovelock, Nevada for 75K, and you would actually be close to an Interstate and medical facilities. I don't think OJ likes it very much, though.

Yeah, it is expensive everywhere. I think we are looking at existing houses rather than buying land and building new, so that may take care of some of the problems.

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by johnsonkk

You could search other forums on the rural issue but what is it that is good and attracts them to nor wanting to live on top of their neighbors? There are tremendous benefits to living in a rural town and this doesn't have to include20 acres. There are rural subdivisions with great utilities that are on septic and above ground electrical wires.

Any list of wants will have additional distances to cover including the obvious but also hardware, restaurants, cleaners, etc. So planning and making lists becomes important. Lower housing and taxes are a big draw and western Virginia has amazing views and amenities. I'm sure others will chime in with the benefits.

For significant chores, septics built right doubt require very much maintenance. Lots of places have city water but don't have sewer. Well water is normally better and less expensive. Mowing land is a big time consumer in rural areas. Internet speeds aren't as big as cell coverage. It's nice not having a land line but they may have to if their cell coverage is poor. I've switched cell companies if one company had a tower nearby to the house.

Depending on hills, 4 wheel drive vehicle, at least one, may be on the short list too.

I think the neighbor thing is a big deal. But they aren't looking for 20 acres anyway. Maybe 2 or 3 which can be found in some of the subdivisions and rural towns. We've looked at some places in the "mountains" and ruled them out. One HOA recommended chains in the winter - nope!

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by blindside

As someone who looked for property west of 15 in western LoCo, outside of 'town' limits, 5+ acres, I have to say the internet access is horrific. Your luck is better if you settle into a development / HOA where the internet access was negotiated with the provider (usually Verizon FIOS) and everybody in the HOA must sign up. There are HOAs with 1 acre lots, however. However, it doesn't seem like you want HOA life and/or want larger acreage.

I once visited a property that was adjacent to an HOA. The HOA had FIOS but 50 feet away on the actual property I was interested in there was no FIOS.

This leaves you with satellite internet which is spotty at best and rather expensive. Most plans I researched were limited to XXX gigabytes per month at which point you were charged a higher fee and moved to a slower transfer rate. Reminds me of the days of AOL where it was $9.95 for the first 10 hours. In this rural market, they are competing with cell phone providers, you may actually find that your cell phone provider gives better service and competitive rates.

For satellite I wouldn't be thinking of streaming services, maybe the occasional web surfing or emails.

I would pay very careful attention to storm water management/site grading. If you buy property that was previously an open field / farmland, there's not much to stop the water from moving around. In other words, the rocks and trees, were removed a very long time ago allowing the water to flow unimpeded.

West of 15 in Loudoun is somehow quite rural and still really, really expensive. I think we'd (read: me) trade more acreage for more amenities, but we'll see how it turns out.

I really probably shouldn't have said "property" in the title since that implies land and building. We really aren't looking for that. Just a house with some land and a bit of privacy. If they were looking to not have neighbors within miles we'd be pointing them at another part of the country!

[hertfordshire]

Have you looked just across the border from Loudoun in WV?

[LynchburgLover]

You'll probably have a lot of wildlife. Deer will eat all your hostas etc so you learn different landscaping than in suburbia. You'll have groundhogs, rabbits, moles, skunks etc. Some love to set up housekeeping under porches or crawlspaces. And, depending on how far west you go, you may have bears wandering by.

Fire insurance will go up because there are no hydrants. A friend's house in Upperville burned to the ground because the only water was her pool and pond until the tanker truck arrived.

Hope you are comfortable with a gun. When seconds count, the police are pretty far away.

Best of luck.

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

You'll probably have a lot of wildlife. Deer will eat all your hostas etc so you learn different landscaping than in suburbia. You'll have groundhogs, rabbits, moles, skunks etc. Some love to set up housekeeping under porches or crawlspaces. And, depending on how far west you go, you may have bears wandering by.

Fire insurance will go up because there are no hydrants. A friend's house in Upperville burned to the ground because the only water was her pool and pond until the tanker truck arrived.

Hope you are comfortable with a gun. When seconds count, the police are pretty far away.

Best of luck.

Well, even here in suburbia the deer obliterate anything and everything. Lost the tomatoes this year and had to net the cucumbers after they feasted the first time. Lilies are right out. My wife continues to plant hostas even though she knows they are just deer food.

Interesting point on the fire hydrants. That's exactly something that I would not have even considered.