Searching for a Home with a View in Roanoke Area - But Where? (Hollins: house, weather)

[cumbriabeval]

LOL! Oh, I do remember that. I wasn't sure if you were telling me to avoid 24019 but it seems southwest of downtown is the way to go. Will have to find our good views in Cave Spring, I guess.

Thanks for writing, Rke Deschutes.

[Watchful]

I think the challenge is:

RANCH STYLE
vs
GREAT VIEW
vs
GREAT WALKABLE NEIGHBORHOOD FEEL

I can steer you well to any of the three....but to get all three????

The walkable neighborhoods are the older houses (not ranch style) - and they are a little denser so no view

The ranch style are in the neighborhoods developed in the 50s/60s....not quite as dense but still not the place for the views.

The views are in the least dense terrain....and usually hillier so you are not going to find ranch style. Plus you have the wolves, bears, and panthers to deal with. (JUST A JOKE JUST A JOKE)

I think you need three houses!

(As for me and my house you know I will choose walkable/dense in a heartbeat haha!)

[cumbriabeval]

Thanks again, Watchful! And especially for the extra heartbeats you gave me with mention of wolves, bears, and panthers!

It's a really difficult choice to make. I always thought being in the center of things would work best but now I'm leaning toward the mountain views. Not really sure of the value of being in a walkable area since we are so used to driving everywhere and doubt that will change after a lifetime of living in Houston.

I'm really not opposed to a 2-story house. Just worry about growing old in one and having to get one of those stair lifts. Ugh! That would be so depressing! And Heaven forbid I make my dogs go to any more effort than having to get off the couch and walk to their food bowls. They wouldn't know what to do with stairs but maybe we could all use the extra exercise. We really limit the home search by narrowing down to ranch only.

Thanks, as always, for the wonderful feedback.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Originally Posted by Rke Deschutes

If you ever saw the movie "The Graduate" back in 1969 Dustin Hoffman was given advise on what to do with his future life
and one word "Plastics" was given as at that time when the Plastics industry had a big future. I guess I am getting old
Ha Ha!!

For what it's worth I got it too, but I'm also old.

OP: What price range are you looking at?

[cumbriabeval]

We're really hoping to find something under $300K.

Do they charge more for mountain views?

[bigzap]

I thought that I'd chime in on this thread, and let you all know what I've experienced in regards to our move from New Jersey this last June. My wife and I, (recently retired early) decided to move out of NJ, I having lived there, for 26 yrs., she for 62 (all of her life), and have done extensive reconnaissance initially focusing on the Asheville, NC area. Having found evidence of rising real estate prices, substantial gentrification, and other factors which began to turn us off (such a beautiful place to live, though) we started looking into Roanoke. To shorten the story, we felt that living in this area was a good choice after several scouting missions (7.5 hour drive south for us), and we put the house on the market, selling it 12 days later. So we had to make some bold moves, and made another mission with about 3 weeks until closing, and being homeless. Let me rewind a little (I've got ADD, please bear with me), our objective was to rent somewhere in the area prior to purchasing our retirement home, so we could feel confident in our purchase. Well, from prior visits here, we made contact with a realtor that we felt comfortable with, and asked for suggestions on a rental situation- a home specifically, no apartment for us. Well, there wasn't much online, and he steered us to look into Craigslist, which is the route we took. (In retrospect, I had feelings that he was kind of blowing us off..........but now, I fully believe that avenue is the most productive way to search). So here we were: I'm 59, she's 62, moving out of our 3br. home with a 55lb. Flat coated retriever, with no place yet to transition to. We needed to rent a home with lots of storage area (the plan is and was, to keep a lot of stuff still in boxes, until we find our home to purchase). We have not rented any kind of home, apt. or whatever for many, many years, so we found that the normal lease turns out to be a year. Ok, we'll deal with that, we thought. So we monitored Craigslist, and wound up pre-arranging showings prior to our quick visit in May. We found that the home style that we were seeking would be in the 1200-1500 per month range. To move the story along, the last house we visited on the list turned out to be the home we are in now. We moved here in Cave Spring, in early Jun. We are in a 3 bdrm., 2bath home with .66 acres, with not too much of a view, but what an awesome rather quiet area. We entered in an agreement with our very gracious landlords for a 9 month lease @ 1700 per month., more than we wanted to pay, but we were relieved we found a nice, temporary place to hang our hats. So, for 3.5 months or so, we have been looking at all areas around here, Salem, Bonsack, Daleville, etc., etc.......and have lots of time to shop for homes. We both fully agree that this area that we now live, is where we would like to be. We too, are looking for homes in the 300K area, hopefully with a view, unfinished basement (I'm eager to create sawdust, weld, and generally make a mess!). We've found that this area of Roanoke County affords beautiful views from many different home value echelons. Being that it's a bit hilly here, the neighborhoods present a variable different land acreage and terrain exposure. One home may have a terrific view, the next, not so much. Certainly I've generalized, but if you have the ability to rent, it would help you "push the button" at the time the perfect home pops up, of course, taking into account your lease agreements. Anyhow, we've found that most anywhere in the area, you can escape the hustle and bustle of life when you get home, but you can also go all over the area in minutes. Regarding animal life, believe it or not, there have been numerous sightings of deer, fox, skunk, feral Savannah Cats, and many bear sightings (in our yard), from our home in New Jersey. Here in Cave Spring, we've encountered a fair amount of deer, (including the neighborhood albino baby fawn, pretty rare!), squirrels, and haven't seen, but evidence of skunk at my neighborhood. Anyhow, I'm serious about the ADD, and feel as if I've written my thoughts in a standard bit of rambling that I may be famous for, but the main thing I wanted to get across is: We love Cave Spring. I hope I've helped anyone with my experience.

[cumbriabeval]

Thank you so much for sharing your story, bigzap. You are making a wise choice, for sure. If we are unable to find a home, we'll likely go down the same route. We may have to make a few trips in a short period of time to find a home, but we are going to give it our best shot to avoid moving twice.

From what I gather, we can't go wrong if we are fortunate to find a home in Cave Spring. Obviously, everyone loves it there. I'm also interested in Botetourt County in Roanoke and we'll see what else is out there.

So you're saying the bear sightings were from your yard in NEW JERSEY?

[bigzap]

Yes, bear have been in our yard, in the neighborhood. Perhaps the stereotype of an urban area quickly comes to mind when you think of New Jersey. That's not always the case, as I lived in kind of the outskirts of suburbia. I sometimes described to people that if I had to, I could get up off the couch and go out and touch a cow in perhaps 7 minutes. I worked in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania (reverse commute from "the city"), and enjoyed the area substantially. Since retirement, though, we couldn't find ourselves paying the $10,000 per year taxes for our house (we sold for $365,00), and for our .15 acre land. So, in Roanoke, we expect to pay $2,200-$3,000 per year, and we would find ourselves about complaining about it if we approached the $3,000 end of our expectations (human nature- we're never fully satisfied!).

[Scorpio1969]

From NY. I bought land Moneta a year and half ago. I see deer and turkey on a regular basis. A black snake in our chicken coop,
Lots of little critters. Ive yet to see a fox ( although I know theyre around)or bear. I saw my first coyote last week when I let my dogs out at
midnight, and they didn't stick around once they saw the German Shepherds.

I've seen more bear in northern NJ than I have here.

[FJR1]

I live in Cave Spring (from NY originally since we're all sharing where we come from).

If you want views here, try and be near the Cotton Hill area (near Penn Forest elementary/South county library)

Cave Spring is not walk-able save for the tracks at the schools. We do not have sidewalks.

Other than the odd stray dog I have not felt threatened by animals.

I like where I live; no views save for one window but it's quiet here yet I'm close to whatever I need. I can go ten minutes one way and be in downtown Roanoke or go ten minutes another way and be in the middle of nowhere (aka Bent Mountain )