SW. Va. or Western N.C. for small horse farm? (Charlottesville: for sale, renting)

[Tryan]

We're ready to retire from silly Chicago winters. Looking for small (approx. 5 ac.) horse farm in mountain area with house for about 300k (less would be nice). Am I right that you generally seem to get more bang for the buck in SW Va. than Western NC? Is there much difference in climate? Less snow the better as I think we have traumatic-shock-syndrome from Chgo. snows/temps. We won't be working so proximity to jobs not important.

[delusianne]

Rockbridge and Bath Counties are beautiful, quite horsy, not too expensive yet and urbanites are welcome The Virginia Horse Center is in Lexington, Rbr Co's county seat.
Official Site of the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington

[dogluver]

Hey Tryan!
We are moving out of the Chicago area as well and in fact just purchased a house on a horse farm in SW Virginia! I don't know much about Western NC but we love the SW Virginia area. We are tired of the Chicago winters, taxes, etc. Looking forward to the move in two months!

[seanpecor]

Climates of the TN and SWVA mountains may be pretty similar although I suspect that TN will be a little warmer. I'd look closely at property taxes, as they tend to be somewhat lower in TN. With that said, there are more horse farm friendly laws in VA.

If time were not of the essence, it would make sense to wait on buying until July or later. Prices are going to continue to drop and you might see another rate cut or two that would benefit you if you're looking at a mortgage. Even if you're buying property outright, by waiting until July you'll be past the buying season and people looking to sell who haven't yet will be ready to take low offers.

Sean

[barnmouse]

I have a horse property for sale in Crossville TN, halfway between Nashville and Knoxville. 1660 ranch style log home, 1600 heated, super workshop, indoor riding arena, 4 stalls, pastures etc! and total of 40 acres available. with 6 acres shop, house, indoor and pastures $284K with add 33 acres $329K
Check it out http://www.countryhorse.com/hp/sale

[NYnitestars]

Originally Posted by dogluver

Hey Tryan!
We are moving out of the Chicago area as well and in fact just purchased a house on a horse farm in SW Virginia! I don't know much about Western NC but we love the SW Virginia area. We are tired of the Chicago winters, taxes, etc. Looking forward to the move in two months!

Where in SW VA did you settle in? Looking to do the same thing!
NYNitestars

[TN Lily]

If you are going to have a horse farm, you should at least check out Rockbridge County & the Virginia Horse Center.

What type/breed of horses will you have? If you will have pleasure horses and no interest in showing, the Virginia Horse Center may not hold as much interest.

There are various equestrian groups in VA. You may want to check out those websites. For example, there is a Southwest Virginia Hunter Jumper Association.

[seanpecor]

If you're just really into pleasure riding and not competition and would like to have access to nearby public trails then consult park service maps to zero in on those counties where you'll have that access. You'll also will probably find the cheapest horse farmettes in those areas because they do tend to be remote rural areas. Land in proximity to metros and to "horse country" towns like Lexington can be relatively expensive, with the Charlottesville area being the most extreme example. I know a guy who manages a gentleman's estate for a wealthy family in the C'ville area. The estate owner has about 800 acres and recently bought about 200 adjoining acres for farming purposes for the stratospheric price of $3,200,000! That's about $16K an acre for farmland. In case you're wondering, you can't break even farming on land after paying $16K an acre, unless you're growing marijuana

Competitions at the VA horse center in Lexington are usually of the large regional and national variety due to the expense of renting the facility. It's nice to be local to Lexington but you might only compete there once or twice a year. Schooling shows take place more often and are spread out so TN Lily's suggestion is a good one. Find the riding association web sites and check out their calendar of events. For example, Green Hill Park in Salem is a popular schooling/local show venue. We're in Boones Mill, and we're 75 minutes to Lexington, 45 minutes to Green Hill Park, 3 hours to Pinehurst, 4 hours to Leesburg, 2 hours to C'ville, etc.

Sean