Midlothian, Va (Richmond, Hampton, Williamsburg: for sale, HOA, crime)

[Lookingforasafehome]

I would like to leave the city of Williamsburg so I am researching the area of Midlothian, Va. The only real conveinence I have here is being two minutes from the local Farm Fresh and not much else!
Anyhow...I would like as much info on this area as possible. Any ideas? Cost for a nice home in a safe neighborhood, say around 1700 sq feet. I am looking for a NON Hoa community. I am searching for a home that is situated on a 1/4 to a 1/2 acre maybe with lots of mature trees. I do not want to be "too far" from decent shopping and etc...say maybe 15 mins or so? Prefer less if possible. I would also like to know if there are safer areas within this community and where the best schools are as well. I have to keep it under 200,000. Thanks again and
Have a wonderful Sunday and God bless all.

[williamsburgfan]

you are definbtely within 15 min of decent shopping where you are now - prime outlets, the mall, merchant's square.

why not drive up - you are only 45 min away. since you feel you were given bad advice before go and look for yourself. A lot. go everyday, drive the neighborhoods you are interested in, go very early to see the ages and # of kids on school buses. visit the schools, talk to the parents. there are so few people who post on this forum, and even less who post on midlothian area, you will not get any kind of a reasonable idea - go see for yourself. I am not sure there is an actual city called midlothian - aren't you talking about an area of richmond?

in your price range can you move to the richmond burbs and be in a good school district and safer area like you want?

www.realtor.com or any other homes for sale website is a good start. enter zip code and see what happens.

whenever i buy a house i always work back from the schools - even though they are investments a good school is a must. find out what schools you will consider, visit them, ask what areas they serve. of course, with growth redistrciting is always on the horizon and schools can change - so also ask if new schools on the horizon. what i love about JCC is that no matter where you purchase all the schools are great and investment is sound.

take a drive - many of them. spend a lot of time in richmond and see what you get.

have you considered smithfield, west point and the areas about glicester courthouse. your rpice range would work, crime probably a little worse. west popint schools better than gloucester.

[Lookingforasafehome]

Those are good ideas and your right, I should of investigated more here, but I just took the word of my agent, she was very nice and seemed very knowledgeable and I guess I got "sucked in". Lesson learned the hard way I suppose. I will take your suggestions on what you do when buying a home. I esp liked the idea of looking at the schools and then working from there. However I did do that with Williamsburg...you do get a great school and you do enjoy home values here, going up all the time, no matter where you live, just less than the better areas I guess...But I would prefer a safe community to making more money on a home. If I did stay here, I could make a small forntute on my home, I know that, I have not even been here a year and my home values went up considerably, but that may be cause I actually live in the city of Williamsburg, who knows. Anyhow, your post was respectful and kind and I thank you for that, have a great weekend. Anne

[KantLockeMeIn]

Stick to nothern Midlothian near Rt 60 if you are concerned about schools, as Midlothian High is the best in the area. I'd look at the older section of Walton Park or back in Queensgate. You'd be just a few minutes away from Chestefield Towne Center, Ukrops, Kroger, etc. They're also building the Watkins Center just a bit further out towards Powhatan, which should be one of the largest office parks and retail centers in the metro area.

[kcrossley]

Originally Posted by williamsburgfan

whenever i buy a house i always work back from the schools - even though they are investments a good school is a must. find out what schools you will consider, visit them, ask what areas they serve. of course, with growth redistrciting is always on the horizon and schools can change - so also ask if new schools on the horizon. what i love about JCC is that no matter where you purchase all the schools are great and investment is sound.

Excellent advice! This is the very first thing we did. In fact we were considering New Kent County, but were told that JCC schools were a little better.

[novanwbie]

Look at realtor.com and the 23112, 23113, 23235 and 23236 zip codes. You'll have to stay in an older neighborhood to stay in your price range, but all the schools are good in that area. Some are just better, like Midlothian and James River. But you probably can't get into those districts for $175,000. Queensgate and Wlaton Park will cost you around $250,000 on up. Look around Courthouse Road and at Lucks Lane. Also look at the developmetns off Genito Road. If you look carefully, you'll definitely be able to find something in your range. Good luck -- it's a wonderful place to live and have a family!

[LeavingMD?]

We just got back from Midlothian this weekend after visiting for the long President's Day weekend. We loved the area. We were looking at houses in a little higher price range than your limit of $200K, but I think you can find houses in that range. I am not definitely sure, but I would look at the realtor websites as they will tell you a lot. I believe some of the older houses in Wood Lake might be in that price range. I see you mentioned you didn't want a HOA community. I think a lot of them there are. I personally don't mind HOA's after seeing how some neighborhoods in my area can start looking when people can do anything they want in their yards or painting their house any color imaginable. I guess people either like or don't like HOA's. My old college roommate, who I looked up when we were there lives in a 5 year old house in Wood Lake with I think she said it was 1900 sq. ft and I think they are going around $300K now. We loved Fox Fire (this neighborhood is already completed but has houses anywhere in the 400K-low $600K's. Summer Lake is another nice one with building still going on. Houses in there are anywhere from the high 400k- to some new builds with all the bells and whistles way up in the $600K's. Both Fox Fire and Summer Lake have community pools and a lot of families with kids. FoxField was nice too, but there are only a few building lots left until they open the next section in about a year the salesperson said. There are a handful of spec homes ready now most in the mid $500K's. Our realtor said the new high school, Cosby which just opened in Sept '06 was the high school to try to get into. I think Midlothian used to be the preferred. I believe Cosby's emphasis is the medical sciences. Midlothian High is still good I hear and has the IB program. My kids are elementary aged, but I kept hearing Grange and Woolridge were good. For someone looking at houses in the $400K range, Hampton Park looked really nice.
Overall, Midlothian/Moseley (a little further out) has everything we are looking for. Country enough but tons of retail and restaurants on 360. They have every chain restaurant and store you can think of. It is great. They even just opened up a Cracker Barrell, which are usually only off interstates. Everyone we talked to kept telling us over and over again how great the schools were. Now my husband only has to find a job so we can make the move. I highly recommend the area if you like lots of retail close by, and have kids. People just seemed overall friendlier in the stores etc. than where we live outside DC.

[novanwbie]

Originally Posted by LeavingMD?

We just got back from Midlothian this weekend after visiting for the long President's Day weekend. We loved the area. We were looking at houses in a little higher price range than your limit of $200K, but I think you can find houses in that range. I am not definitely sure, but I would look at the realtor websites as they will tell you a lot. I believe some of the older houses in Wood Lake might be in that price range. I see you mentioned you didn't want a HOA community. I think a lot of them there are.

Leaving MD is right -- you can find older neighborhoods with housing under 200K in Midlothian. The neighborhoods MD described are more expensive, but you might look at Dear Run, Clarendon and Brandermill. Brandermill has a HOA, but I think the other two do not. Most of the older neighborhoods don't have HOAs. If you look in the 23112 and 23113 and 23235 and 23236 zip codes, in your price range, you should have plenty of options.

[Lookingforasafehome]

Thanks a bunch!!

[noosa444]

I think Midlothian is a very nice area to be and the schools are good. It is safe and clean, people are friendly, I am sure you will enjoy living there. Being near but not in Richmond also makes it nice.