Harrisonburg Relocation (Bridgewater, Madison: real estate, broker, house)

[mchristm88]

My fiance was recently presented with a career opportunity flying for Dynamic Aviation (Bridgewater) and I am looking at attending James Madison University (Harrisonburg) for an M.A. in Community Counseling.

We are both in our early twenties, with no children. We are avid nature lovers and would like to be in a "small city" environment with plenty of restaurants, libraries or bookstores, shopping, and movie theaters, however we have no interest in the clubbing or party atmosphere.

Our biggest challenge is going to be affording a home. We would most like to purchase a property that we could remain in to raise a family if we decide we like the area. That being said, we will have both very recently graduated from our undergraduate programs, and while he will be making a fair amount once we are settled, we will be arriving with very little. In an attempt to not get in over our heads, we are looking for something in the 120-150k range.

1) Is it possible/likely/advisable to find a started home in this area within our budget? We do not mind having to fix the place up, but it would need to be livable.

2) Are there any neighborhods that would be recommended or ought to be avoided?

3) How does the winter weather affect commutes to the university and to Bridgewater? (Are the roads well cleared? Is traffic an issue?)

Any other advice you might have would be very much appreciated.
Thank you so much!

[TN Lily]

I think you can find a home in your price range. Have you gone onto any of the real estate broker websites and searched? There are several in Harrisonburg that have decent websites.

As far as "bad areas," I don't know that Harrisonburg is like some of the much larger cities where there are areas you want to avoid. I suspect it comes down to personal preference and where you want to live: city, a development outside of time or a rural location. From my experience, if you want a rural location, don't buy near a poultry house or dairy farm unless you like odors and flies.

In most years, snow is not a major issue. The main roads are cleared pretty quickly. This area has not seen a bad winter in a while - at least in my opinion. With that said, there have been winters where there has been an above average amount of snow.

If you go to a website like weather.com you can pull up weather information such as records and averages for the area.