relocating to virginia (Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville: ski resort, real estate, house prices)

[mommyof3]

Hello all, I'm new to this post, but have been gaining a lot of info reading everyone's opinion...I am a stay at home mom of three little ones, my husband owns his own carpentry/framing business, building custom homes. We lived in Lynchburg for 5 years while going to college, but moved back to my husband's native New York. We have lived here for 12 years, built a house, and had children, but have had enough of the high taxes, cold winters, and want to return to Virginia. We loved it the 5 years we lived here, but are looking to live in a rural area not to far from either lynchburg or roanoke. We are actually traveling down this weekend to check out the schools, and some property in Ferrum, VA. We know absolutely NO ONE in the area, and are a little scared leaving our large family up here, but have dreamed about returning for years. Does anyone have an opinion on an area to look into with good schools, rural area, but where my husband can have plenty of business framing homes and getting his business off the ground? He would like to be on his own, but isn't opposed to sub contracting off of another large builder. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm a native of Iowa, so I'm not afraid of rural areas. Thanks!!

[NICOLAT]

Lynchburg has grown quite a lot in the last 5 years (many new major retail stores popping up all over, new shopping plazas, more city ammenities, population growth, many new home developments popping up everywhere), you might be suprised if you visit now, home prices have been jumping in last couple of years too. But compared to the rest of the state, Lynchburg real estate is still very affordable. Money Magazine listed it in it's 'Best Places to Live'. Check out the chamber business plan for 2007. Also, read about the growth with the recent business journal article. Local newspaper for lynchburg is the News Advance (http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA/MGArticle/LNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149188393293&pat h= - broken link). Some folks don't like the growth in the city, but coming from Wash DC, I am enjoying all the new stores and communities popping up, gives you more choices.

A lot of people rave about the 'brookeville schools' which are on Timberlake Rd, houses sell fast in that area (or so i've heard).

Lynchburg areas that people seem to be looking at/buying in these days are:

Forest
Boonesboro
Lynchburg
Concord
Appomattox
Alta Vista
Bedford
Madison Heights
Rustburg

Plenty of activities in Lynchburg areas. Skiing at Wintergreen Ski Resort (http://www.wintergreenresort.com/ski_and_ride/ - broken link) is just 50 min drive, mountains, hiking, shopping, swimming (broken link), public Ice Skating, rollerblading rinks, theatre shows, movies, lakes, lots more activities (http://www.lynchburg.edu/x7854.xml - broken link) all year round. Charlottesville (1 hour drive north) does a family oriented a 'First Night Virginia' activity for new year's eve every year which is based on celebrating new years eve with your kids, worth a drive up for new year's eve if you have kids. Also check out Amazement Square for kid activities in Lynchburg, that's a fun place. Lots of other things to do if you search. Washington DC is just 4 hour drive north on Route 29, a nice drive with beautiful views of mountains along the way). Also since Roanoke is just 1 hour drive away you can take advantage of flying to Florida areas on Allegiant Air which fly out of Roanoke RDU twice a week to FL and other areas for as little as $49 bucks each way. Lynchburg Airport (LYH) also fly's out to places too but a little more expensive (Delta) flights. Greensboro airport is just 2 hours away (GSO) and some good deals, we just got tickets to vegas round trip from GSO for $198. (A tip on Greensboro NC... you can buy furniture very cheap... greensboro/high point NC has the hub of furniture manufacturers in usa and you can get some sweet deals on furniture down there, lots of outlets and such).

So to sum it up, while Lynchburg has that 'Country' feel around the city, it also has many ammenities, it's still affordable, and quality of life can be very good here. We've lived in a few places in last 10 years (California, Florida, Wash DC) and the reasons we finally moved to Lynchburg and purchased a home were...
(1) 4 Seasons (2) Pretty Area (3) House Prices - opportunity for us to live like a king for way less! (4) Skiing in 1 hour (5) Beach 4 Hours (6) Cheap flights to FL for summer vacations from RDU.

Area Real Estate is rising so would be a good time to get in now and then watch your equity grow. You can check out real estate in the area at www.lynchburgmls.com (broken link)

Only downside for this area, I would say would be for the younger folks....not much going on for night life (clubs).

(No i'm not a Realtor trying to sell the area, LOL, just wanted to share good stuff about the area, I'm a Programmer).

[mosley06]

My wife and I currently live in Rockville, MD. She works in Chantilly and I work in Bethesda. We are looking to buy a home in the Ashburn area. Does anyone know how long it would take to commute from Ashburn to Bethesda if I leave at either 6:30 a.m. or 9:00 a.m.

[Waterfront]

MOMMYOF3,

Did you ever make your planned visit to Rocky Mount, VA? If so, what did you think? My wife and I were there several weekends ago and looked at about 12 parcels (land). Didn't find anything, but really thought it was a nice area.