Alaskan looking for warmer clime (Huntington, Bluefield: appointed, ski resorts, for sale)

[Papachops]

Greetings! My wife and I have been combing through these forums for a few months now trying to decide on the best state for us. Seems like we keep coming back to WV. We both grew up in Alaska and absolutely love it...except for the 6 month winters. We are looking for a nice place to live where the kids can enjoy the wilderness as we did growing up, without the long hard winters. We would still like some snow in the winter time, just a reasonable 4 seasons. We plan on buying some property, building a cabin, and running a small hobby farm. One thing that concerns me is the humidity, I can deal with some humidity but I don't think I could handle anything like I went through when I went to Basic Training in Alabama. I was stationed at Ft. Lewis, Wa for a couple years and got along just fine with that amount of humidity. Thanks! BTW I must say that I do think the WV is about the friendliest and most laid back forum on here

[tbailey1138]

Just about everywhere in WV has 4 nice, distinct seasons with some snow. The Huntington area has some of the most mild winter weather in the state though with temps being a little warmer and having less snow than most other places in the state. There are some very nice places around Huntington that may suit your needs. There's an area called Salt Rock that tends to have houses with large parcels of land as well as an area just outside of Milton that also typically offers more land. You might also check out the Wayne County and Lincoln County areas for places that may offer more land but still allow you to be close to the convenience of Huntington. Here are some links for Huntington that will give you and idea about the area.
Tim

City of Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, WV Online
The Greater Huntington Community Web Portal
Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District
Huntington, West Virginia (WV) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

[snowshoemtnman]

Pocahontas County. 4 very distinct seasons, one of which includes the amenity of having a ski resort. We are part of almost a million acre National Forest. Approximately 70% of our county is owned by the government. PM me if you need more information.

[Papachops]

Thank You very much for the info, It gives me a good place to start

[LilyLaLa]

Originally Posted by snowshoemtnman

Pocahontas County.

Amen. We used to camp there often; it's gorgeous and a reasonable distance to I-81 for plenty to do in Virginia, WV, and Maryland.

Papa, we live on a two-acre 'farm', with a few goats, pony, hens, a few fruit trees, our own well and river and a large kitchen garden, all making us halfway to being self-supporting. Is that what you mean by 'hobby farm'?

Or will you be raising hobby horses?

[Papachops]

Yup thats exactly what we want to do, vegi garden, chickens, a few goats a hog or 3 and maybe even a cow. Would love to get a piece of property with its own gas well. My goal is to have the property eventually 100% self-supporting. Pocahontas County sure does look nice.

[LilyLaLa]

Originally Posted by Papachops

My goal is to have the property eventually 100% self-supporting. Pocahontas County sure does look nice.

We love the independence of small farming...and of course the vegetables, milk, everything, taste a hundred times better than the supermarkets give you...and right now I'm tired enough to die! Seriously, at 42 I'm feeling like 92, and just looking forward to leaving it all behind, and sitting in that big porch swing waving to some nice neighbours (we don't have neighbours here).

Pocahontas County is gorgeous...but frankly I think the whole state is. You probably can't go wrong whatever county you pick! The only part of it I haven't seen too much of is the south-western corner, but I'll take tbailey's word for Huntington's wonderfulness.


Good luck finding the gas well!

[harborlady]

Originally Posted by Papachops

Greetings! My wife and I have been combing through these forums for a few months now trying to decide on the best state for us. Seems like we keep coming back to WV. We both grew up in Alaska and absolutely love it...except for the 6 month winters. We are looking for a nice place to live where the kids can enjoy the wilderness as we did growing up, without the long hard winters. We would still like some snow in the winter time, just a reasonable 4 seasons. We plan on buying some property, building a cabin, and running a small hobby farm. One thing that concerns me is the humidity, I can deal with some humidity but I don't think I could handle anything like I went through when I went to Basic Training in Alabama. I was stationed at Ft. Lewis, Wa for a couple years and got along just fine with that amount of humidity. Thanks! BTW I must say that I do think the WV is about the friendliest and most laid back forum on here

God only knows where I was in alaska, or what time of year it was, sunset was happening at 10pm, another place it was dark half the year-- all a blur, really plays tricks with you're head if you're not acclimatized to alaskan seasons up by the circle. I prefer post cards of snow, tyvm. LOL

WV as a region, to avoid higher humidity- its a trade off. You'd have to be at higher elevations in the state, which also mean higher snow fall records, but its not 6 months of deep freeze or darkness. Too high an elevation changes your crop potential, and usable level land for hobby farm. My idea for similar future was terrace farming alternating orchards to give you an idea. The balance being greenhouse/cold frame.

Best way to start your search with your criteria is a topo map. Check out individual towns on this link. http://www.city-data.com/ I'm guessing from your criteria the eastern side of the state, over by buchannon/elkins region would be a good place to start. How much $ you've got to work with to get what you want is usually the biggest factor of where you wind up, just like any other RE purchase. Great website to find some deals http://www.landandfarm.com/lf/asp/se...landstateid=63
BUT... I've found the better deals happen when you've got local knowledge and shake hands with a neighbor. Old school works better IMO. Realtors markup for themselves and out of state investors who often are overzealous about economic potential.

Real estate prices that were out of line in the northern tier should be leveling out a bit- I did notice huge mark ups on raw land tracts from yuppie crowd over by the pottomac river, but my guess is they're in the cross hairs of speculative market pricing now. Something else you might want to look into about WV real estate is gas well rights which convey with the sale of a property. I noticed properties north of charleston up toward ohio border had them more frequently, but those are valley areas mainly. Great asset to have in this day and age, should help keep bills manageable in rural locale hobby farm. Something to consider at least, if AC is run on free gas the humidity isn't felt.

Midway by greenbrier/white sulphur springs/lewisburg area is very nice but you might be paying higher acreage prices for proximity to resort areas. Snowshoe & Greenbrier resorts are rather spendy tourism. Poster snorpus is putting his stakes in that general region and might be able to tell you more.

Another regular poster- hinton bound- he's over by the southern tier beckley/hinton area, but not sure if the steam is cut down there. I've traveled that way in springtime mostly, not sure how the summers work out.
Bluefield higher elevations weren't all that bad in the summertime, but you won't have the wide open spaces, and trailer home lots seemed to dominate the areas I was passing through. Criminal types seem to have beaten paths back roads between bluefield WV and bluefield VA and ongoing mine operations are in the area. I shyed away from it myself.

Once you've done the lions share of homework online, plan on a vacation to travel the eastern mtn range along WV. Huge resources from parks/campgrounds are available to avoid hotel costs. There comes a point where only subjective experience will help you decide, and I'm glad I took the time to scout properties before transplanting myself here. Shake hands with a neighbor will be your better investment.
Good luck!

[GottaHerdOn]

Are you wanting to be near a small sized city? or really out in the sticks? Randolph county, which borders Pocahontas County (mentioned earlier) could provide a mixture of the two. We have real mountains, and real forests, the true heart of WV. We are becoming a major tourist destination in the state just for the natural beauty. In Randolph County there is the main city of Elkins, around 14,000 in population (7,000 city limits - Long Story! ha ha) There are also many smaller towns with populations of 100 - 1,500 dotted throughout the county.

We have plenty of snow in the winter, we see some of the most snowfall in the state, being within about 45 minutes of three of the state's four main ski resorts.

If you chose to be outside of the Elkins area, you could still have plenty of acreage and still be within 10-15 minutes of Elkins, - hospital, offices, shopping, banking, etc.
Some towns to look at are Montrose, Beverly, Bowden, East Daily, Norton, and Huttonsville

Here are some links you could check out if you are interested, and I wish you luck and highly recommend your move to Wild & Wonderful West Virginia

Welcome to the Heart of West Virginia

Elkins, West Virginia (WV) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

Randolph County, West Virginia detailed profile - houses, real estate, agriculture, wages, work, ancestries, and more

Elkins, West Virginia

The top picture is probably about 5 minutes from my house.



Also in Randolph County, - at the begining of fall.



Any questions please feel free to ask

[Hinton Bound]

Welcome to WV Papachops! It's a long haul for you, but I would recommend a couple weeks of driving around the state. As you've read, everyone loves their respective area, and with good reason. You really have to work hard to find a bad place here in WV. Once we settled on WV, I spent the better part of a year driving out in the different seasons to look at property. Harbor Lady pointed you in a good direction- landandfarm.com is a great site, it led me to the place I eventually bought. I went to look at a place I saw on L&F, ended up chatting with a local who knew of a place that "might" be for sale. Property is still relatively inexpensive and property taxes are very low, at least where I'm at.

I'm down in Hinton (Summers county, SE corner) and LOVE it. Great people, great climate with very little humidity (I'm at 2800'). The biggest brag I have for my area is the air and water quality. Air was a 90/100 and water was a 100/100- I searched the entire country and found nothing higher. As to the winters, coming from Alaska, I don't think you'll have any issues dealing with a WV winter.

Come on down, you won't be disappointed!