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Many good points to consider, yes modest employment is a requirement, my husband has a part time job that he can work from home that supplements our income to some degree, I also have an internet book business selling on Amazon.com that I will be continuing after we move. Neither bring in a lot but we are pretty simple people.
Yes the homes in my price range are tending to be very small or handy man specials. I have passed on quite a few for that reason. I expect to have to make some improvements, and repairs. i just don't want to have to gut a home and rebuild from the studs up. I am a little worried about being too far from a hospital because of my mother (78) who is coming with us. We are rather young retirees, I am 46 and my husband is 56 but taking care of my mother forced me to retire at least for now and my husband is on SSDI for going blind. However he is very capable and is a social worker by profession. Right now he teaches other blind persons how to use the computer with adaptive software designed for blind people. He does it thru Skype and over the phone mostly. He sub contracts with an agency and can move pretty much any where.
Thank you all for your thought ful post and keep um coming this is a little bit daunting but I love WV and want to come very badly. Diane
Snorpus is spot on about ISP's. The bigger picture you've painted about hospital access, modest home prices, ISP's, and the book business needing ready access for shipping purposes makes me think your best bet is shopping in or on the outskirts of huntington or charleston. The central hub for postal activity is near charleston, major hospitals/ social work communities are in both charleston and huntington, and city/state services are available in both. Rural self sufficient life doesn't work well with disabilities. Bluefield/ princeton area I believe offers comparable things but I haven't spent much time there. If there's another city that fits your criteria I'm unaware of it because I've only been living here for a year. Relatively speaking, any city in WV is more like suburbs because population concentrations aren't intense.
My best advice to you is to not rush into house shopping. Renting a house for a while is so much more economical, it'll take the time pressure off you, and you can shop at your leisure for the right fit in the right neighborhood. Rent to own arrangements are also not uncommon in the region. I have no clue about skype, but I can tell you that major ISP's in charleston are suddenlink and verizon. Which company services a specific neighborhood varies as utility territories are divied up between misc companies. WV #1 fan and resident expert about huntington is Tbailey, so look for his posts, I'm sure you'll find more information than a mile long buffet.
When you feel ready to go house shopping, tips to avoid major gutting... scrutinize the electrical and plumbing, not just the structural bones. When there are dissimilar metals patched together in a plumbing scheme it's almost guaranteed to nickle and dime you to death, if not catastrophically fail on christmas eve. Murphy's law applies.
Wiring that's so far out of code or very small amp service going to the house will seriously hamper things you might take for granted, and the starting price tag for a bare bones upgrade box is about $1,400. Some properties have electrical schemes that are prone to fires. Older homes with glass tubes instead of modern circuit breaker box or aluminum wires are something to avoid even if you might get by on a grandfather clause. Yellow covered wire with more than one strand (AKA romex) means an upgrade happened and is much closer to code. Without that upgrade in place and your budget being limited... get a rewire estimate and subtract it from the offering price of the house as bid to keep yourself in your budget. They might say no, oh well. They also might say yes if it languished on the market too long.
The house forum bloggers are incredibly helpful with advice, and I've run into fantastic suggestions if you care to post there about handyman specials in general. An old time blogger named cosmicdude knows more about old construction than a walking encyclopedia, goes about solutions with horse sense & is very generous/ patient/ humorous with his know how. Well worth reading his posts if you've got the time.
Thanks, as usual, for the kind words Harbor Lady. If the OP is interested in the Huntington area, I'll do my best to help you. The biggest advantage for someone with a disability living here is that it's pretty much flat in the downtown area and just rolling hills in the sourrounding areas. This is pretty rare for WV.
Your husband may be able to continue helping the blind in addition to what he does over the phone through an organization here called the Cabell-Wayne Association for the Blind. There's also a place called the Mountain State Center for Independent Living here that he may be able to work through as well.
Shipping your books from here would also be easy and quick as there is a USPS shipping center here and the Tri-state Airport here is a Fed-Ex hub. There are some small towns/areas outside of Huntington that may suit your needs if you're looking for a place smaller than Huntington. Barboursville has about 3,400 residents and Milton has about 2,400. There are smaller areas that aren't really towns like Lesage, Culloden and Salt Rock that you may like as well. Healthcare is also great here thanks to St. Mary's and Cabell Huntington Hospitals. Here are some links that you may find helpful. Let me know should need anything else.
Tim
Wow, thank you both so much, I really appreciate all this info. I am going to dive into those links right away, It's good to know those things about electrical and plumbing because I know very little about rehabbing. Although I have been reading a lot this past few weeks . I can't get over how helpful everyone has been. WV people rock. Thanks again and I will probably ask more questions after I check out all those great links. Diane
Very funny,Remember I am from just outside of Detroit , and I grew up in Detroit so nothing scares me. I have not seen the movie but I have see "The Hills have eyes" but I believe that is set out west. I have seen enough of WV and met enough people that I know it is a beautiful place filled with friendly kind heart ed people. Diane
It looks like we are not coming to WV at least not to live. My husband really wants to stay close to his family and no matter how many times I tell him he can come visit when ever he wants he does not want to move out of MI. He dosen't want to leave the Metro Detroit area at all. I can't even get to a small town up north. I thank all you posters who have helped me. It looks like I am stuck here for now. I keep slipping my husbands resumes out in the mail for jobs in Wv hoping the right one would intrigue him. However now that he has retired and works PT from home I think I am truly stuck here. After this last fight I gave in. We will look in MI Diane
I'm so sorry! I know how hard it is to live somewhere you really don't want to be! good luck and stay strong, lol, maybe he'll change his mind one of these days!
Lewis County is a designated retirement community. 2 lakes and recreation areas. 30 minutes to one of wv's major hospitals - United Hospital in Clarksburg. 20 minutes to major shopping and restaraunts.
I paid $18,000 for a 2-story, wood frame house with a full attic and basement, screened porch and shed. Three bedrooms and one bath. Nice big house. Yes, it needed handyman work, but was not listed as a fixer upper. There are such deals to be found all over WV, particularly in the mountain hollows all over the state. The catch is that you might not be able to get broadband and most certainly will not get cell phone reception, but the scenery and friendly atmosphere is to die for.
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It looks like we are not coming to WV at least not to live. My husband really wants to stay close to his family and no matter how many times I tell him he can come visit when ever he wants he does not want to move out of MI. He dosen't want to leave the Metro Detroit area at all. I can't even get to a small town up north. I thank all you posters who have helped me. It looks like I am stuck here for now. I keep slipping my husbands resumes out in the mail for jobs in Wv hoping the right one would intrigue him. However now that he has retired and works PT from home I think I am truly stuck here. After this last fight I gave in. We will look in MI Diane
