Masonry and WV (Huntington, Elkins, Barboursville: real estate, house, condo)

[ejt1127]

Hello Everyone

I am a mason (mainly stone and landscaping, but also block, brick, fireplaces and tiling), and I am very seriously considering moving to West Virginia. I am from South-Eastern Kentucky, and other than a couple day trips to Huntington to pick up my sister from the greyhound bus stop, I have next to no exposure to WV.

I am thinking about some where around the Summers co. area, but I am having a difficult time with finding land online.

I am self-employed as a Masonry contractor. Will the pay average be about the same? (I am currently making about $55k/yr in Ky). Will I have to get a special masonry contractors licence in WV? Or is it like in Ky where only Electricans, HVAC and Plumbers have to have it? My daughter is only 1 and a half years old, but we've already decided to home-school her, will this be possible in WV? Is land as expensive there as it is here? ($40k/acre seems to be average, and lots of land is a dream of mine, I mean a 3bed room/2 bath house cost at least $150,000 here, and thats just insane to me, espically knowing the real cost of materials) And is it possible to find any really nice semi-flat lots around the area I am looking for? (I, haha, NEED my mountains to feel 'safe', but at the same time, I would a little more flat land). And I would like an area thats very rural, with not a lot of neighbors 'heaped' up on me.

Is there any other areas of the state that at least kind of sound like this? Preferably within a short distance of the Pike Co., Ky boarder (though thats not a gigantic 'sticking point')

Thanks in advance
-jt

[GottaHerdOn]

It is possible to home school your daughter as long as you have at least 4 years of higher education than the grade your instructing her in. Also, the land prices are probably a lot cheaper here than there. Check out Randolph county, it was ranked as one of the cheapest counties in WV to live in. Also there is a lot of building going on there, and 3 ski resorts within an hours drive with new condo's and construction going on all the time. You could look into that if you wish. Its about 2.5 hours from Huntington, Take I-79 north to exit 99 and go 30 miles east. Elkins is the main city, but there are smaller communities and such.

http://www.randolphcountywv.com/

you could check with some realtors to see if there were any large flat-ish parcels of land available. Some realtors are Thompson Realty, Bennett-Carney Properties, Lone Wolfe Real Estate, Johnson Realty and they're all based out of Elkins, WV but could provide you with listings for the country

Hope you found this helpful

[ejt1127]

Thank You VERY much.

My wife has a b.a. so thats a relief about home-schooling.

I intend to look at all those places

[creemarie]

The flattest part of the state is definately around Huntington. There are also some nice areas closeby that are pretty rural but still close enough to things to be convenient. Some of these areas would include Salt Rock, the outskirts of Milton and Barboursville and the areas around Route 2 and Route 10. My husband has family in Pike Co. KY (Dorton) and it takes us just over 2 hours to get there, as you probably know. Huntington has a lot of contractors and there is plenty of new construction, both residential and commercial, going in the city and the surrounding areas. I'm not sure about whether or not you will need to have a license as a stone mason or not. You might contact Fairway Masonry (304-523-3621) and they may be able to connect you with someone that could answer your questions better. Hope this helps!