Places to live in NOVA (Lynchburg, Middleburg: rental, home sales, buyers)

[MDude25]

Originally Posted by gomason

If you think Ashburn is "dominated by immigrants" then you really need to stay in Loudoun County. Ashburn is one of the least diverse burbs in NOVA.

Go to Annandale or Falls Church if you want to see a really diverse community.

...And no I don't care. Arlington probably has the best Mexican food in NOVA because of our Hispanic population and I freaking love Mexican Food. Falls Church has best Pho cuz of Filipino population. Annandale has best Korean because of Korean Population...

...Can you tell I like food?

Falls Church is not diverse, actually take sometime and look up the demographic percentage that lives in the city. Don't count diversity by looking at the number of ethnic restaraunts, or how many Hispanic cashiers you saw at Chipotle.

[gomason]

Originally Posted by MDude25

Falls Church is not diverse, actually take sometime and look up the demographic percentage that lives in the city. Don't count diversity by looking at the number of ethnic restaraunts, or how many Hispanic cashiers you saw at Chipotle.

Zip Code 22042:

44% White Non-Hispanic
33% Hispanic
20% Asian
5% Black
https://www.city-data.com/zips/22042.html

There are more Hispanics and Asians than Whites. I'd say that's diverse. Funny how I knew that without looking at statistics. I do actually live in Virginia though...

[Ffxdata]

Originally Posted by MDude25

Falls Church is not diverse, actually take sometime and look up the demographic percentage that lives in the city. Don't count diversity by looking at the number of ethnic restaraunts, or how many Hispanic cashiers you saw at Chipotle.

Falls Church is also bigger than just the city. If you live in Postal Code Falls Church that includes Bailey's Crossroads and Skyline which are absolutely minority majority which butt up against white Lake Barcroft. It's not so cut and dry.

Bailey's Crossroads
47.90% White
10.85% African American
0.54% Native American
12.37% Asian
0.09% Pacific Islander
18.73% from other races
9.51% from two or more races
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 37.11% of the population.

Lake Bacroft
75.98% White, 9.59% Asian, 4.92% African American, 4.84% from other races, 4.35% from two or more races, 0.26% Native American, and 0.07% Pacific Islander.

[NC211]

Originally Posted by spencgr

According to the demographics, only 23% of Loudoun county is foreign born; so I can't imagine why you believe less than 1/4 of the population means "absolutely dominated".

Or by "absolutely dominated", do you mean more than you would like to see?

http://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/111018

This data is either incorrect or outdated, as I absolutely will attest to Loudoun (especially Ashburn / Brambleton / Broadlands) being far more Indian now than it was just a short while ago. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it is what it is. I know several of these home builders who are out there, have had lunch with them. When we start discussing their Loudoun projects, they're all saying close to the same thing.

"We're not having to spend that much on marketing anymore. One Indian family comes to look around, buys a home/townhome, and we quickly realize the next folks in line taking a look are there because they know the first folks who bought, and so forth and so forth. The Indian population wants to be grouped together, and Loudoun is becoming that spot."

It is widely known that Loudoun Valley Estates (Toll Brothers) is dominated by the Indian population base. Watch the school buses that serve that area. I'd say 90% Indian kids.

My former neighborhood (new construction) in the Broadlands area is likely 80% Indian now. Mostly townhomes. Hindu is the predominate religion.

I might take some heat for this, but I don't really care. We moved recently to Leesburg primarily because of this, to an area that has more folks that we can relate to better. It's not that we don't appreciate and accept the Indian culture - the fact is they're some of the nicest and genuine folks you'd ever be lucky to meet in your life! I'd welcome the vast majority of them into our home (as I have done for the past 4 years). But, sometimes it does get to be a little overwhelming at times too if you're not Indian. We knew nothing of this activity in Loudoun 4 years ago when we moved here. Our first tip-off was when the cable guy referred to Brambleton as "Brambledesh", a clear play off of Bangladesh.

It's not a personality thing for us. We have found the Indian population in Loudoun to be one of the most accepting, kindest, and warmest demographics we've ever come across. Their kids are well mannered, focused and appreciative. Most of their parents work their butts off in the IT field. But, yes, there is a cultural difference there that can be difficult to overcome. Not just from "Bob's" side of the fence, but from "Raj's" side too. The cultures are just so different, it can be tough to have a relationship with your neighbor beyond the general small talk in the front yard. But once you get over that hump, it's all good.

My only gripe, is the manner in which they take care of their homes, specifically the yards. Not all of them are like this, but there are certainly more than not who haven't quite "gotten it" yet on what the area's norm is. Tall grass, weeds, mowing just to mow (piles of dead grass everywhere with no clean up), no painting of the interior, etc. Just basically viewing the home as basic shelter. It can be very difficult to live next to if you're not like that. Some just don't care and will basically tell you to screw off. Some aren't aware of this, but once they learn, they fix it. And some, simply just don't know how to do it. Many will tell you this is their first single family home, ever, and it does show. Some look at their .20 acre of land as a place to turn into a massive garden, which can quickly become an eyesore to everyone else. It's part of that cultural difference. Many still go home to India for vacation. I've heard stories of this numerous times. When I hear about their homes in India, it makes better sense as to how they're treating their homes here in the US. To them, all is fine, but that might be a difficult pill to swallow for the weekend DIY warrior to accept as a neighbor, like myself.

Part of our decision to move recently was due to the value of our home. We haven't had a lot of re-sales in our relatively new neighborhood (4 years old). But the ones that did sell, which ultimately set the value, where those owned by the "Bob's", and were heavily invested in after being sold by the builder. Interior decorated, lawn kept up, landscaping, no heavy cooking odors, etc. Basically, looked close to what the model homes looked like. I told my wife that if we're going to do this, we need to do it now while the value set is high for the appraiser to use to justify the price, because we're probably one non-maintained home in the neighborhood hitting the market away from watching our values starting to reverse downward. It was the right decision for us, and it worked out perfectly.

At the end of the day - Loudoun is, yes, becoming more and more populated by the Indian culture. It's not a bad thing, but it has been my experience that they tend to prefer to stick to their own social circles, so don't expect to make too many life-long friends if you're in that circle. But, certainly don't expect to make ANY enemies either. I've had far worse neighbors named Bob who loved dogs, than Raj who loved to grow produce all over his back yard and share them with me.

If you like the area, but concerned about this, then my suggestion is to not look at the new construction projects, but instead look more towards those neighborhoods that are already established and built in the 2000-2006 time frame. That way you'll know what the neighborhood feel is already like, and might (or might not) be a better fit for you. The new construction activity, as we personally witnessed ourselves, is where you can find yourself in a 80/20 demographic scenario (you being the 20). Everyone in a new construction project is new. Can't say that about an already established neighborhood.

If you're concerned about being the weekend-warrior DIY guy next to a neglected home, then look for those neighborhoods with strong HOA's - which is usually found in those areas with high HOA dues in general. I think part of the appeal of our former neighborhood to the Indian culture was the ridiculously low HOA dues. Lowest in the area (no pool).

We probably had 15 showings for our house that we recently sold in Broadlands. Only one was white. One was Asian, and the others were Indian. We sold the house in 16 days for 98% of our original asking price, which was a fair price point to begin with. We've met the buyers, and they are over the moon excited about their new home, which makes us as sellers feel really good about the whole thing. Super nice people (our kids are in the same class) who will love their new home and love the neighborhood without a doubt.

There is a saying in real estate - "Love the nest, hate the tree". What that means is that you love your home, but don't feel comfortable with the neighborhood itself. That's not racist or being a bigot. That's just acknowledging what the Indian population of Loudoun is acknowledging themselves - people want to be around others with similar interests and beliefs. Can't fault anyone for wanting that.

Our new home is "Love the tree, will love the nest once we're done renovating it."

[ffx rez]

That's quite the feat of mental and linquistical gymnastics to justify your move

[NC211]

You don't make moves at these price points without looking at all 4 sides of the transaction first. It's how I've always avoided losing any money on any real estate I've ever owned, including the one I bought in September of 2006 for full price and sold in February 2009 (which got me audited by the IRS because they couldn't believe I made money on that).

[msorsa]

I bought a house in Loudoun two years ago. My neighborhood is probably 80% indians. I don't have any issues. They are very friendly. If you want a homogeneous area to live I believe you are looking at West Virginia.

[ffx rez]

Originally Posted by NC211

You don't make moves at these price points without looking at all 4 sides of the transaction first. It's how I've always avoided losing any money on any real estate I've ever owned, including the one I bought in September of 2006 for full price and sold in February 2009 (which got me audited by the IRS because they couldn't believe I made money on that).

90% of the posts on here looking for homes are white people looking to live around other white people. You wanted to live near white people. Lots of white people do. But do we really need some weird diatribe about how Indians may or may not keep up their yard, don't invest in their homes compared to "Bob", the smell of their food, the fact that you couldn't make a lifelong friendship with them, their affinity for low HOA dues, or any other dumb anecdote?

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by NC211

This data is either incorrect or outdated, as I absolutely will attest to Loudoun (especially Ashburn / Brambleton / Broadlands) being far more Indian now than it was just a short while ago. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it is what it is. I know several of these home builders who are out there, have had lunch with them. When we start discussing their Loudoun projects, they're all saying close to the same thing.

Let's be clear about the statistics. the OP specifically mentioned "immigrants", so the data I posted talked of "foreign born". This does not include Americans of Indian/ Asian descent.

[Ffxdata]

Lack of lawn care, hygiene, and sanitation were all myths given to perpetuate segregation and historically deny black families loans and rentals.

If it sounds like racism and smells like racism, it's probably racism.