Living in Gainesville, Va (Vienna, Warrenton: house, to buy, construction)

[Ron2016]

I am considering living in the Heritage Hunt 55 plus community. I come from NY and am used to living in a village with plenty of shops, stores and cultural activities. Looking for an urban/suburban upper middle class community not far from DC. Can anyone tell me the kind of lifestyle in Gainesville and if there are any temples nearby? Where is the closest metro? Where is the closest village with restaurants and shops? I still work. Thanks.

[chazas]

I live fairly near Gainesville. "Villages" near DC? Not so much. Just suburbuban/exurban development. Warrenton is a short drive down 29 from Gainesville and has a small, but cute, downtown, but I'd call it more of a small city. There are some country towns further out that may be of interest - lots new going in in downtown Marshall, for example. Gainesville itself has a big regional shopping center, Virginia Gateway, which lots of stores and restuarants - very convenient, but basically all chains.

Metro isn't anywhere close, the closest one is Vienna which is more than an hour drive at rush hour. VRE (commuter train) is at Broad Run, a shortish drive from Gaineville - an extension all the way to Gainesville/Haymarket is in the works but it's a decade away.

[Ffxdata]

What do you mean by village? Village to me means very small and rural with an old world feel. I would say the only village-like place around Nova would be Middleburg as far as size and feel. Is this what you mean? Or small town? Or development with shops to buy groceries and necessities?

[cmw0829]

Hello ron2016, did you ever persue Heritage Hunt? We're looking at it, from afar right now, and wonder what it's like.

We'll be making a trip out to look around but are trying to narrow our choices. We live in a Del Webb community and like 55+ living. We aren't interested in a community that, although it has golf courses, is overly golf focused.

Thanks.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by cmw0829

Hello ron2016, did you ever persue Heritage Hunt? We're looking at it, from afar right now, and wonder what it's like.

We'll be making a trip out to look around but are trying to narrow our choices. We live in a Del Webb community and like 55+ living. We aren't interested in a community that, although it has golf courses, is overly golf focused.

Thanks.

I've never lived there but have had friends there. Nice community and golf is important to many there but my friends were not golfers and they did fine there. Nice homes and it's in an area where you're close to pretty much everything. I believe it's definitely worth looking at.

[Hal Roach]

Originally Posted by cmw0829

Hello ron2016, did you ever persue Heritage Hunt? We're looking at it, from afar right now, and wonder what it's like.

We'll be making a trip out to look around but are trying to narrow our choices. We live in a Del Webb community and like 55+ living. We aren't interested in a community that, although it has golf courses, is overly golf focused.

Thanks.

My parents were original owners in there. Very high utility bills, golf course hemorages money, and they have their own proprietary phone system, which is costly to maintain. Guard gate is nice, but also costly. Some complain about the concert noise from Jiffy Lube Pavilion...construction quality is a C at best. It is still decent. When their home was built in 1999, they really hadn't mastered the mass production yet, nor the energy efficiency. Their 1993 NVR in Wellington was much better made, just a lot more mass, and their energy bills were very low over their. The 24 year old HVAC was still working well, when they sold last year.

[NeganGrimes]

Virginia Gateway is close, but def not walking distance. Some nice shops there, Cabela's just opened, there's a Five Guys there, Nando's Peri Peri, Target, Best Buy, Giant, Home Goods, Lowes and...what else....Massage Envy, Pei Wei, Payless Shoe Source and of course Starbucks

[cmw0829]

Thanks everybody for replying. Hmmm...high utility bills? We're so spoiled where we are here in AZ. We bought a house with solar and haven't paid a dime for electric, other than monthly required hookup charge. Good point about the golf courses, Hal. Our community here has four but they are totally self sustaining.

[Hal Roach]

Originally Posted by cmw0829

Thanks everybody for replying. Hmmm...high utility bills? We're so spoiled where we are here in AZ. We bought a house with solar and haven't paid a dime for electric, other than monthly required hookup charge. Good point about the golf courses, Hal. Our community here has four but they are totally self sustaining.

Far fewer golfing days at HH compared to AZ. Plenty of golf course in trouble in AZ, though. HH isn't as good as Sun City Grand and a lot more costly....close to double.
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