What's is Spotsylvania like? (Woodbridge, Fredericksburg: sales, real estate, apartment) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

beeboah · 05-05-2007, 04:21 PM

I am going to be relocating there providing my deal on the house goes through.

What's it like down there?

My only choice in moving has been to move there if I wanted to buy a house.

I really liked living in Woodbridge in spite of what many refer to as 'Hoodbridge'.

To be honest, everyone from Fredericksburg or Spotsylvania that I have met has come across as very self centered with a disposition that Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania is the center of the planet and that Woodbridge/DC are garbage.

Is everyone from there like that? (Not saying that you are that way).

What is there to do for a family with kids down there?

You'd probably expect me to check things out better, but when life has you pigeon-holed you may just tend to take what you can get.

Thank you

EricD · 05-05-2007, 07:12 PM

Well, first off, litterally 80% of the people you meet 'from' Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania, have only lived here for 20 or less years (most people less than 10). People that are actually FROM Spotsylvania are really nice and helpfull. You have to come into this realizing that 80% of the people living here are like you... moved in from somewhere else, not knowing anyone, and probably have a long commute. People are too busy working, driving, shopping, and trying to take care of their home to really be social. It's kinda sad, but that's the way of life there. Where are you trying to buy?

As for what there is to do, there's always kings dominion, AMF bowling on Rt. 3, and Liberty Lanes off of Rt. 1, there is central park, with the skate park and 'funland' with go-karts, putt-putt, lazer tag, and an arcade. The mall is adding a section on the back which will be like an open air shopping area, with a new movies, and other shops (probably won't be open until next summer), there's all kinds of festivals and activities downtown....

Try to go downtown some... a LOT of people move to Spotsylvania, and never go to downtown Fredericksburg... it's a shame.

beeboah · 05-05-2007, 07:27 PM

Thank you, I intend to live 9 miles west of 95 off of Massaponax Church Road.

The tips are appreciated!

EricD · 05-05-2007, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beeboah

Thank you, I intend to live 9 miles west of 95 off of Massaponax Church Road.

The tips are appreciated!

wow, good luck with that commute... And it sounds like you'll be closer to the South Point area than Rt. 3. That's good though, because South Point is a lot less crouded (for now) than Central Park/Spotsylvania town centre.

Where you're moving, there hopfully are going to be a higher % of locals than if you were closer to Rt. 3.

If your property falls through, you can head a little more south, and check out Ladysmith

It's only a mile off the highway, so it would be the same commute as from where you're looking at now
:P

ashbrn4 · 05-05-2007, 07:46 PM

Fredericksburg is a nice town. I was just down on Caroline Street last night for First Friday. My parents live in South Lee's Hill. Everyone of my parents' neighbors are from Northern VA, WV, and MD. None of them are native to the area. Commuting from there will stink btw. I work with a few people who do it and most have just about had it. My dad is a real estate agent there and his opinion of why sales are so slow right now is heavily influenced by the how difficul the commute is. It's gotten worse and worse over the last few years.
Why in the world would you want to move somewhere that you think everyone is self centered and where you know absolutely nothing about what there is for families? Did you do any research at all? Not to mention Woodbridge really isn't that much more expensive than Fredericksburg. At least the schools in Fredericksburg are better.

beeboah · 05-05-2007, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricD

wow, good luck with that commute... And it sounds like you'll be closer to the South Point area than Rt. 3. That's good though, because South Point is a lot less crouded (for now) than Central Park/Spotsylvania town centre.

Where you're moving, there hopfully are going to be a higher % of locals than if you were closer to Rt. 3.

If your property falls through, you can head a little more south, and check out Ladysmith

It's only a mile off the highway, so it would be the same commute as from where you're looking at now
:P

Thanks, I can't move to Ladysmith because my loan is for people with bad credit and the loan is county based but also income sensitive. In other words, my income is too high to live in Ladysmith but just right for Spotsylvania. In fact, it came down to Spotsylvania or Faquier county for me and I found homes to be out of my league in Faquier county. I did alot of homework before getting into this loan BTW.

I work in Quantico BTW so I don't expect my commute to be unbearable all the time.

Appreciate your thoughts!

beeboah · 05-05-2007, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashbrn4

Fredericksburg is a nice town. I was just down on Caroline Street last night for First Friday. My parents live in South Lee's Hill. Everyone of my parents' neighbors are from Northern VA, WV, and MD. None of them are native to the area. Commuting from there will stink btw. I work with a few people who do it and most have just about had it. My dad is a real estate agent there and his opinion of why sales are so slow right now is heavily influenced by the how difficul the commute is. It's gotten worse and worse over the last few years.
Why in the world would you want to move somewhere that you think everyone is self centered and where you know absolutely nothing about what there is for families? Did you do any research at all? Not to mention Woodbridge really isn't that much more expensive than Fredericksburg. At least the schools in Fredericksburg are better.

Thanks for your comments. I don't think that my commute will suck that bad every day. (You probably guessed that I am going to be working in DC whereas it is Quantico since I never specified where I work).

As far as my deductive reasoning for moving there, I only had one choice and one chance. Woodbridge is still a more expensive place to buy a house when your funds are limited. I think Woodbridge is cheaper to rent an apartment though. I don't think I could find a 4 bedroom house for the price I got one for in Spotsy which was 195k FYI. I didn't do much research, but again there weren't any other options. When I moved to Woodbridge from Florida, there weren't any options available either. It was move, or starve.

I was just hoping for the best

Thanks

EricD · 05-06-2007, 06:51 AM

Well, if you are talking about the first time home buyer's mortgage, my wife and I got that... the limit was something like $288,000 in caroline, vs something like $400,000 in Spotsy... but you can find a very nice house in caroline county for under $288k... we did.

If it's a different mortgage, then good luck.

beeboah · 05-06-2007, 07:16 AM

No, it is an 80/20 Mortgage through Bank of America.

I was denied by Fannie Mae even though my median Fico scores are 660, 675, and 769. This is because I filed a Bankruptcy in the past, and although I was able to remove it from my credit report within 2 years they still come up with a "refer with caution".

The 80/20 Mortgage has no PMI. The interest rates for the first loan is around 6.875 APR and the second is around 9.2%. So the overall APR is around 7.2% on a 30 year fixed Mortgage.

The program that I am allows your income to be up to 70k in Spotsylvania and Faquier county, but only up to 40k in King George or Caroline County.

I tried a few brokers, but they ran into the same brick wall as me.

I'll probably refinance later.

Hope this sheds a light on it.

Thanks for your thoughts and info.

ashbrn4 · 05-06-2007, 08:05 AM

Is this a single family home or a townhouse? If it's a single family home, why not buy a townhouse? I think too many people think they "have" to have a house. We owned a townhouse until we saved enough to put a downpayment on a single family home and our kids were 9 and 11 then. If location is important to you, then you may have to make a choice. Or you can be patient and wait a couple of years, improve your credit score and be able to purchase more. How can you "remove" a bankruptcy from your credit report? It's part of your credit history and usually stays on for 7 years or so. Also, was it a consolidation or dismissal of debt? Was it for medical bills or just because you didn't pay other debt? The brokers hit brick walls because they have to find underwriters willing to take a risk on you. The income limits have to do with cost of living in those locations. So, again I ask, what about a townhouse or even a larger condo?