Several Questions About Relocating Please Help (Richmond, Mechanicsville: extended stay, real estate, apartment complexes)

[jmasscu]

Hello Everyone,

I will try to keep this specific so as not to take up alot of your time reading this. I would like to say in advance thank you for any and all suggestions and information that you can share with me because I am in the initial stages of research about your area, Richmond. My family may potentially be moving there from Greenville, SC. I am 32, married, and have 2 children..10 yr old daughter and 4 yr old son. We are very family oriented and schools are very important but so is the location. We live about 15 minutes from the "downtown" area of Greenville and rarely go there so being close to fine dining and bars and clubs is of no importance whatsoever. The following are some of my questions that I hope you can help with:

1. The obvious: Area/Location best for a younger family with good schools not in the "city" part of town. We will probably be renting for a while since the housing market here isn't so good so I'd like to know areas that you think may be good. Near grocery shopping, drug store, basic type needs. So not out in the sticks but not downtown either?


2. If you were building a new home in the area who is the best builder and has the best reputation? Any realtors I'd love your feedback too. Down here Ryan Homes is king..LOL. I see they have a ton of communities there.....any homeowners, realtors have good or bad feedback on them???? Have any builder you think is above the rest??? Not custom...can't afford that..LOL

3. The areas that you are suggesting....do they have nice apartment complexes as well??? Are there decent homes to rent as well?? Here you can rent some nice homes for less than an apartment and still have a nice neighborhood, pool for kids, ect. I'd like to know which you think is the more realistic and affordable option there as well?

4. Lastly, with regards to all the above mentioned questions, is Williamsburg a better fit for what I'm looking for?? That may be an option for us as well.

Thank you so much for any feedback you can give me!

Josh

[onevthoki]

Josh, I think before the forum starts giving out some recommendations, there are a few other questions to be answered and these will probably help folks narrow what they tell you.

Where will you be working? And give us an idea of distance and time you would like to commute. Also, keep in mind that while you have the city of Richmond (which it sounds like city living might not be that important to you), there are also the main surrounding counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico. And then the outlying counties of Amelia, Powhatan, maybe Goochland...

The next helpful thing would be a price range. Often folks will say "reasonable", but what is reasonable to one may be outrageous to another.

You mentioned builders... are you only thinking of new construction? And what in the community is important to you? Do you want an HOA with a pool? Oh, you asked about Ryan Homes, I would say they probably produce the most units per year when you combine all the different types of construction they offer - single family homes and townhomes.

Let us know if the above makes sense and give a bit more info, the answers will definitely come.

Good luck with your research and decision process - never easy uprooting the family.

[sls76]

Schools and commute were our top priority so we ended up in Short Pump. I'd look in Midlothian, Short Pump or Mechanicsville depending on price point and commute. We rented for 18 months before we bought (we actually rented in the neighborhood we bought in and it really helped us to make sure we liked the neighborhood). I find the rental market to be fairly thin (especially compared to Cary NC where we moved from) in this part of town (although you can usually rent a small house for about what a 3 bedroom runs). We used to own a Ryan home. They actually build $700k+ houses around here. Personally, I can't imagine spending that on a Ryan home having lived in one. I'd probably choose Centex over Ryan, but I guess it would depend on the neighborhood and floor plans. My biggest issue with Ryan is vinyl siding--just not my taste.

[jmasscu]

Hello Again

Thanks for the replies so I will try to clarify a few things in order to get the best advice from the forum. I am looking at a couple of opportunities in the area but don't have a specific work location yet so I know that doesn't help. I'm used to a 20 min commute to work. As for grocery store, school, drug store, fast food, I'm used to a 5 min or less drive. I think for now the game plan will be renting a decent apartment til my house can sell here in S.C. Having said that my family will stay here with the house and come to visit often so I will have to find either a really big one bedroom or 2 bedroom apartment that has a pool or recreational area ect. I've even considered trying to find a nice extended stay place so I wouldn't have to pay for utilites or furniture for at least a month or so. Is there anything like that up there? Furnished places?? As far as a reasonable budget for this short term idea I need to be around $1000/month. Less would be better of course. Here a "microhotel" or "extended stay" place runs about $200 a week or $750 a month with options for laundry service, fitness area, ect. I mean let's face it, it's just me for a while though my family will probably come for the rest of summer. I asked about new home construction because that's my preference but that is something for in the future. I play around in real estate some here in SC so I wanted to get a feel for the new construction market there as well as reputable builders. Hope some of this helps and I will probably start another thread once I know when I'm coming to visit so you guys can help me find a good place to stay for a couple of nights.

Thanks in advance

[Bluidblonde]

I am a Realtor who relocated here this year. This is clearly a "buyer beware" state. Buyer agency, whether the agent is designated as an ABR or CRS works very differently here than where I was trained and educated for this field. So just keep that in mind as you do research for the area and for selecting a Realtor. Good luck in your search..........