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Not trying to sound negative, but have worried about some of these things for myself when considering different ideas.
If you already have a 6-acre place, why move to NJ for five? Or am I misunderstanding?
Regarding poor people, well, some of the most cosmopolitan expensive places in the world have good public and well-off people don't drive- cities.
I have just run into more than one senior person who is car-dependent (or spouse-drive dependent) and one day it falls apart and it's kind of late to make another plan.
Of course, that could happen for different reasons at any time, and you can't live in a box waiting for disaster. But the foibles of aging and driving, well, those you can count on, on some timeline.
Moving to south NJ or VA is to lower living cost.
Being car-dependent when still active is for good quality of life. Would not like to be conservative.
Real estate in Research Triangle Park area booms up because of high demand. I am thinking suburb small towns of either Petersburg VA or Cherry Hill NJ.
Petersburg VA has high crime, but it does have a temperate climate, plus the cost of living would be low in rural areas near Petersburg. Have you considered rural areas near small cities/towns that have State Universities?
I have large timberland in South Hill, that is just investment. I know that property appraisal in south VA is much lower than most of NJ. For retirement living, I would prefer not to go further down Dinwiddie. Appreciate it if you may suggest some good small college towns with reasonable living cost.
The eastern Panhandle of WV? Look up Charles Town, Shepherdstown, Harpers Ferry, & Ranson.
Benefits: semi-rural feel; Shepherd University; comparatively low taxation [<MD,NJ,VA,PA]; 50-60 miles to DC; within 40 minutes to excellent medical facilities; retail & grocery within minutes (no specific asian market closer than maybe Hagerstown or Frederick Md, though Martins grocery in Charles Town carries a good variety); four seasons; much more diverse population than other areas in WV.
Only drawback may be purchase cost for the home you want. Due to these benefits and the proximity to the Washington DC job market our property prices are relatively high compared to other more rural areas although it is cheaper than places to the East in MD & VA. (ie. I've got my little farmette property w/just under 4 acres listed for $329k) If you need a larger piece of land for your farming endeavors at a lower price range, you may have to look farther south or west in PA, WV or VA.
1. In NJ, there is 5ac farmland assessment with $500 sale amount from the land. Is there similar assessment in WV? How much is properties tax for your $329K farmette?
2. Shepherdstown seems to be the center. West of it in 10 miles, Martinsburg suburb, comes up more search results. Is Martinsburg suburb a good area too?
The eastern Panhandle of WV? Look up Charles Town, Shepherdstown, Harpers Ferry, & Ranson.
Benefits: semi-rural feel; Shepherd University; comparatively low taxation [<MD,NJ,VA,PA]; 50-60 miles to DC; within 40 minutes to excellent medical facilities; retail & grocery within minutes (no specific asian market closer than maybe Hagerstown or Frederick Md, though Martins grocery in Charles Town carries a good variety); four seasons; much more diverse population than other areas in WV.
Only drawback may be purchase cost for the home you want. Due to these benefits and the proximity to the Washington DC job market our property prices are relatively high compared to other more rural areas although it is cheaper than places to the East in MD & VA. (ie. I've got my little farmette property w/just under 4 acres listed for $329k) If you need a larger piece of land for your farming endeavors at a lower price range, you may have to look farther south or west in PA, WV or VA.
surprised any property----w/just under 4 acres-------would have the term " farm" in its description.
The real estate tax on my house was $1,680 this year. I also have a 2.7Ac adjoining building lot which is taxed @ $730 (double tax for anything other than primary residence) There is a tax reduction if you meet certain agriculture criteria; I've never applied for it and am not sure how much it is.
Martinsburg is in Berkeley County which is generally more populated than Jefferson. Berkeley has had more commercial & retail growth as well as a push for countywide water & sewer which has made it possible to develop more small lot subdivisions. Berkeley has Interstate 81 bisecting it with the more rural areas being west of I-81. Home prices typically are a little lower in Berkeley as more residents work locally and wages are less than in the DC & NoVa suburbs where many of the Jefferson County residents commute. You would really need to spend some time driving both areas to get a feel for the difference. I spend most days driving throughout the area and with the congestion in Martinsburg and now even some within Charles Town I typically schedule my time going through to avoid the busiest traffic. The north and south ends of Jefferson (Shepherdstown, Middleway & Summit Point) are least busy with traffic.
[Marmac, I called it a "little farmette". We only used about 1/2 acre for veggies and such this year and ended up with about 150qts of green beans, 100+qts of tomatoes, corn, raspberries, edamame, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, snow peas, basil, dill, sage, spinach, lettuce, wineberries, garlic, & peppers. First year for honeybees so I only took one comb, about 3lbs of honey. We use to have 2 dairy goats & were up to about 60 chickens before we decided to sell the house and didn't want to have to move them all too.]
I'm a little puzzled by this query. Is the OP looking to move INTO, or OUT OF, an age-restricted community? Perhaps there are some that have associated land, but usually those kind of places have small lots (condos/villas) and high association fees. I'm not too sure about the internal organization but perhaps this is the closest to farming by homeowners' association one would find this side of Israel: Ecovillage at Ithaca
If someone is looking for 5 acre plots of reasonably good soil with the possibility to hire help, where there might be a reasonable choice of doctors, and access to Asian groceries on the East Coast, I'd say that looking to the areas around smaller towns with larger land-grant universities would be most likely to satisfy.
Perhaps the area between Middlebury and Burlington, VT; the area surrounding Amherst and Northampton, MA; around Ithaca, NY; around State College, PA; around Blacksburg, VA; around Charlottesville, VA might be possibilities. Maybe (as already mentioned) the EP of WV or possibly Morgantown, WV. I think the cheapest of these choices would be Blacksburg, next Ithaca, next State College or possibly Vermont.
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