Job relocation to Winchester. Seeking Winchester VA or Purcellville information. Thanks so much (Lynchburg: credit, new home)
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I have searched this forum and found a wealth of useful information. My husband’s work is relocating to Winchester VA. We currently live in Montgomery County MD which is about 1.5 hrs away. We’ve driven to the Winchester area a couple of times now and thought it was nice. We’re not very familiar with the area though and were wondering if anyone could offer any insights.
Our budget for Winchester would be about $500k for a SFH. We saw some homes advertised on Stoneridge road (Harvest Ridge Estates), Melvor Ln (Branch South) as well as Saratoga drive (Battle Park Estates). I was wondering if anyone was familiar with these areas? Are there any other areas that could be recommended?
I would love to be walking distance to a couple of things if possible (even just one or two shops or a CVS etc). I was wondering if it was safe walking during the day/evening in Winchester? My husband and I are both non-white if that makes any difference or not. We recently adopted a terrier pup and we would love to walk with her too.
I was wondering if anyone was familiar with the Frederick Douglass Elementary or Garland R. Quarles Elementary School? Those were the elementary schools for the above areas.
We also came across the town of Purcellville on our drive there. It’s 35 minutes away from my husband’s office (I read it can be challenging when it snows/ during accidents) and houses and taxes were more expensive (we could possibly go up to $625,000). However, it would be closer to our family in Maryland/DC and it was walkable to some shops and the library etc.
Any thoughts/experiences on either areas would be so appreciated. Sorry for all the questions! Thank you so much for your kind help. Thank you again!
Big difference between the two. Winchester is of course a bustling place while Purcellville is not. Purcellville is a very nice town and the drive to Winchester on Rt. 7 can be problematic in snow/ice. But this is only a limited number of days per year. Purcellville schools are generally viewed as being better but my kids are long grown so I have no proof other than what people say. I live just a little south of Winchester and this area has pretty much all you need. More options here for restaurants and so on. Not a bustling area with the high end stores you may be used to in Montgomery Co but it has more than enough. Schools are mixed here per a friend of mine but some are very good. If given the choice I would probably choose P'ville but it is a more expensive area and in Winchester your $ will go further. Feel free to DM me and I can get you in touch with a very good friend of mine who just retired as a Winchester police officer who would happily offer his two cents on these neighborhoods you ask about.
Hi JKloki,
I live in Winchester. I enjoy it here very much. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.
I would make one suggestion- I noticed the houses you are looking at are all in the same area of the city, off what is known here as Valley Ave. It's a major road. Although you could walk, I would never want to walk that area. Just because of the traffic. Crime-wise and everything else, that area of the city is decent. The really walkable area is in Old Town Winchester, but that might be out of your budget. It's where I would like to retire to, though, because of the walkability.
I would recommend looking outside the city- at Frederick County (which surrounds the city. Winchester city itself is quite small). Most new housing stock is there, taxes are considerably lower, and you have much more options. I live on the east side of Frederick County, which is the suburban side. It's convenient to everything. Western and north is more rural (farms, large estates, country-living).
Stephens City (which is not really a city) is located in the County, and is a rapidly growing suburban area, about 15 south of Winchester proper.
As for schools, the city schools have a more urban, diverse population. They are all fine. The county has a mixture of urban and rural schools, depending on where you live. I teach at one of the county middle schools. The county schools are fine as well. In fact, Winchester and Frederick County were 2 of the very few districts that were open this entire year for in-person learning.
Hi Bigfoot424, thanks so much for your message and for the helpful information about the schools and area. Like you said we feel our money will go further in Winchester and it will be closer to work. We did like Purcellville too because it was walkable and closer to family in MD/DC although we would have to spend extra to buy a home there. The housing market is also very hot at the moment which adds to it. I guess it is something we will have to think about and make a decision soon. Thank you so much for your input again and for your very kind offer, I will have a look at the areas and message you if we do go see a home in any of the areas. Many thanks again
Hi JKloki,
I live in Winchester. I enjoy it here very much. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.
I would make one suggestion- I noticed the houses you are looking at are all in the same area of the city, off what is known here as Valley Ave. It's a major road. Although you could walk, I would never want to walk that area. Just because of the traffic. Crime-wise and everything else, that area of the city is decent. The really walkable area is in Old Town Winchester, but that might be out of your budget. It's where I would like to retire to, though, because of the walkability.
I would recommend looking outside the city- at Frederick County (which surrounds the city. Winchester city itself is quite small). Most new housing stock is there, taxes are considerably lower, and you have much more options. I live on the east side of Frederick County, which is the suburban side. It's convenient to everything. Western and north is more rural (farms, large estates, country-living).
Stephens City (which is not really a city) is located in the County, and is a rapidly growing suburban area, about 15 south of Winchester proper.
As for schools, the city schools have a more urban, diverse population. They are all fine. The county has a mixture of urban and rural schools, depending on where you live. I teach at one of the county middle schools. The county schools are fine as well. In fact, Winchester and Frederick County were 2 of the very few districts that were open this entire year for in-person learning.
Hi Bobamike. Thank you so much for your message and for all the info and help regarding the area. Yes, all the houses are off Valley Avenue. That makes a lot of sense with concern to walking on a busy main road and the traffic there.
We will have a look at old town Winchester and see if there is anything in our budget as I like that it’s very walkable. Are there any areas that should be possibly avoided? I think I remember reading about Kent Street on another thread here. However, it may have been an older thread and I’m not sure if it’s different now. We will have a look at Stephens city and Fredrick county as well, thanks so much for suggesting them to us. That’s very valuable input regarding the schools in both of the areas and as a teacher in the county. Thank you so much again for all the very useful information.
Yes, avoid Kent street. I would do a drive through the city one day and take a look at what you like. Downtown is going to be lots of old houses- like 1800s old. They're great, but may not have everything a newer house would. Can I ask where the new job is? That might help.
Areas I would recommend: Snowden Bridge (a massive area with it's own dedicated school), Meadowbranch, Pioneer Heights, Steeplechase (my development), Briarwood, anything off Senseny road/Greenwood Road.
Apple Pie Road is also a nice area.
A warning- the Winchester area is BOOMING. Houses sell in under a day for over asking price. A house down the street from me, went for 550k, 100k over listing.
Yes, avoid Kent street. I would do a drive through the city one day and take a look at what you like. Downtown is going to be lots of old houses- like 1800s old. They're great, but may not have everything a newer house would. Can I ask where the new job is? That might help.
Areas I would recommend: Snowden Bridge (a massive area with it's own dedicated school), Meadowbranch, Pioneer Heights, Steeplechase (my development), Briarwood, anything off Senseny road/Greenwood Road.
Apple Pie Road is also a nice area.
A warning- the Winchester area is BOOMING. Houses sell in under a day for over asking price. A house down the street from me, went for 550k, 100k over listing.
Thanks so much for all the useful info Bobamike. My husband’s job will be on Security Drive which I think is East of the city? Many thanks for the area recommendations, that’s really helpful. I will start having a look there. Yes, the housing market is extremely hot at the moment. Looking at the comps, some of the listing prices for the homes have gone up by $100,000 or more in the last year or less or are going well over the listing price as in the case of your neighbour’s home. My husband won’t need to go to the office till mid September at least. However with the way the market is now (and with not a lot of signs of slowing down this year) we feel it may be better to buy now rather than wait. Thanks again so much for all the really helpful information Bobamike.
We both grew up in Chevy Chase, later moved to Purcellville and hated it. There’s really not much to do without heading to Leesburg/Ashburn areas. We didn’t find the neighbors particularly welcoming.
We ended up joining the Winchester Country Club (very affordable especially compared to Montgomery County country clubs) and found Winchester to be a fantastic place with really nice people. It’s big enough but small enough so there’s a real sense of community. We were there about 10 years before retiring to South Carolina. Had it not been for family reasons, we would have happily retired to Winchester.
Look downtown in the Stewart Street/Washington Street area or over by Meadow Branch. Call Colony Realty — they are “old Winchester” and know everything coming on the market well in advance.
You're welcome. If you have any other questions, let me know
Security Drive is on the Eastern side, just over the line from Winchester City to Frederick County. It is a growing area, with a huge new FBI center and headquarters for Navy Federal Credit Union. I would not want to live on the Valley Ave side where you were looking and commute to the other side of town each day, as it can get pretty congested for a smaller city.
The Ravens and RavenWing are 2 very nice developments very close by to that. It's an established neighborhood, and they are building new homes there too. It'd be a 2 min commute.
If you need a realtor, I have an excellent one to recommend.
We both grew up in Chevy Chase, later moved to Purcellville and hated it. There’s really not much to do without heading to Leesburg/Ashburn areas. We didn’t find the neighbors particularly welcoming.
We ended up joining the Winchester Country Club (very affordable especially compared to Montgomery County country clubs) and found Winchester to be a fantastic place with really nice people. It’s big enough but small enough so there’s a real sense of community. We were there about 10 years before retiring to South Carolina. Had it not been for family reasons, we would have happily retired to Winchester.
Look downtown in the Stewart Street/Washington Street area or over by Meadow Branch. Call Colony Realty — they are “old Winchester” and know everything coming on the market well in advance.
Best of luck and enjoy The Bloom for me!
Hi LynchburgLover. Thank you so much for your message and input and for sharing your experiences of Purcellville and Winchester. It’s very helpful for us as we are not really familiar with either area. Thanks so much for the area recommendations provided by you and Bobamike, it’s given us more areas to have a look at.
The realty company sounds very good. We have a Virginia realtor at the moment (the one that we used when we were initially looking to buy a place closer to where my husband’s current office is) and we would feel bad not to try use them here. I will keep the place in mind though.
I have been reading about the Apple blossom festival and hope to experience it. Thanks again for all the info and help.
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