Possibly moving to Richmond, VA area. Need feedback from any locals

We have decided to move further south in the next 12-18 months. We are expecting our 3rd child next month and Rochester is just too expensive to stay much longer. I pay $6000 in property tax and around $500 month to heat during the winter (3000 sq/ft). Our target area would just north of Richmond down to Durham, from the Mountains to the coast. Looking at real estate around Richmond is enough to make my jaw drop. I think we could save around $15K a year between taxes, heating, fuel and general lower cost of living and as a bonus we could actually go outside 11 months out of the year without risk of freezing to death. Does anyone have any good or bad experiences from living there? I do field work on infectious disease diagnostic equipment. If a position opened up with my company in the area I would relocate but if not I will just sign on with another company. My wife is a PT so neither of us should have a hard time finding employment.

UH, Richmond is a wonderful town to live in, the suburbs are even better. Antique cars in this area? No property tax, $50,00 one time license fee. The Richmond Region is very active. They just had a local tour this past weekend. I can hook you up to their face book page to follow them along. I can tell you a lot more if you want to call me? PM me.

Wayne

Millers Tavern Virginia

Not too familiar with the Richmond area, but I know you will sure be happy with your move. I can't believe with what some of you all pay up there. It should be a pretty good buyers market for you right now as well.

I just noticed your home town. You'll see a world of difference in the weather !!

Bill

Thanks for the comments!

Wayne if you can hook me up with their Facebook page that would be great. Just knowing they were able to do a tour last week is enough to make me want to move NOW. Hit 50 here today, first time since probably November. Still too much snow to even think about taking the car out. Can't go out till all the salt has been washed away by the spring rains, likely sometime mid April.

Take a look also at the Chesapeake Va area - USN dropped us off here years ago and we love it. The antique auto hobby is strong and you've got two great active regions in Richmond and Tidewater area. As far as work goes, if your wife is a PT she can call the shots - I Know we have current openings in the company I work for (check Sentara.com). There should be other opportunities in the Richmond area also. You'll find the Southern hospitality to be fantastic. I wasn't born here, just got here as quick as I could!

Terry

Thanks for the comments!

Wayne if you can hook me up with their Facebook page that would be great. ..

Sent you a PM with link.

I am on the Coast of Virginia, and visit Richmond on Occasion, usually to the Richmond in the Spring, and maybe the Fall Show done by the local AACA up there. There is tons of history and things to do in Downtown, but me personally I would live outside the city in a burb. Get way more for your money. Traffic can be a bear during rush hours !!

Being also from the north, I was about to say, "Wow! Only

$500 to heat your house!" I pay much more than that.

Then I noticed that that was per MONTH, not per season.

Every area has its merits. You may be giving up enjoyable

75-to-85-degree summertime highs for hot summers, and

pay for air conditioning more than for heat.

But, finding a nice area and making friends--and having a good,

welcoming AACA region to join--you can appreciate ANY

part of our great country.

Hey, glad to hear you are considering the Richmond area. The Richmond Region is very active, we have monthly meetings, (first Thursday of each month). We have Monthly what we call "fun runs" where the members are encouraged to get the old cars out for a drive around the area, visit a pre planned distination and then have lunch together. We also have our "steak fry" each fall and our 4th of July picnic. If you make the move, give us a try .

You'll like Richmond, or Roanoke or Lynchburg for that matter. All three have very active old car scenes and plenty of other things to do. Richmond has VCU Medical Center, Lynchburg has Centra Health and Roanoke has Carilion so employment would not be an issue for you or wife. Roanoke/Lynchburg might have a tad more "winter" than Richmond, but nothing like Rochester! Richmond traffic would be the one thing that would turn me away from that area.

Ok guys, I had to waste 10 minutes cleaning up the political comments on this thread! We have a possible new member coming to the Richmond Virginia area, and I personally don't care how he votes, but I want him to know that we are all here to protect an antique car hobby that we all love, so, hey, let's give it a break!

Wayne

Forgot to add:

Our area has any number of very effective AACA Regions. (Go to the home page of this site and look up Virginia under Regions and Chapters) As a matter of fact, the regions share activities in the Virginia area. We even have a very strong Virginia AACA Club, the ODMA (Old Dominion Meet Association) which sponsors a large meet each year at different host club areas, (Staunton, Va. this year), along with occasional group tours. Hope this helps.

Anyone else want to move down? I have a nice brick home for sale in Warsaw, Virginia!

The area around Richmond is nice as is the climate. My wife and I would move there if my company (cardinal health) had something for me in that area. We own property in the VA beach area but only get to use it a couple times per year. Retirement is only 3 or 4 years away for us and we will be in that area for good when that happens.

Great comments, you guys are the best! I think living outside the city would be ideal. We are taking a week in June to drive down and explore the area. Obviously too soon to seriously look at real estate but just window shopping has brought up some great places. The hardest part is now knowing what areas are nice. For instance I found an excellent historical home in Petersburg. Over 4000 sqft with vaulted ceilings and a huge kitchen. Then I found out that Petersburg is not a nice area. Makes sense why a house that would be $450K here was only $149 there. Getting our boots on the ground will help us narrow down our area. We might just drive through a little town and fall in love with it. I have some emails out to various people through Linkedin asking about their employers and possible positions opening up. I am a Field Systems Engineer, basically field service. Right now my territory is western NY east to Utica and from Massena NY to Syra PA. I drive 50,000 miles a year and cover pretty much every major hospital, regional lab and doctors office as well as industrial customers like Kraft, Purina and Dr Pepper Snapple. I suspect after a move I would be covering DC, Richmond, Durham, VA beach and the whole region.

Give me a first name uh? I don't think UH is your first name?

OK, Petersburg! Some parts of Petersburg are the safest in the area, including the Richmond area. My family does the restaurant/bar scene in Old Town Petersburg area on Saturday nights, a large police presence is around and it's very well lighted. Not even any parking meters. There have been at least 3 movies filmed in that area, including Lincoln, and TV Show "Turn". I'd dare say that any city in this country that has areas you do not want to frequent late at night. It's best to let us know when you are coming down and the Richmond Region AACA guys, plus myself can show you around. This is a very historic area of Virginia!

As a matter of fact, check out my local regions' website and review the AACA Divisional Slide Show. http://www.nnkregionaaca.org/

You'll see the same type historical buildings throughout Virginia.

Wayne

My wife discovered Staunton, Virginia a few years ago and we moved there. If you like small town life, it is a very economical place. Voted one of the best small towns in the country by Smithsonian magazine. Right on Interstate 81 and 64.

Look it up if you are interested.

My name is Shane by the way. I was in the Army for 11 years as an aviation electrician, mainly on UH60 Blackhawk helicopters and I was born in 77 hence the UH6077 moniker.

Welcome Aboard Shane. Looking forward to meeting you this summer.

Wayne

Sounds good. I would love to catch a local show and shake some hands. As we all know you meet the nicest people in the world while standing in front of a classic car.

benjamin j ...

Well if when you come to Va Beach look us up, we have an active AACA Chapter here and wwould love to have you involved. do monthly gatherings and meetings/ dinners, special events each year, some tours, great people great time.

Shane...

as for Petersburg, my wife is from that area, and like any city, including Richmond it has its parts of town you would stay away from. The Historic area is on a rebound and starting to grow and thrive. Many new things popping up and developing. Same goes For Roanoke, In-Laws live there and same scenario. Areas you would not go to after dark, but downtown and the historic area are coming back strong.

Or move to a small town, having checked it over carefully,

and you won't have to deal with city traffic, grime and crime!

If you think you might ever have a pre-war car,

smaller towns and country living can be ideal.

(And they're usually very good for your kids.)

I've heard from people living in metropolitan areas

that can't drive their oldest cars much: There is

too much traffic, the highways are too big or too

fast, or they would have to cross superhighways

just to get anywhere in their old car.

Otherwise, you could map out all the country roads

and smaller highways and enjoy mile after mile at

more casual speeds.

............There is

too much traffic, the highways are too big or too

fast, or they would have to cross superhighways

just to get anywhere in their old car.

............

No problems like that in the rural areas of this part of Virginia, John. I can give you directions to carry you 100 miles and you'll never see a major highway. (Ask Micky Bohne, last year's AACA President, about that)We mapped out our Divisional Tour last year, and one of my members decided to not follow my tour book instructions. He was lost for an hour making him very afraid his A Model was going to run out of gas before he saw civilization again. He hasn't lived that down yet.

Wayne

Small town living is ideal but with my job I am forced to live close to a the interstate and metro city. That doesn't mean I have to live "in" the city. I get paid hourly from the time I leave the house until I get back home, driving included. They don't want to pay me extra just because I want to live out in the sticks. Depends on the company but I might be able to work out a deal where an hour of so each day is not charged. Still I would want to live somewhat close to an interstate because I may have to be at a hospital at 8am but it is 3 hours away. I need to look at school system rankings and find the good schools. I looked up Petersburg and all the schools were rated C or below, many were F. Like most places in the country the schools are refelective of the population. Upper middle class communities will normally have better schools but the cost of living (housing, taxes) will be more. The hardest part so far is finding a place with a large garage/workshop. That is a MUST HAVE. I have a few cars, bikes and boats and have to have a place to work on and store them. I have even looked at finding a home in a town where I could find an old warehouse to buy and turn that into my garage.

I started packing.

Just curious, Shane: Where do you find

towns' school rankings? That would be enlightening.

............ The hardest part so far is finding a place with a large garage/workshop. That is a MUST HAVE. I have a few cars, bikes and boats and have to have a place to work on and store them. I have even looked at finding a home in a town where I could find an old warehouse to buy and turn that into my garage.

I will post a picture later of something 40 minutes from I 95 by way of a nice 4 lane divided highway.

John-

I am sure there is a sight that you can just type in a zip code and find the school ratings but I was just getting them off Remax website. Click on a house for sale and scroll to the bottom to see the school rating. Here is a example from Petersburg

I will post a picture later of something 40 minutes from I 95 by way of a nice 4 lane divided highway.

I got a couple pictures but would prefer a listed price, which has not been sent to me yet.

Can not wait to tell the realtor that my buddy couldn't wait and bought another home in the area.

Still waiting, but the wife found the on-line listing price. 2140 square feet, main part of house is brick, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths- this home is a fixer upper. It is on a 2.5 acre lot.

*

$68,500!!!

*

It's rough, but it has a decent roof, so I'd say there should be no water damage. It fronts a 4 lane highway. A great investment 40 minutes from Richmond Virginia. Oh, don't miss the garage out back.

Let me add that a nice house similar to this would be listed for at least $250,000 in this area. (property tax around $1000.00 per year) Probably what your garage would bring in New York Shane.

What city is it in? My taxes are $6000 here, so about the same as a $1.5M house there? (banging head against wall). Hardest part about leaving this area is the school district. We pay for it in taxes but at least the kids get top notch education. Then again NY has just adopted the common core curriculum which I very against.

Tappahannock, Va.

Unless the inside is completely trashed or it has structural damage that's a whole lot of house for the money. I've seen worse here in Danville-South Boston go for $80k without acreage or all that garage out back.

Shane, look into charter, magnet or private schools. I used to say I'd support the public schools at all costs but anymore if I had kids they'd be in one of those. Those are more affordable that you would think down here too. You also do not have school district taxation here in the Commonwealth. Many people I've talked with who left the Northeast name those school taxes as a big reason they left.

There are a few sites common for school ratings

Great Schools Common Site used

School Digger

Articles

US News Best High Schools

Newsweek Americas Top Schools

This could be an amazing house to fix and flip if someone had the time and ability. 4300 sqft on 1.3 acres. Other houses in the area are selling for over $300K, this is $79K. http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/43-Dogwood-Ln_Nellysford_VA_22958_M66547-17815?row=1

This could be an amazing house to fix and flip if someone had the time and ability. 4300 sqft on 1.3 acres. Other houses in the area are selling for over $300K, this is $79K. http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/43-Dogwood-Ln_Nellysford_VA_22958_M66547-17815?row=1

They have a contract on that house at $68,000 today. I was a day late.

Got to find out who bought. Maybe I can get him/her to join the AACA.

The one I just posted or the one you posted before?

The brick one I posted earlier, Shane.

Shane, I like the mountains better then the flatter country; therefore I'd want to choose something along I-81 over I-95. That would include (from the north) Winchester, Stephens City, Harrisonburg, Staunton/Waynesboro, Lexington, and Roanoke. Farther south nearing Tennessee are Wytheville, Abingdon, and Bristol. Winchester and Roanoke areas have AACA chapters. When I say mountains I don't mean rugged mountains but moderate mountains. I much prefer the Blue Ridge Mountain area to the Piedmont area with it's red clay soil but each to his own likings.

Shane,

I am late to this thread, but I lived in Richmond for 35 years and enjoyed it. It is at an Interstate crossroads and 2 hours to D.C. or the beach and less than 90 minutes to the Shenandoah National Park.

I have my mother's home north of Charlottesville for sale, 4 bedrooms (each with a private bath) on 6 acres with the ability to purchase an additional 67 acres. It has a large three car garage (that I have had 5 vehicles in) and is only 1/2 mile off Rt. 29 (the north/south highway) in Albemarle County. Charlottesville is home to the University of Virginia, has good schools, 2 hospitals and access to I-64. The house needs work, but I can put you in it at a bargain price. As a point of reference, the 30 acre property across the road with a 3000 square foot home (with portions dating from 1850) just went on the market for $1.9M.

If you are interested I can give you details. I just sold my '89 Dodge plow truck that was there last week, but for the right price you could become the owner of the three Studebakers currently in the garage as well as a '47 Willys CJ2A stored there as well.

Gary

We won't be ready to move till probably next summer. We are going down for a week in June to check out the area and see what towns we like. Then we can narrow down our search and start making offers.