Anyone in Charlottesville/ Richmond VA area...

My wife and 3 year old daughter and I are looking to relocate to the Charlottesville or Richmond area in the next 6 to 8 months, and I was wondering about the state of the local economy, good places to look for a small 10-12 acre farm (horses), places to avoid, etc. I am a home automation/ low voltage technician, she trains horses/ teaches lessons. Any info posted here or emailed to me would be very helpful. Trying to do the right thing for the family...Thanks
Ben

Come on up I'll sell ya my place. :<)) Naw just kidding about the selling part.

I would say the economy is weak right now. Lost quite a few jobs around here lately.
Circuit City, Quimondo, Alcoa and Dupont(gonna watch close to 500 leave here by the end of July) to name a few. Still some construction going on.

I live in western Hanover County and commute to Richmond where I work. Got the 10 acres, kids, horses (how many ya want?), dogs and chickens. I also have a 8n to help keep up the place. Google 23015 to get an idea of the area. Lots of Civil war history around the area.

Lots of horses around, western pleasure, barrel racing, roping, hunter/jumper and fox hunting. Some counties to look at are Hanover, Goochland & Lousia. Might get a little pricey up around Charlottesville with that University thing they got up there.

Hope I've been some help to ya
Marty

email-- dmmdowney at yahoo.com if you want

Hi Ben,

I'm near Charlottesville. Marty's right, the University's jumping. And providing a whole lot of construction jobs right now. They discovered that bids are low this year, ramped up their construction schedule. Tearing down 3 dorms to build 2 news ones, ahead of schedule. There are cranes all over campus.

The other big thing is a huge increase in one of the gov't organizations here, about to add 800 employees. Few if any local hires for those highly paid jobs. But they all have to live and shop somewhere.

Horses are a big deal here, whether racing or riding. I don't imagine you'd have a problem finding work here. There's a LOT of money floating around. I've never found it difficult to grab a little. This area has been popular for the rich and famous for quite some time. I'm neither.

Housing is the kicker. I think the median house is now down under $300k. A subdivision 2nd property over from me will cost you around $700k for a 21 ac lot. You'd do well to take a peek at the multilist, it's online. Or at least look at craigslist here. For the land you want, you'd probably do well between Richmond and Charlottesville. Fluvanna county for instance, though Louisa is usually cheaper.

All depends on where you're coming from. My closest neighbor moved here from Northern Neck, Va. and thought his needing-work 3500' house on 18 ac was a steal at $1.2m. When I mentioned it was for sale for a loooong time, he said he understood that but had no idea why.

Apparently he didn't do much shopping prior to purchase. Since then, he's signed up for one of those $700k lots. He's the sort of guy you want as a customer, whether horses or automation/alarm. He only summers here, winters at his place in S. Carolina.

There's work, and this is a great place to live if you can manage the entrance price. Good luck.

I'm originally from Goochland (midway between C'ville and Richmond...beautiful country...I'm in Northern VA now, but still own about 34 acres in western Goochland...(its the best place to look as the eastern part of Goochland is price prohibitive...my brothers and I also own about 7 acres (with 2 houses on it) in eastern Goochland that we rent out....for the right $$$ you can buy it, as the Deep Run Hunt Club (horses/fox hunting, etc. is about a mile thru the woods...BobG in Va

From today's paper. This type of thing is normal here. Yell if I can help.
Back to Nature

You want to look in Madison-/ south Culpepper area. Cheaper land, but really turning into a horse/ vineyard type of area. Close enough to both Charlottesville and Northern Va for customers from both areas...and prime Hunter/ Jumper show area as well. Get close to Commonwealth Park ( big equestrian event area) if you can find anything there.

Get a copy of Horse Talk Magazine- loaded with places in C-ville/ MAdison area for sale.

Drop us a line when you're in the area looking...I'll show you some world-class appaloosas and offer ya a beer.