Relocating to Harper's Ferry, WV (Charleston, Martinsburg: mineral rights, for sale, real estate market)
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My family may have to relocate to WV, Harper's Ferry area, due to work and we've been trying to gather as much information as possible on line, but it seems that the more we look the more questions we have.
We have two small children 4 and 1 and would like a nice area with decent schools. We would like a home with at least 3 bedrooms 2 baths on 1 acre or more of land with asking prices in the 250K range. What areas do you recommend?
I've seen listings on realtor.com but I'm not sure about the areas and I don't understand what "simple fee" or "unrestricted" means. Is this an association fee and no association fee? I would need reliable fast internet access to be able to work from home.
Also I don't understand WV's taxes. I live in Florida and only have sales and property tax. What taxes do you have?
Any resources you could point me to would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Hope a real estate expert can answer your tech questions. Not sure of the context of "simple fee" or "unrestricted" but am guessing unrestricted may mean it is not in a zoned area - you could have a $500,000 house with a mobile home next door.
The WV state income tax is graduated (like the federal system), with rates ranging from 3.5% to 6.5% (I think).
You will probably find the property tax rate to be considerably lower than in Florida.
There's an annual personal property tax applied to the current value of any vehicles you own, and you must show the tax receipt in order to be able to renew your vehicle registration.
The sales tax rate is 6%, but I believe that it's only 3% on grocery items.
Welcome to WV! Jefferson & Berkeley County schools are both very nice and for the most part seem to meet the state's standards. I hope you like history, you'll see it and hear it everywhere you go in Harper's Ferry. Anyway, Harper's Ferry is very nice once you get used to things. It has quite a few creepy ghost stories too if you're interested. Wish you luck!
Thank you for the info.
Should I be looking at one town over another? We are looking for something quiet away from bright night lights so we can see stars with the kids.
Thanks again.
Thank you for the info.
Should I be looking at one town over another? We are looking for something quiet away from bright night lights so we can see stars with the kids.
Thanks again.
It depends what you prefer, if you like small town atmosphere and family-owned establishments, Harper's Ferry is for you. But, if you prefer more commercialized, chain restaurants and stores, try Martinsburg, WV (about 35-40 miles away for H's Ferry). Martinsburg has one indoor mall with stores like JCPenney, Bon-Ton, Sears, etc. That mall is surrounded by chain restaurants like Outback, Buffalo Wild Wings, Ruby Tuesday, etc. Also, in July of next year (2009) a new shopping complex will open in M'burg which is to include Target, Books-A-Million, Bed Bath & Beyond, Petsmart, Staples, Michael's and TJ Maxx (yeah, it will be quite impressive!!!) I live in Martinsburg and love it, however I am not trying play car salesman and persuade you to moving to Martinsburg, it's whatever you prefer, tiny town or Baby D.C. (that's what I call Martinsburg due to all of the recent growth). If you are trying to get away from bright lights, Harpers Ferry is definitely your place. Again, i'm just informing not persuading. I hope you enjoy it werever you do move to as both areas are extremely nice! -mmccul
I've seen listings on realtor.com but I'm not sure about the areas and I don't understand what "simple fee" or "unrestricted" means.
This is a brief simple answer: Fee simple means that you will own the house and the land it is on as opposed to condominium ownership where you would own the house but the land would be owned by the condominium association. This would usually be found in a townhouse development, only rarely found in detached homes. I could go on about English Covenants of Title but you don't need to hear that for your purposes. Unrestricted is a zoning term meaning unrestricted use and could vary by the locality. Best to ask your local Realtor what this means for the area.
I have a job interview in the area of Harper's Ferry. I am from Orlando FL. We have quite a bit of diversity here and I was wondering if people in Harper's Ferry were open to diversity. My husband is from the country and I am a city girl who likes the country. We are both into hiking, dogs and horses and we are really drawn to the area for those reasons. Thanks in advance for the help.
'Fee Simple' is the form of ownership of your property. It's typical ownership for single family detached homes where you own it all, improvements and land. It's not a concern in Jefferson county, but in other areas of WV you need to check about owning mineral rights as well. (other types of ownership are 'condominium', & 'leased fee', etc.)
Unrestricted is understood in different ways.
Here in Jefferson County we do have zoning restrictions. The current zoning is different than the typical 'Euclidian' zoning you find in many other areas. It is more concerned with the rules of subdividing larger parcels into building lots. It does restrict commercial uses to certain areas, but for many business types it has been fairly easy to get a variance. All properties within the county which are not in an incorporated town or city must comply with the county zoning ordinance. This does not regulate ownership of animals, pets, fencing, building sizes, types, etc. But, within subdivisions and cities/towns most of these are restricted in some way. So it is good to know what freedoms you may wish to retain before signing a contract on a home in a town or subdivision. There are building restrictions within the county which require compliance with health department guidelines for septics & wells, and setbacks from property lines. There are also building codes that must be complied with for any new construction (CABO).
All this may soon change. In the past few years as we have had an influx of people from areas with higher taxes and more services, there has been a push to develop a new 'euclidian' or typical zoning ordinance which regulates mostly anything you do on your property. The county commission has spent alot of money to develop this new ordinance which has been a source of heated debate. Since we already have a form of zoning there is no requirement that a new or modified ordinance be brought to the public for a vote. Thankfully our state represenatatives were able to get a bill passed that allowed for a petition drive to force the commissioners to bring the new ordinance to a public vote. The petition was succesful and the new ordinance is on hold until it is placed on the ballot. From the number of people who signed the petition, I think the ordinance will be voted down and probably modified to be less restrictive before it is passed.
For example, I live between Shepherdstown and Charles Town. My property is on a state maintained road and not in a subdivision. So I'm able to have fences, pets, gardens, chickens, etc. without breaking any rules and without paying an Home Owner Association fees. I knew the zoning change was coming and was also able to subdivide my property before the new rule was passed. So now I have my house on a lot and two unrestricted building lots. Even if the new ordinance changes anything existing should be grandfathered and allowed to continue. The new rules should only affect new uses and subdivisions.
Location information:
Most areas in the county now have Frontier high speed DSL available. Business DSL (like here in my office in Charles Town) rocks at about 3196kbs download. At home I'm within a 1/2 mile ofthe node and have personal dsl and typically get a speed of over 1000kbs. Cable high speed is also available but not in as many locations or with consistant performance. Charles Town & Shepherdstown also have city-wide Wi-Fi provided by Frontier.
If you plan on working in Harpers Ferry and from home, the farthest point in Jefferson County should take less than a 20 minute commute. So depending on what home type spefics you're looking for, anywher within Jefferson County should be good.
It does look like our real estate market has hit bottom and is starting to climb. More properties are under contract and there are fewer unrestricted properties with more than an acre available now. There are still some good deals on foreclosed homes within subdivision, but those are selling much faster now as well.
Real Estate taxes have gone up but relative to the surrounding States, ours is still low. These are based on the assesed value of your home and typcally are between $1,500 -$4,000.
Also the cost of electricity in WV is very low especially compared to Fl.
I've lived here for over 30 years and am a real estate appraiser, so if you have any specific location questions I'll try to help, or if you want some realtor information, PM me (I also have a building lot for sale if you want to build new.)
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Relocating
