Mr Williamsburg :My wife and I are considering Williamsburg VA as a place to relocate to. We are looking for one floor living under $250k. What communities and homes would you recommend ?
Answer: First I would want to know a little more about what you are looking for . How many bedrooms ? How many square feet ? Is an attached home ok ? Where do you want to be ? Do you want a garage ? Close to the outlets ? Close to Golf ? Close to New Town ? It also depends on when you want to move. As of today here are a few choices to consider. Do you want to be in a 55+ active Adult community ? or a neighborhood with kids and neighbors of all ages ?
These are my favorites and everybody has their own likes and dislikes..
If you, want to be surrounded by a golf course and are ok with a brand new 1244 sq foot 2 bedroom first floor condo without a garage. I would suggest Braemar Creek. It’s only 2.5 miles from Monticello Marketplace with Grocery Stores, Restaurants, banks, Target and most other needs. New Town is approximate 3 miles away with it’s 19 places to eat, 12 screen movie theater, Barnes and Noble, many shops , Doctors , dentists and just about any business you would want including a Trader Joe’s.. The HOA at Braemar Creek is $148 a month. Taxes are approximate $1700 a year as of 2008. Braemar Creek as a very nice clubhouse with kitchen, big screen TV, fireplace, patio overlooking the pool, tennis courts, playground . Not sure if it’s allowed but my happy clients who have bought there ( I can put you in touch with them for first person recommendations ) walk the Williamsburg National Golf course which is adjacent to Braemar Creek.
Here are a few pictures and floor plans of the homes at Braemar Creek
#2 recommendations would be Fairway Villas within a 1/4 mile of Braemar Creek surrounded by woods, close to everything above. Resale @ $200k , pool, tennis. HOA is $145 monthly and includes all exterior maintenance of home and yard, use of pool, tennis, trash collection.
Click this link to go to Google Street Views and you can pretend you are driving around the community: You have to try it if you haven’t used it before !
Call me if you can’t it figure it out I can walk you thru how to use it.
Here are all the condo/ town homes available for sale in Fairway Villas
#3 would be Claiborne on Richmond Rd. By the way all of the communities were built by the same builder Fransicus Homes.( well respected quality builder in the area) So they all have similar floor plans. The main difference is the location and amenities. Claiborne has a clubhouse only, no pool or tennis. It’s a little closer to CW, very close to the Outback Restaurant on Richmond Rd. There is one resale there for $208k, 1429 sq feet, 2 bedroom, HOA is $165 monthly. This is the only one in The City of Williamsburg which has a lower tax rate than the others in James City County.. .54 per $100 versus .77 per $100
Taxes are only $1230 annually as of 2008.
Here is a Google Street View of Claiborne.
There are a few others that have a first floor configuration. Bristol Commons next to High Street. I only mentioned the top choices that have availability at present.
Lastly if you want a garage ( most of my clients do ) That’s another list altogether but prices will start at around $260k. If you increase your price range slightly to $275,000 that brings up a lot more possibilities. There area few home currently available in the 55+ active adult community of Colonial Heritage. All homes are almost maintenance free. All have first floor living. The community of Colonial Heritage in Williamsburg VA offers many different social clubs, indoor and outdoor pools, fitness centers a grand 26,000 square foot clubhouse with restaurant, meeting rooms, ballroom, library and much more. an 18 hole golf course is available. You don’t have to be a country club member to play. ( golf fees are optional and not required of home owners in Colonial Heritage) It is quickly becoming a very popular place to live in the Williamsburg VA ar
ea.
One other 55+ active adult community in Williamsburg VA that will not appear in the Williamsburg VA MLS/ home search above is the Villas at Five Forks.
You can click here to read information about Villas at Five Forks in Williamsburg VA prices start below $290,000
Note: Once you open any of the searches you can sort them by:
Price (high to low) Price (low to high) or Bedrooms (high to low) Bedrooms (low to high) or Sq. ft. (high to low) Sq. ft. (low to high) or Date Listed (new to old) Date Listed (old to new) All by clicking the icon that looks like this :
One point I would like to make. I would never try to sell someone a more expensive home. A common thread I have noticed with most people I work with is, They always start low. ( which I can understand) Quite a few will start in one range and then increase to a higher point to find what they like. Since they don’t know the price range of the area they will always start low.
By moving up in price from $250k to $270k and below you open up a lot more possibilities in communities and homes with garages and other features. Also remember the prices you are seeing on my website are typically negotiable and simply a starting point. ( note: no two sellers are alike)
If you would like/ appreciate Colonial Heritage there is a detached home in there for $269k list price. I would bet it can be bought for less. Interesting the lowest price sale in the last 12 months was $280K
It’s interesting there is always a 50/50 split on where the folks I work with want to live.
One group does not want to live with a bunch of old fogies…
The others do !
Hope this helps
Call me or email me for further information, a personal tour or to receive an updated list of all homes that fit your criteria.
Cheers,
John
Coming soon. Not yet listed. Williamsburg VA Foreclosures/ REO/ Short Sales, James City County VA/ York County , VA.
Address: LOW RIDGE, WILLIAMSBURG, VA, Penniman East, almost 2000 square feet, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, built in 2001, priced below $240k
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Address: SMALLPAGE TR, Pointe at Jamestown, WILLIAMSBURG, VA
4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, Price: 324,880.00
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Address: QUEEN BISHOP LN, WILLIAMSBURG, VA, Off of Jamestown Rd
3 Bedroom with loft, very open floor plan, Lake Powell Point, Built in 2004, located on a cul de sac. Price TBD
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For further information on any of these properties or updates on foreclosures/ REO’s in the Williamsburg or greater Hampton Roads, VA. area contact John Womeldorf John@MrWilliamsburg.com or on his website www.MrWilliamsburg.com
John Womeldorf is Mr. Williamsburg, sharing his thoughts, real estate expertise, and “all things Williamsburg” in an effort to spread the word that Williamsburg and Hampton Roads, Virginia is the greatest place on earth to live!
This informational update provided by Mr Williamsburg.com/ John Womeldorf . A local Realtor assisting home buyers and sellers in the Hampton Roads and Williamsburg areas of Virginia.
Research the area at www.WilliamsburgsRealEstate.com
Ask any questions about homes, neighborhoods, schools, amenities, recreation , shopping or anything else about the area.
Search Homes for Sale
From an article in the Va Gazette By Cortney Langley Dec. 2008
The recession slowed the growth of housing and commerce for the first time in 10 years. Still, there was plenty left to propose and oppose.
James City County set out to revise the Comprehensive Plan with various forums and committees taking the public pulse.
A new slow-growth group called J4C produced research papers challenging various assumptions and projects. The outgoing Democratic majority tightened a James City ordinance to expand stream buffers to 300 feet instead of 100. The new Republican majority promptly unwound that and eventually compromised at 225 feet, then defeated the whole measure. The stream buffers were among many disputes in which four of the five members criticized each other as politically partisan. Almost 900 Ford’s Colony residents petitioned to block a big continuing care facility across the road as too big, generating too much traffic and burdening the HOA. They found a zoning loophole to support their case legally.
The HOA agreed not to sue when management backed down on applying full residential rights to those in a proposed senior care facility. Others still opposed the project on grounds of traffic and scale, even after it was scaled back from 944 units to 739. Despite a last-minute gimmick to stop it, the James City supervisors approved, but the financing dried up during the national credit crisis.
Also near Ford’s Colony, a plan for 240 workforce housing units on News Road was pulled back to weave it into the new Comp Plan. It was considered DOA after the continuing care controversy. Ford’s Colony announced Westport as 100 large homesites across Centerville Road but removed from the controversial continuing care facility.
Two-year assessments found York home values up an average of 15%. The Board of Supervisors reduced the real esate tax rate from 69.75 cents per $100 of assessed value to 65.75 cents.
York county administrator James McReynolds said he needed $26 million worth of expansion and new buildings for his various departments.
A new task force promised to have ideas on developing workforce housing by summer. Work languished, but the group plans to take up the mantle in 2009.
High Street scaled back 99 townhouses to 36 in the first phase as real estate sales continued soft. The Movie Tavern theater that was supposed to open by Labor Day was delayed to November, and then to March along with the retail shops. By year-end, two of five apartment buildings at High Street began to be occupied.
Two new sets of stoplights were erected for High Street, bringing the total in greater Williamsburg to 87. Yet very few were synchronized to keep traffic moving.
The Salvation Army set out on a feasibility study for a $6 million complex of teen center, child care, computer lab, food pantry and other services to the community. The site is on Richmond Road near 199.
An extended runway was ruled out at Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport, which seemed to scotch any federal subsidy for acquisition. By year-end, it was going to take more than $3 million to buy the airport or $16 million to rebuild elsewhere. Some citizens were adamantly against James City County putting up the money. The death of co-owner Jean Waltrip complicated matters.
Philip Morris completed the expansion and conversion of the Route 143 plant to make spit-free tobacco. 1,200 acres were put on the market by Williamsburg Pottery, though Kim Maloney clarified the business would remain intact. With no buyers at hand, the property was later taken off the market. Longtime farmer Don Hunt closed Hill Pleasant Farm. He had no plans to sell to developers but asked for the land-use designation to change to mixed-use with the Comp Plan update. The York supervisors compromised on requiring Kiln Creek Golf Club & Resort owner Dick Ashe to cut the grass of its abandoned nine-hole course.
Overcrowding worsened at Stonehouse Elementary, but a 9th school was still two years away.
Pockets of retail vacancies were showing up at Patriot Plaza and were persisting at Williamsburg Crossing.
A revised version of controversial condos were approved on South Henry Street despite criticism that they were out of scale.
Williamsburg Community Chapel spent $15 million to expand to 70,000 square feet with an auditorium for 1,500.
York denied its first mixed-use development of apartments and stores, on Route 17 at Battlefield Road. 10 four-story buildings for mixed use at Route 17 and Battle Road worried York residents as too massive.
The York supervisors were lobbied heavily to approve in a 3-2 vote a house on the Chesapeake Bay that was within the 100-foot Chesapeake Bay resource protection area.
The Honda dealership in Norge sought to expand, but neighbors complained of encroachment. Neighbors in Chisel Run protested Prime Outlets expanding across Olde Towne Road after two dozen older trees were cut down. James City had a raft of road projects, but the state budget was cut in half to $3.5 million. Two James City supervisors had second thoughts about approving a $50 million contract with Newport News Waterworks. It’s good for up to 5 million gallons a day. Water rates raised 12%- 15%, with more to come.
VDOT ramped up its traffic studies in ways that would cost developers more time and money, but slow-growth advocates hailed the move for reflecting a more cumulative impact.
J4C came up with six pages of ways to prevent flooding through improved draining. The crux of the problem was assigning responsibility for flooding after a development is built.
Three days of citizen meetings led to a vision of the Eastern State campus for mixed uses and housing around various mental health components. Sites emerged for at least one new school, an office park, apartments, “Geriatric Square” for research, and faculty housing.
Neighbors near Hubbard Lane protested expansion plans for a mini-warehouse behind James-York Plaza. The Planning Commission recommended denial of the proposal and the application has yet to go to the Board of Supervisors.
Seasons Trace sought a second road out of the subdivision in the event of hurricane flooding.
The city budget was ho-hum except for a 15% hike in water rates to pay Newport News Waterworks in times of need. Last year the rates went up 10% and more hikes are coming, in part to cover costs of the new King William Reservoir. Geologist Gerald Johnson lost his fight to save the last patch of 5-million-year-old fossils along the bluffs of the James River. Kingsmill wanted the site for more homes.
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map of conservation area Williamsburg VA
John Womeldorf is Mr. Williamsburg, sharing his thoughts, real estate expertise, and “all things Williamsburg” in an effort to spread the word that Williamsburg, Virginia is the greatest place on earth to live!
“In conjunction with the conservation easement on 230 acres across Route 132 previously granted to the Williamsburg Land Conservancy, this conservation easement will protect scenic views along both sides of the entry to Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area from Interstate 64,” said Foundation President Colin G. Campbell.
Like the earlier easement, also donated to the Williamsburg Land Conservancy, this conservation easement will prohibit development of the property and preserve its predominantly wooded character.
“The Conservancy is excited to work once again with Colonial Williamsburg to protect a key scenic property,” said Tim Cleary, chairman of the Williamsburg Land Conservancy’s board of directors. “We commend the Foundation and its board for their commitment to conservation.”
Caren Schumacher, executive Director of the Williamsburg Land Conservancy, noted that Route 132 is designated as a scenic entry corridor on both the City of Williamsburg and York County comprehensive plans.
The property, acquired by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1956, contains a mature deciduous forest and 25 acres of wetlands bordering Queens Creek and its tributaries. An archaeological survey indicated evidence of historic and prehistoric archaeological resources on the property.
Founded in 1990, the Williamsburg Land Conservancy was the first private non-profit land trust in Virginia incorporated specifically to use the provisions of the Virginia Conservation Easement Act. The conservancy is dedicated to protecting and preserving significant natural, scenic, agricultural and historic land in the James and York Rivers watersheds. The conservancy strives to maintain the character and ambiance of the area through a combination of land preservation tools, education and advocacy programs, and shaping public policy.
This donation represents the second large easement donated to the Williamsburg Land Conservancy within the last 60 days. In November, the group accepted a 190-acre conservation easement in upper James City County. With the addition of the property east of Route 132, the Conservancy will protect a total of 3,300 acres in the Historic Triangle area.
Established in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is the not-for-profit educational institution that preserves and operates the restored 18th-century Revolutionary capital of Virginia. Williamsburg is located 150 miles south of Washington, D.C., off Interstate 64. For more information or reservations, call toll-free 1-800-HISTORY or visit Colonial Williamsburg on the Internet at www.history.org.
You can learn more about the Williamburg Land Conservancy Here
This informational update provided by Mr Williamsburg.com/ John Womeldorf . A local Realtor assisting home buyers and sellers in the Hampton Roads and Williamsburg areas of Virginia.
Contact me at John@MrWilliamsburg.com
Research the area at www.WilliamsburgsRealEstate.com
Or ask any questions about homes, neighborhoods, schools, amenities, recreation , shopping or anything else about the area.
So, what does the future hold for Hampton Roads real estate in 2008? Here are our predictions:
#1 Sales will remain relatively flat. Given the record numbers in the past few years, a flat market is not a bad thing. The pace will be steady enough to begin to whittle away at competitively priced inventory, as new listings coming on the market will slow somewhat in 2008. Average market time will increase slightly, but the market will continue to move toward a balance between buyers and sellers.
#2 Interest rates will remain low. Although there may be some fluctuations during the year, overall rates will hover in the 6% range. The combination of election year influence, and the key role that the housing market plays in the overall health of the economy means that the Fed will most likely ensure that rates don’t tick up too far.
#3 The mortgage market will see a few more major upsets before beginning to settle down toward the end of 2008. I don’t believe we’ve seen the end of major players going under, primarily because certain segments of the country haven’t experienced the worst of the downturn yet. It will be more important than ever that buyers use reliable local lenders, and ensure that loan commitments are in writing. As mortgage companies pick up the pieces, we will see new products available to replace many discontinued programs; however, loans will continue to be credit score driven, and the sub-prime market will continue to decline.
#4 Foreclosures nationally will see major spikes. Fortunately, our local market will not feel the worst crunch of this, because of a stronger than average local economy. We will, however, see a steady rise in REO inventory, and a renewed supply of VA and HUD foreclosures. This will result in a surge of investors in the market, which were absent in the recent sellers’ market. This is a great opportunity for both investors and Realtors who are skilled in the investor market.
#5 Appreciation will see modest gains. This is great news for sellers, who will be able to capitalize on major price gains in the past 5 years. The key will be to be realistic about pricing, and invest the effort in making sure that listing inventory is in tip top shape. This is sort of an enigma of the current market, and a sign that the foundation of our local real estate market is still strong, despite the slow down in sales.
#6 2008 will be the best buyers’ market that we have seen in years. The combination of substantial inventory, nervous sellers, and low interest rates means great deals for savvy buyers. Even those buyers who have homes to sell in order to move can capitalize on good opportunities.
CLICK HERE FOR Real Estate Home Search Tidewater Hampton Roads Va
For More information contact John Womeldorf/ Mr Williamsburg/ Liz Moore & Associates
757 254 8136
John@MrWilliamsburg.com email
lwww.MrWilliamsburg.com/ website
www.MrHamptonroads.com/ website
www.MrTidewater.com/ website
www.MrVaBeach.com/ website
Williamsburg Virginia Real Estate Resource. Search for Homes & Land in Williamsburg Virginia & surrounding areas click here :CLICK HERE WILLIAMSBURG VA MLS HOME SEARCH
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The neighborhood is very convenient to Interstate 64. You can get to it from exit 234 or 238. Within a few miles are Wal Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, Ukrops Grocery Store, Banks, Restaurants, The New Sentara Williamsburg Hospital and many other conveniences. Colonial Williamsburg is very close as well. Children who live here would attend Waller Mill Elementary, Queens Lake Middle and Bruton High School all which are part of the highly rated York County School System.
A typical street winding through the Skimino Landing Estate
community of Williamsburg Virginia.
CLICK HERE FOR Real Estate Home Search Tidewater Hampton Roads Va
If you would like to see any of the homes for sale in Skimino Landing Estates or any other neighborhood in the Williamsburg area.
Give me a call !
John Womeldorf/ Mr Williamsburg/ Liz Moore & Associates
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