megabyte

Hi, My husband and I are thinking of moving to Smith Mountain Lake and were wondering if there are any Brits there.

I have googled and have not come up with anything, so please help.....!

PS if no Brits, how about ANY Europeans???

ottotheboar

Possibly you will find more Brits in say Roanoke, Lynchburg or Charlottesville. We are around 100 miles away the closest town being Farmville. Out of interest why did you choose Smith Mountain Lake ?

megabyte

Thanks ottothebear. I will try to find a way to locate some, but if I cannot find anyone, I might be knocking on your door!

We both wanted to live on a lake and have been searching CT & MA because we know it and VA because I have family there. We know nothing about VA and we are worried about the heat, but the lake looks beautiful and we love the fact that the Blue Ridge Mountains are there.

Before the autumn, we are hoping to go over and have a look to see if we can hack it.

Bob

meetup.com and have a look?

ottotheboar

Smith Lake is a very popular tourist spot and well developed and very busy. I am not sure how many people live there year round. In Virginia July and August are the hot and most most important very humid so if you are wondering if you can "hack it" visit over the next two months.
Two other large lakes are Lake Gaston quite well developed and Kerr or Buggs Island Lake which is the the least developed. Lake Gaston is kept at a constant level at the expense of Kerr Lake where the water level can vary significantly. Kerr has around 700 miles of shoreline and is also in NC. Clarksville VA is a small, quiet town on Kerr Lake your nearest city is probably Raleigh/Durham. If you search trulia.com with the Clarksville zip code you will pull up lots of property for sale in the area.

rculater

Mozzies spring to mind when i hear the word lake.

Good luck, you sound in a fortunate position to be able to pick and choose where to live without employment being a factor - im envious. By the way, what kind of visa do you have ?

wildinvirginia

Hi, I am not far from SML at all - it's gorgeous. Don't know what you're plans are for work or what your budget is but I'd love to live there. Right on the lake the properties are a bit in the 'dream home' scale for us lol, but if you can swing it there are a ton of properties being auctioned at below market value right now. It seems there was a boom in building but a bust in the buying - or more accurately, the lending! There are also tons of rural properties all around the lake areas - these vary radically tho. I am currently in Chatham about 20 miles north of Danville and Rocky Mount is where we hit the lake area. I originally lived in Indiana when coming out here and have been in Virginia for a year. have absolutely no intention of leaving - we love it here. Please give me a yell if you want to chat more or would like help with resources

megabyte

Mozzies? Yes, I did think of that. I already have on my 'wish list' a screened in area on my deck. For outside, I am buying a bush hat with a head to toe mosquito net!!!!

As for visa, well I guess I am a bit of a cheat on this expat site; I am American . I moved to England in '83 from NYC with my English husband. After 28 years of not living in the US, it is going to be hard, but we want to give it a go.

I will keep meetup.com in mind for wherever we move, Never heard of it, thanks!

Kerr Lake and Gaston Lake we still keep an eye on, but we really prefer SML. Of course, this is all because of web searches and it might change once we are down there.

Wildinvirginia, it is good to know that you are nearby! We will be back to you when questions occur - thanks. Maybe we can get together when we get over there?

Someone sent a private message which I cannot open. It says: "The administrator has restricted use of the private message system to members with more than 3 posts". I do not know what this means, but it seems a bit daft!

christmasoompa

You wouldn't think that if you were inundated with spam via PM! It's simply a measure put in place to stop spammers sending PM's to members, and by and large it works.

wildinvirginia

LOL - I sent you the message just saying if you wanted to contact me, then do If you make one more post, that'll be your three and you're in ha ha ha.
My Father-in-law is American, my Mother-in-law is British. they met over there, moved here for the longest time, always intending to retire to the UK. They went back, lasted two years and came scurrying back here. The UK had gotten way too fast and too expensive for them and although my mother-in-law will never admit it, a lot less friendly than she remembered. In comparison to England and NYC, you'll find Virginia blissfully slow, very friendly and a lot less aggressive Acclimatizing takes a while - especially when getting anything official done and you realize you have to allocate a lot more time to doing it - but that's fine by me .... I'll happily trade a few hours for a ton of attitude!

Would love to meet up whenever you're around, keep in touch (you don't need a reason) and best of luck.

megabyte

Sorry Mod, no I do not like spam, I just have never come across that before.

megabyte

Blissfully slow is one thing that will take a lot of getting used to. I love the buzz in NYC and miss it very much although I have slowed down quite a lot over the years.

Since I am only doing searches on the web until we get over there, do you know of areas that we should avoid looking at?

Gory

I'm about 20 minutes from the lake, in Rocky Mount. It's slow, it's rural, it's bloody hot today - and it is a beautiful place to be.
Moved here from upstate SC 2 years ago (was there for 8 years, before that sunny Wigan, Lancs)
I would say come and have a look - and if you do, look me up.
Good luck, Greg
oh and Mozzies - was out there yesterday and didn't get bothered too much.

megabyte

Thanks Greg! High heat and mozzies: I had visions of sitting on my deck with a drink and potted plants surrounding me. Now I am having a re-think; mosquitoes love standing water. So, now I know when I look at pictures on the real estate websites why there are no potted plants on their decks! They also do not have flower beds; I would imagine because of deer and rabbits. Sooo, it looks like life is going to be simpler there - less work I have also noticed that they do not have hedges or fences bordering their property. I guess it has something to do with home owner association regulations because it seems that most houses are part of a development. The ones that are not still are open, so is it a county thing?

I have read that it is not a good idea to live near the Roanoke River and Blackwater(?) Rivers because they get very murky and it makes it impossible to swim in. So the areas that I am concentrating on are from the horseshoe bend (north of the bridge) and south to the dam. The east looks like they have more rentals or short term lets, but I cannot see any other problems except maybe living near the airport. West looks nice except for properties at the very narrow coves. Which area is easier to get around from? Does it make any difference which side you are on???

Hopefully more expats will find this thread and we could have a different kind of 4th of July party! Funny how many Americans say how strange it is that we do not celebrate it over here!!! Maybe they think it is a religious thing.

Gory

The lack of hedges and fences is something I first noticed when I came to the States - it's not at all common to have them anywhere I have lived in the South - maybe because there is typically more space between properties so privacy is not such a huge concern - I live on 4 acres with neighbours either side, and I don't think any of us worry about the property lines too much - although I am sure I might just have got lucky.
The disadvantage of the rivers I would not be too concerned about - personally - as moving water does keep the bugs down, I guess you have to decide between swimming and getting bitten. Of course, if you got a boat you could swim wherever you wanted.
Where to live on the lake is not something I could suggest - tastes vary too much - I, personally, don't care for being in a development, do not mingd driving 40 minutes to the supermarket, or an hour for a good meal, many people would hate the thought of any of those things, best bet is probably to come have a look - I could recommend a realtor who served us very well.
Airport should not really be a concern - it's hardly an international, not even a regional - more a local with light aircraft traffic.