ottotheboar

Black bears are common here they come round the house and love the blueberries in the garden. Plenty of coyotes, crayfish in the creeks.
I use game cameras to monitor deer movement and they pick raccoons, possums, turkeys, rabbits etc.

SEL_boy

I live in Northern Virginia. Whatever the short-comings of the area (there are many), I can't say I'd recommend it for the climate.

The winters tend to be ridiculously ridiculously cold and the summers are blisteringly hot and humid. So hot that it totally takes the fun out of it.

There is usually a week or so of crossover time when the weather is beautiful -- we are in it right now, mid-70s, no jacket required, just lovely -- but very soon it will be two showers a day weather.

Having it be super hot is great when you're on holiday and can live in t-shirts and shorts, but when you to dress for work it's miserable.

As has been noted earlier in the thread, Virginia is really several distinct places - Northern Va is really part of DC; then there's Richmond; then there's Norfolk and environs; then there's huge swaths of rural countryside.

They are very, very different. The DC area just topped the list for the most expensive place to live in the country; some parts of SW Virginia resemble the Third World.

If you are serious about moving to Virginia, I would certainly plan on spending a few weeks here around August and then a few weeks around January to see the variation in climate, if that is a dealbreaker.

margomonts

Thanks that is very interesting ! Does the climate change in different parts of Virginia ? I think we will do just that and have a few trips out there to see what it's really like ! I don't mind it cold in the winter as long as we get a summer! I do get it point though about it being so hot it's uncomfortable !

ottotheboar

The south tends to be a little warmer than the north but not by much.
The main thing is the humidity, if you do not like it you will be miserable.
The cold is relative nothing like the bone chilling cold further north.

Pulaski

And if you think the summer heat and humidity is bad in VA, try going to SC or further south! IMHO VA has one of the best comprises of winter cold and summer heat/ humidity.

yellowroom

I live in the Richmond area. I find the winters about on a level with England really - generally mild and grey with the odd day of snow. We don't get the biting east wind straight from Siberia that you can get in the UK, and its a lot lower humidity here, so you don't get that horrible damp cold that really chills you.

Regarding summer, yes it gets hot and humid, but it's not as bad as it gets in some of the more southern states. There are only a few weeks in the year when its too unpleasant to be outside at home, and that's when you head for the beach or the mountains!

Of all the things I could complain about being here, the weather isn't one of them.

margomonts

What would u complain about ?

yellowroom

Oh nothing that is worth putting anyone off coming here! Only whinges about cultural differences that are based on personal preferences.

In this part of Virginia you can have a good quality of life - nice sized house, relatively safe area, traffic's not bad at all, easy access to beach, mountains, city & culture (historical stuff like Williamsburg and museums and galleries in DC). All the shops you'd want, local airport with easy connections back to UK or anywhere really, trains up and down the east coast if you don't want to drive or fly.

One of the things I miss is theatre, concerts and gigs. The geographical size of the US means it's not so easy to catch bands or travel to Broadway for the latest play. Whereas where I used to live in Yorkshire it was easy to do a day trip to catch a matinee in London, or go to Sheffield Crucible. And I used to see bands in Sheffield, Leeds, Hull, Doncaster, York, Grimsby and even Manchester if it was a weekend. Whereas very few bands play Richmond. However, I knew this before I came over here and have tried to adjust my expectations accordingly.

margomonts

Thank you for that! Things I hadn't considered! Prob nothing that would put me off but all information is welcome to build up a realistic picture. One question I thought of... Can u buy property over there if u are not a USC ??

SultanOfSwing

Yes. I got on our mortgage while I was a permanent resident, we were in the house a year before I was able to apply for citizenship.

The main obstacle for new expats with respect to buying homes is they will have little or no credit history, so getting approved for a loan can be difficult. I had been a resident for four years at the time so I had had time to build up a half decent credit score, so we were able to use both of our credit to get a favourable interest rate et cetera.

There are ways to build credit though, so say you are able to secure a visa that allows you to live here for a few years, you can rent for a while with a view to buying later.

Unless, of course, you're minted and can buy a house outright, of course

Jerseygirl

Yes you can. Although it's best to wait until you have a green card before you do so. We have had members who for one reason or another haven't been able to renew their visas...and they've had to leave the US with their house unsold. Also selling a house here is very expensive compared to the UK...6% realtor fees.

yellowroom

The other thing to consider alongside the expensive selling fees, property taxes and familiarity with the area, is the difference in house build/types.

What I mean is, the construction of houses is very different in Va (think glorified wooden shed) and the difference in the way you live means that things that are important in a house in the UK are not here, and vice versa. It's much better to rent for a year (ie through all the seasons) to get a feel for the kinds of property and the issues you may deal with. And from what I've seen, these can change from town to town, not just state to state.

For example, the house I am renting is surrounded by very close trees. In the UK I'd be chopping them down for fear of the roots in my foundations, pipes etc. Here, they give much needed shade in the summer. However, they also bring squirrels and birds and in a wooden house that can cause problems too. Especially when Virginia state law says tenants are responsible for sorting and paying for pest infestations.

All the kitchens I've seen in properties here are horrible and badly designed by UK standards, but that could be the private rented housing stock.

"odd job men" are much more expensive here. It costs 3x the amount it does in the UK to get my gutters cleaned out (responsible as a tenant here, responsible as a landlord in the UK).

Just a few things off the top of my head...

ottotheboar

Agreed , personally humidity does not bother me no different to Jeddah.

Pulaski

If you have the funds to pay for it, you can buy property even if you're not allowed into the country! E.g. you have CIMT conviction therefore can't use the VWP or get a visa.

Pulaski

Tip: if you don't have AMEX cards go get them, as AMEX in the US can be leant on to issue a US card based on your British a/c history. I believe/ have heard the same is true of Capital One, though I've seen reports from others who say it doesn't work for Capital One. (I did check recently they are under common ownership).