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Would you spend big bucks to move somewhere that has broadband?

L

LiQiCE

Golden Member
I'm planning on moving in the next few months and I've been looking at different townhomes in my area.

Now there are two counties that are both very close to where I work (and thus where I'd like to live). One of the counties (Fairfax, VA) has nice broadband options. In the townhouse I'm looking at near Herndon, VA they offer ADSL (from Covad), and Cable (from Cox HSI).

The other county (Loudoun County) has practically no broadband options what-so-ever. Adelphia is offering 1-way cablemodem service to some areas of Loudoun, but they are taking their sweet time to develop it. And its still only 1-way! SDSL is the only option from Covad and SDSL is a lot more expensive than ADSL.

Now, homes in Loudoun County (Sterling or Ashburn to be very specific) are quite a bit cheaper than they are in Fairfax County. Property taxes are about 13% cheaper in Loudoun County as well. Personally, I'm leaning towards living in Fairfax County simply because I can get broadband, property values and thus resale values are higher, and a friend of mine is willing to room with me (and pay rent), but only if I live in an area with broadband.

I'm just wondering what you guys would do in my situation... The difference in price on the townhomes are probably somewhere around $30K-50K so its not a small chunk of change. That said, it is divided up over 30 years for a mortgage, so its not an incredible difference per month when you calculate it out.

 
minedo,

Thats just it, the cable company Adelphia is only JUST now developing 1-way cablemodem service, and the phone lines in Loudoun County are all on compressed fiber optic lines (meaning they compress your voice down so they can get multiple lines to fit on 1 fiber optic cable). By doing this, they disable the ability to do line sharing because the "extra" bandwidth on the copper is compressed out when it hits the fiber.

So unless a new technology like the fixed point wireless options I've been hearing about come to surface, it doesnt look like there are any tangible options right now. Broadband may take 5-10 years to develop in the area, and by then I'll have probably moved elsewhere!

Satellite is a bit too expensive right now, and latency too high, although it is an option.
 
I still wouldnt pay the extra 30-50k just for broadband. I love having broadband and all, but I couldnt justify a BMW for it.
 
I would move to Loudon County the property tax is outrageous in Farifax. Broadband will be out there soon with all the people moving into the area, plus Farifax is just to dam congested nowadays. 😉
 
minedo,

Haha, good point. The 30-50K isn't in my pocket though so I dont think I could go out and buy a BMW after buying the cheaper house. Not unless I waited 30 years 🙂
 


<< minedo,

Haha, good point. The 30-50K isn't in my pocket though so I dont think I could go out and buy a BMW after buying the cheaper house. Not unless I waited 30 years 🙂 >>


Well then look at the $30-50k as an extra bonus for retirement.😛

-minendo😉
 
Now that I think about it, I would like to see the age/financial standings of these people that say "Yes." I am only 20 (soon to be 21😉) and I know that even if I could afford it, I would pass on it at the moment so that I would have a little extra emergency funds. Not to mention if I ever want my future kid(s) to go to college, I need to start a college fund soon. Also I am in debt due to the school loans I have to take out so that I can eventually enter the job market and make some real money.
 
minedo,

Well, I am 22, almost 23 now, and I've graduated school, and I'm working full time. I'm currently renting an apartment in Fairfax, VA and the rent is so high that I could buy a townhouse and my monthly payments would be nearly the same as my rent. I look at the townhouse as an investment, something that will appreciate over the next 5-10 years and allow me to use that money as a large downpayment for a house when I'm at the stage of my life that I want to have a family. In either case, Loudoun or Fairfax County, I look at the house as an investment and a stepping stone towards a single family home. I agree that saving money is very important, and I've been crunching numbers like crazy to make sure that I'm not overstepping my bounds. (Although real estate is so expensive in this area, especially right now with the house market so hot, that its not easy to NOT overstep my bounds and buy a decent home!)

The one thing you have to remember is that $30-50K, while it is A LOT of money it is divided up over a 30 year mortgage (plus interest). That translates into anywhere from $200-325 a month. Not a small amount of money to sneeze at, but it is not quite as enormous as you might think, especially for someone who is earning a full time salary. (As a college kid, an extra $200 a month would have been a death trap to me!!) 🙂
 
Well I didnt really look at it that way. I realize how expensive apartments can be since I am currently in one. I wish I had the extra cash to buy a house, but that would be kind of pointless since I dont plan on getting a job anywhere near school.

-minendo.
 
Hayabusarider -

I've considered satellite, but its around $30/month more than DSL or Cable ($79/month was what I saw for 2-way) and you only get speeds of around 400Kbps down and 90-128Kbps up, plus latency times are high enough that I wouldnt be able to do much in terms of interactive applications, like web cams, or playing Halo online 😉

Not to mention EchoStar is currently getting out of the Satellite Internet business, so who knows if Satellite will stay as an option.

Thanks though! I've definitely been keeping Satellite in mind in the event that I moved to an area w/o any other broadband options.

 
It's not worth it, just to get broadband?

Broadband should eventually make it's way to Loudoun County, save yourself some money, invest some, and wait.
 
I would based my decision on the economics of the choices. Which is closer, which keeps it value better, etc. Eventually you will get acceptable broad band service in Loudoun County.

I have lived in both areas and I preferred Fairfax County.
 
for $50,000 you could buy the cheaper house and a fricking T1 line. Anyone who spends $50,000 for a 1.5/128 DSL line for 2 or 3 years (it'll will be in the cheaper area soon enough) is a damn idiot.
 
Dr Smooth,

Well from what I can tell, property values are much higher, and appreciate more in Fairfax County. Not to mention they seem to hold their value better.

The properties I've been looking at in Fairfax County are roughly 2.5 miles from work, and would take around 6 minutes to get there in traffic while the properties in Loudoun County are about 10 miles away and would take about 15 minutes to get there in traffic (the difference is Fairfax is all local roads, while Loudoun is mostly high ways).

In my opinion and a lot of people who know this area seem to agree is that Fairfax County is a better investment for me, and my return on investment should be better there. Thats one of the reasons I've tried to stay in Fairfax County, although I must admit that broadband and getting a roomate has played a bit of a role too. (the roomate would help to offset the cost of owning a home, I know most people would think that having a roomate isn't a plus) 🙂

BTW- Why do you prefer Fairfax County versus Loudoun County Dr Smooth? Maybe you have some good points that would help to convince me either way.

Anyways, I'm really glad to hear everyone's opinions. I always think that its a good idea to get some other perspectives before you make big decisions 🙂
 
notfred,

Once again, please realize that I'm not physically shelling out 30-50K out of my pocket. This is money that is being rolled into a mortgage. It translates into roughly an extra $200-325 per month depending on how much extra I would be spending. So I'm not literally taking $50,000 out of my bank account and plopping it down onto a house. I dont even have that kindof money 🙂
 
An a non-bradband related topic: Are you sure you want to live in a townhome? The reason I want to buy my own home (even though it wont be for a couple years) is to get away from all the things that are problems with apartments. i.e., Close neighbors, no yard, and no garage. You don't get those things with a townhouse, as it's basically a nice apartment that you have to buy instead of rent. Personally, it'd be well worth it to me to get a fixer upper house that had 1/4-1/2 acre of land and a garage on it, rather than a brand new townhome. Remeber, this is a big investment, get somehting you really like.
 
well, still, is broadband really worth $300/month to you? That's a new car payment.
Personally, there's no way I'd do that. If I need to downlaod big files, I'd do it at work, burn them, and bring them home.
 
notfred,

Homes appreciate, cars depreciate. Homes are good investments if you stay in them 5 years, and that extra money you put into a house payment you will get back. Saving that money and wasting it on other stupid stuff doesn't have that ROR.

Buy the more expensive house, it will have better resale value because it's in a nicer area with better amenities.
 
notfred,

Unfortunately, in this area, it is so congested that you'd be hard pressed to find a property with a lot of land that is affordable to me without going south somewhere along the lines of a 45-minute to an hour drive with no traffic. Add in that congestion and you've got a 1.5 hour drive with no accidents. I personally want to stay close to my work, at most a 1/2 hour drive with traffic which doesn't allow me to go very far.

Some homes in this area which are brand new, selling for $500,000 have so little property that you can literally open your window and shake hands with your next-door neighbor if you so desired.

The townhomes in this area aren't really like apartments. Condos are the apartment style homes that you buy, and pay an additional $200-300 a month on top of your mortgage so they can "maintain" the outside of your condo. Townhomes here (and I dont know if this is true everywhere) are usually 2-3 story homes that are connected at the left and right sides. You still get a small backyard and a small front yard. The front yard is maintained by your home owner's association usually, and you pay them about $50/month for the maintenance of the lawn, snow removal, trash removal and that sortof thing.

You do have a problem with close neighbors, but it isn't nearly as bad as an apartment, where you literally have people living next to you on all sides, and many apartments don't have the sound insulation that you get with a townhouse. (In townhomes, you generally have a party wall in between the homes, which not only drowns out sound, but is supposed to be fire-proof to help prevent fires from spreading to the home next-door.

I understand your concerns, and I agree that a single family house would be nice, but it just isn't realistic in this area right now. I'm using this house as a stepping stone to get to a SFH. Townhomes are definitely a step up from apartments though, at least the ones I've been looking at. I would definitely agree with you, that Condos are out of the question for me, and I've more or less eliminated them from the running in what I've been looking at. Thanks for the advice! 🙂



<< An a non-bradband related topic: Are you sure you want to live in a townhome? The reason I want to buy my own home (even though it wont be for a couple years) is to get away from all the things that are problems with apartments. i.e., Close neighbors, no yard, and no garage. You don't get those things with a townhouse, as it's basically a nice apartment that you have to buy instead of rent. Personally, it'd be well worth it to me to get a fixer upper house that had 1/4-1/2 acre of land and a garage on it, rather than a brand new townhome. Remeber, this is a big investment, get somehting you really like.
>>

 
i voted to save bucks.. but that's before i actually read the thread and where you were movin 😉

Fairfax is probably a better bet, as most have said.. better return later. And you'll be hard pressed to find a lot and build a house.. prepare to shove BIG bucks around here.... Especially up here in Mont Co. Some townhomes (w/ garage) i've seen in CRAPPY (not quite sh...) neighborhoods broke 200k. the location wasn't even all that great. And more houses popping up EVERYWHERE.. i wanna get outta here. On the otherhand, my friend's parents are buying land down in florida and getting a house done there... it's costing them didly compared to what it'd cost here.

And roommates are no good 😛 Well, no more than one.. then it's "ok" i suppose.

 
I lived in the area a while back and Loudoun County was a rurall area. I am sure that has changed quite a bit by now. Will you need a room mate if you choose the Loudoun house?
 
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