The MM Network

[WRXtranceformed]

Wife and I are starting to talk more seriously about moving back up north. Probably not any time soon because we actually do like it down here, but being so far from most of our family with the little one on the way is kind of tough. While it has a lot of benefits and most of our neighbors are cool, there is a lot about suburban cul de sac life that I don't love. The idea is that we would move onto my family farm and either renovate the main house or build a new one.

Pros:
- I do like the Leesburg area, especially where are farms are
- Surrounded by protected historic farmland that will never be developed, our farmland is not historic (intentionally) so we have more flexibility to build
- Dad still lives on the farm and approves and encourages it
- Close to Dulles airport for work travel
- We have a tenant house or a second main house we could live in if we did a new build, while it's under construction
- The property is stunning, circa 1700s Quaker farm with sunset view of the Blue Ridge and not staring at developments
- Better schools, very good quality of living, there's even more stuff in Leesburg and nearby than there used to be
- I could conceivably build whatever I wanted there

Cons:
- Building a house on your own land is still expensive, we'd probably have to drill another well and definitely do a new septic tank / field
- I'll still be paying for a partial mortgage after we would sell our house here, even though we own the land
- I loved growing up on a farm but it does feel a little isolated when you're young. Had to drive minimum 15-20 minutes to get to a friend's house
- Both the main house and tenant house need work for longish term living while a new house would be built
- Renovating the historic main house would be an option, but really massively expensive / ie. the cost of a new home build to do it right (added bonus is that it does have a nice in ground pool that needs work and a whole house generator)
- Property is on miles of dirt roads and our driveway is an old, gutted out wagon road. It pretty much would crush the hopes of ever having a fun car again
- Very few if any high speed internet options, this may be alleviated as 4G and 5G towers continue to build out in the NOVA area

There are a few more things there but we've got a lot to think about. Living down here has really helped us build wealth more than I would have been able to in the DC area, but I'm still a long way off of my target goals. Our primary motivator is the peace, quiet, quality of life and family we'd get being back up there.